Isabella Asks Coach Chijo the Questions Every Volleyball Player Wants Answered | Part 1 | Ep. 11

Super Helper Isabella turns the tables and interviews Coach Chijo with the questions volleyball players have always wanted answered.

From tryout tips and tournament warm-ups to choosing captains and understanding why coaches make substitutions, Coach Chijo shares honest insights from more than 30 years of coaching.

This is Part 1 of a special two-part interview series.

What do coaches really look for during tryouts?

Why do coaches substitute players?

How are team captains actually chosen?

In this special episode, Isabella turns the tables and interviews Coach Chijo with the questions every volleyball player has always wanted answered.

Coach Chijo shares honest coaching insights, practical tryout advice, tournament warm-up routines, leadership lessons, and explains the thought process behind coaching decisions that players don't always get to hear.

In this episode you'll learn:

• What coaches notice first at tryouts
 • Simple ways to stand out without being the best athlete
 • Mistakes that can hurt your tryout
 • Tournament warm-up routines that prepare you to compete
 • How Coach Chijo selects team captains
 • Why coaches substitute players during matches
 • How confidence and attitude influence coaching decisions

This is Part 1 of a two-part interview with Isabella.

Part 2 releases next Tuesday.

Watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Just GO! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Coach Chijo podcast. Real conversations about volleyball, coaching, growth, and the journey behind it all. So let's get into it. Just go. We're uh Twinsies here.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Yes, twins with the Matrix ball and the Chijo shirt.

SPEAKER_03 0:19

So today's episode, I'm getting interviewed.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

The tables are turning.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

The tables are turning. So introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

I'm Isabella. I'm Superhelper. You might have known me from that. I've been in a couple of his videos. And yeah.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

She she helps out a lot. She's learning how to edit video now.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Yes, so I will be editing this podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

Really? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Maybe, yeah.

unknown 0:46

Right?

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Okay, yes. So Isabella worked with us. She's on our staff, on our team.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

For the Coach Chijo brand. Yeah, what kind of stuff do you do? Where do you go?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

So I've been to tournaments. I recently went to the Las Vegas tournament. I'm gonna be going to Fiat uh festival. I've been to Fiesta. That was my first one that I did. And I love it. It's so much fun. I love seeing the players or coaches, parents even. And it's nice to interact with them, help out with anything that they need.

SPEAKER_03 1:15

Yeah, completely help super helper.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Super helper.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Yeah. I kind of like that title.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

That's a cool title. Is it as cool as athlete engagement assistant?

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Uh don't know about that. Okay, so the tables are turning today, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Yes, they are.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Are you interviewing me?

SPEAKER_01 1:32

I'm interviewing him.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

And do you have questions ready for me?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_03 1:36

Should I be scared?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Absolutely scared?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Okay, now I'm gonna be scared. Alright, so now we have Isabella who's a volleyball player, and she's gonna be interviewing me.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Asking the questions that you guys want to know.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Oh, that's a good idea. Okay, so this will be really good for players then?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Yes, very.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Okay, so you are asking on their behalf.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

Alright, I think I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Okay, first things first. Are you my father?

SPEAKER_03 2:08

We get that question all the time, especially in TikTok lives and Instagram lives. Okay, let's set the record straight.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Set the record straight.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

Ready?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

No.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

No.

SPEAKER_03 2:20

No, she works for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

I work. I'm not related.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Yes, I train her and she works with us. Yeah, she's a volleyball player. But no, we're not related. Because if we were related, you'd be bald too.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Really?

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

So are your sons bald?

SPEAKER_03 2:38

No. So there's proof right there, right? Okay, we settled the we settled all that.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:45

Okay, that's one of the most common questions we get asked, actually, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, it is. We've gone it on the live. I've gone it at tournaments. They're like, oh, are you his daughter? No, no. Just work.

unknown 2:58

Just work.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Yeah. Okay, she actually has a real father.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yes, I do.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

And we invited him to come into the video, but he really didn't want to do that.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Yeah. What was that squeak?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

I think it was my dog's toy.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

Are you sure it wasn't your dad?

SPEAKER_01 3:13

It might have been him squeaking.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Okay, that was a good question to start. Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

So next question. What do coaches look for in players at tryouts?

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Ooh, good one. Okay, so I've run a lot of tryouts. Oh man, over 30 plus years at club tryouts, at high school tryouts, and there are a handful of things that we look for. Okay. So I'm not going to talk about skill. So here's the number one thing: who stands out? We're looking for positive attitude. That's number one. Yes, we want positive attitude on the team. Number two, we want players that have high level of energy, right? Yeah. We want energy on the court. And number three is the just go attitude.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Just go.

