Well, that was a pleasant surprise!

It has been 2 weeks since we got 3rd at the National Home School Volleyball Tournament. I thought I would write about it sooner, but I was exhausted and just trying to catch up on life. Here I am, still not believing it. I didn't expect us to finish higher than 9th. I'm so proud of how these girls played and continued to get better throughout the tournament.

Our motto for the second half of the season had been "no thinking, fill tanks". These girls were always trying to get better and they were thinking too much during matches. So we focused on thinking during practice and not thinking during matches. And we struggled with consistent communication (who doesn't, right?) so we focused on encouraging each other by filling tanks. This idea comes from the Positive Coaching Alliance concept of filling emotional tanks. (www.positivecoach.org)

When we made it to the gold bracket, anything we did was just icing on the cake. I know we all want our players to play like they have nothing to lose and these girls really did that. They played like they had nothing to lose.

Another thing we talked about alot when we were down during the season was what really mattered. When we were stressed about the score or about how we were playing I would ask this question: "What matters?" The first time I asked it they kind of looked at me funny. Then one of the girls said "Jesus!" Amen sister. Amen.

What are some ideas you stressed throughout your season to keep the girls focused on your goals?