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Just go.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

How is that different from your number two?

SPEAKER_03 4:08

Uh the energy level, I would say energy level includes really energetic high fives, and uh I would say, well, you know what? It is kind of similar, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

It is pretty similar.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

Oh, see, I knew I should I should be scared of this interview. Yeah. Well, okay, let's do this. Let's combine the high energy and the just go attitude together.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 4:32

How's that?

SPEAKER_01 4:33

I like it.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Okay, so then we have two. Number one is positive attitude. Okay, that's that's number one. We want positive attitude players on the court. Number two is the just go attitude.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Always going. You may not get every ball, you may miss the ball, you may hit it out. You might make mistakes because volleyball is a game of mistakes, but you just keep going.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Nice. I like it.

SPEAKER_03 5:00

Yeah, and especially if a player makes a mistake or a teammate makes a mistake. I want the other teammate to go over and give a high five.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Nice, that's good. So, what are some tips for tryouts?

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Tryouts. Okay, here's a really big, big tip, and it's really easy. Wear a bright shirt.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

So, not something like this?

SPEAKER_03 5:23

Well, no, it has red on it.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

As red? Okay, so it counts.

SPEAKER_03 5:26

Something bright, something that will catch the coach's attention.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

I mean, no joke, there could be tons of players and athletes in the gym, right? And there's only a few coaches that are gonna be watching, and it's really hard to keep track if there's a bunch or a clump of players that are all wearing white shirts.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

So if you have something bright on or noticeable, maybe it's the name of a college, maybe it has a bright color on it, maybe it's a tie-dye shirt. Yeah. So when we're in tryouts, we often do things like just notice the shirt. Let's say someone has a tie-dye shirt on, and the tie-dye shirt player has a great attitude, just go attitude. I might go over to another coach. Like if you're another coach, I say, hey, Isabella, keep watching that tie-dye girl. Tell me what you think about tie-dye girl because I think she might be a keeper.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

So that just kind of helps almost organize it in your head, like which player has the attitude because you can see them quickly.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Yeah. You can see them, you can judge them, and then it's easy to keep track.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

We can keep track of them, yes. Yeah. So as dumb as it may sound, it's really hard to keep track of players if they're kind of all mixing in with a bunch of other players wearing white shirts. Now I know there are tryouts where they give you numbers, okay, and even there there are other clubs, ooh, actually they have shirts that they give you with numbers on them.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

Yeah. So they're all the same color. So in that case, you're kind of you're gonna really have to stand out in a different way, and that is voice.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Voice.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

Now, what does that mean? Just to be loud or more with purpose?

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Uh yeah, you can't be running around the gym just going ah and screaming. No, I don't think that would help. No, I think that would go the other way. So, no, you're talking all the time, you're calling the ball, right? Uh, if a coach comes by and gives you instructions, you should ask for clarification questions. Give signs that you're listening, comprehending, and you're into it.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Nice, okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Right? Yeah. So use your voice. Yeah. Especially helpful if you go to a club tryout and they give you all the same shirt.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

That I've been there.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

You've been there?

SPEAKER_01 7:49

I've been there.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

But yeah, okay. So we have loud voice and bright shirt.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Those are your two main tips for tryouts?

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Uh yeah. Those are two main tips that are non-skill based. Okay. Okay. Now, here's a skill-related tip. It's not going to be perfect. Okay. So don't stress out the night before thinking, oh, I have to be perfect at tryouts. Coaches understand that you may have been in the off-season for a while, maybe you were playing another sport. Okay. Coaches should understand that. So when you show up to a tryout, the one skill-related tip that I can give you is when you make a mistake, what do you do? Coaches are watching when you make a mistake. So do you put your face in your hand? Do you do the shaking hand thing? You know, like as if shaking your hands will get you better in the next move. You know, what do you do? Do you go chin up, smile, and then go high-five the rest of the players in the line as you go to the back of the line? You know, what are you doing after a mistake? That shows how coachable you could be potentially.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Those are really good tips. Now we'll use that next tryout.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Yeah. So then as far as the skill stuff, the skill is a given, right? So whether you're doing serving, here's an example of something you can do actually for skill-related tip. Serving. Serving in tryouts. Have you had serving evaluated in tryouts?

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Yes, I have.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

Yeah, it's pretty much a go-to. So in serving, that's the one time that you have complete control over what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Right? You don't have to rely on a set in order to hit it. You don't have to rely on a hit to dig something, right? So total control. I would recommend that you have a routine. Bounce three times. Okay? Spin the ball in your hand. I like to spin the ball a couple times in my hand. Well, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see me spinning this ball in my hand a couple times, so I have a routine. So that allows you to focus, right?

SPEAKER_02 10:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Free throw players, you know, basketball players do it when they when they shoot free throws.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Yeah, they have a routine.

SPEAKER_03 10:11

They always have a routine. You should have a routine for your serve. It'll help you kind of compose yourself, right? So that's that's really important. And then for hitting, here's a big tip. A lot of players, you need to make sure the ball goes over the net. Yeah. Ball goes over the net. Don't be that player where you think that you just need to be this super fast, you know, monster hitter, and you just go up and just clobber the ball every time. Uh, don't you can't be that player. Yeah. It's kind of in a way a negative evaluation if all you're doing is just whacking away and half your balls are going into the net or they're going out.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Okay. Yeah, because that's something that you can teach and coach.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Right. Yeah. So I'd rather see players that are smooth in their approach, there's a good rhythm, you know, if it's if it's a three-step one, two, three. Like smooth rhythm every time. Consistency is important because if we want to coach you and maybe improve on it, if you are consistent with one thing and then we can tweak one thing, we know that you can eventually make that a new habit.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

And then your arm swing, make it smooth and try to keep it the same consistent swing every single time and smoothly get the ball in. Now, as you warm up, then you can start snapping harder, you know, whipping the shoulder and arm forward more and start hitting. But try to start with smooth rhythm, smooth swing so that at the very beginning, when they're usually watching the most, the ball goes over the net and it's in the court, right? First impression. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:00

Okay. So, next question.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Do you have like a favorite warm-up for your players to do?

SPEAKER_03 12:07

Okay, are you talking about at practice or at a tournament?

SPEAKER_01 12:11

At a tournament. Let's just say you're about to start the game and uh it's before hitting lines, it's before serves, and you have that time to do dynamic.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

Do you have Oh, so is this this is before the timed warm-up?

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Okay, yes. Shuttles.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Shuttles.

SPEAKER_03 12:28

Shuttles. Uh let's see. Maybe a lot of you watching may know this, but this actually, I mean, it's controlled by the coach. So for those coaches watching, I like to get, you know, if I have 12 players on a team, three groups, okay, together, or on the on our half of the court, because we're at a tournament, teams on the other side, we have three groups of four, and two players are up at the net facing the inline. Two players are sort of service-y pattern depth, about 20 feet off the net, facing the net. And then the there's one ball, four players, and the first person that initiates it tosses the ball across, right? And if you're facing the net, you're forearm passing. If you are facing the end line and your back is to the net, then you are setting. And then you follow the ball. So if I set the ball, I follow my ball, go to the right and go get in line on the other side. Now I'm facing the net, and when my turn comes up, I am forearm passing. So pass set, pass, set, and everybody's moving and shuttling from one line to another. And then I do variations. So it could be two contacts. Now the variations always work with the one who's facing the net.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

So if you're facing the net, okay, those of you watching the video have the advantage.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

If you're facing the net and I'm at the net with my back to the net, I'm always going to be setting. Okay, always setting. That's the rule. If you're facing the net, then this is where the variations happen. So I might say pass the self, the ball goes up, and then you set it. And then you follow your ball. So you have two touches. Okay? So self pass and then set back. Okay? And then we can reverse that. We can say set the ball straight up and then pass it forward. Okay?

SPEAKER_02 14:30

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

We can do other ones like pass and then you do a 360. Oh. Or actually, no, a 180, sorry. Yeah, you turn around, face the end line, and then backwards pass over your head towards the net.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Wow. That seems kind of hard.

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Yeah. Another one could be self-pass, and then you set it up, and then you turn around, your back is to the net, and then you back set back to the person at the net.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

When you first said shuttles, I thought you meant like shuttle runs.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

No, no. This is complete ball contact. So there's movement and then there's uh reps on passing and setting.

SPEAKER_01 15:17

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 15:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 15:19

Yeah. So uh a lot of times I like to have my captains run this. And so if I have, let's say I have two captains, uh, each captain would be responsible for thinking of two variations. And they would just call it out self-pass set and then backward set. That could be one variation. So each captain is responsible for thinking of two of those. So then if you have two captains, you have four variations. But you always start with the first one, the basic one, which is just one touch.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

One touch.

SPEAKER_03 15:53

Yeah, one touch. Uh, do you want to know another one?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

This depends. If you are first round playing, that's the lucky one, right? Because you get the court first, you can get there early, and uh you have player, you have two players, one ball. So let's put this ball away. So if we're partners, okay, you're on one sideline, I'm on the other sideline, and we're facing each other, okay? So you're gonna serve at me.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Okay, so act like you're serving at me. So the serve comes to me. I'm going to pass it up, straight up, okay, and then I'm gonna catch the ball. And then I'm going to take the ball I just caught. Now my turn is to serve it across to the other side of the line to my partner. My partner passes the ball up and then catches the ball. Okay, so now you're working on serving and passing on half a court.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

These are good drills.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

I like these. I'll bring these up to my coach.

SPEAKER_03 16:53

You want another one?

SPEAKER_01 16:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Okay, so here's the last one. It all depends on how much time you have.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:58

Okay, and how efficient you are. So I would highly recommend that you practice all these in your practice. You can't show up to a tournament and start describing all this stuff and introduce it for the first time. So everything that that I do when I'm coaching and when I go to a tournament, everything that we're gonna be doing for warmups and time warmups, we practice in practice. Yeah. So everybody knows what it is.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

And it's more efficient in game.

SPEAKER_03 17:23

Yeah. So here's the final one. If you have time. So I'm going to be on a sideline, you're on the other sideline, you're my partner, we're facing each other. I'm gonna serve at you. You're going to pass up in front of yourself, then you're going to set straight up in front of yourself. And then you're gonna open up and hit a down ball to me. And then I'm gonna dig, I'm gonna set to myself, and I'm gonna hit a down ball. So now we got all the skills. Well, except for blocking. So we got serving, passing, digging, down balls.

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 18:00

All with reps before even the Titan warm-up starts. Now, of course, you have to be the first one on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

So yeah, it's nice and it's it's good to it's a good warm-up to have because then it gets everything flowing. It gets everything going.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

Yeah, there's movement. There's movement, so that's good. Now, if you're not the first one on and you're refing first and you get on the court, uh, you just have to decide how much time you have. Is the ref there, or are we, are you still waiting for the ref to come with the score sheet, right? So sometimes you have a little extra time. If you don't have anything, just run the basic shuttles. Yeah. Just run the basic shuttles, and you might get, you know, a few minutes before the referee comes or they get organized or the score scoring team has to get settled in, right?

SPEAKER_02 18:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

Yeah. So you'll have to be, as the coach, kind of manage how much of what I just described you can do.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Okay, that's cool. So earlier you mentioned that the captains of your team have to decide uh for the shuttles, for example, like they had to choose two that they wanted to do.

SPEAKER_03 19:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

How do you choose captains?

SPEAKER_03 19:15

Oh, that's a good one. Okay my process for picking captains is a little bit more involved, probably, than most, I'm guessing. When I start a season and I have my team, when we have our first meeting, I ask for volunteers, I ask my team, who would like to consider being a captain? Just you don't have to commit to it, but who's interested?

SPEAKER_02 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Right? So I typically get anywhere from two, three, four, five hands going up. Okay, so now those now become the candidates to run for captain. Okay? And you have to try out first. So first practice, uh, I give jobs. I give jobs to the captains. Let's say there are four candidates. Okay, so over the next couple weeks, we might have four practices, five practices or so. And I leave it up to the captains actually. Uh not captains, captain candidates. I leave it up to them to decide and choose different aspects of the practice that they will be in charge of.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Wow. So what so you're not gonna have them just run the practice?

SPEAKER_03 20:32

No, no, no, no. They're not running the whole practice. I'm still the coach. So my practices have a routine warm-up. Okay, the first uh 10-15 minutes of every practice is a specific uh it's a specific warm-up that we do. Okay, and it's the same every time. And there are about three or four different components to it, right? So there's the jog, there's the dynamic warm-up, there's the shuttles, there could be the serve pass one across to each other. And so I asked the four candidates, okay, divvy up the jobs. Who's gonna who's in charge of getting everybody on the end line on time and doing the check-in cheer, right? And then doing the the jog. What captain is responsible for the dynamic warmups? Which captain is responsible maybe for the shuttles? Which captain is responsible for doing some variations? And all four have to be done by the time that's allocated for warmups.

SPEAKER_02 21:35

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Okay, so if we start practice at six o'clock by 6 15, they need to be done.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

The four of them work together.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

And what if they don't finish in time?

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Oh, then if they don't finish, I mean, I'm I'm very transparent with them. This you're trying out for a job, right? You're not just a coin toss person, you're not just someone that just has some kind of title. You are responsible. For leadership roles, and you're responsible for making sure the team is functioning smoothly. Right? So I will say if you finish on time, great. If you finish early, great. If you're late, then that's going to reflect on your ability to be captain. Remember, you're trying out for captain. Okay. So this goes on for a while. Sometimes two weeks, three weeks. And then often I even like to wait till the first tournament where the four candidates are responsible for something throughout the day and they have to come. Maybe it's written down and they say, uh, these are the people that are responsible for different things. For example, one could be in charge of the warm-up for first match. One could be responsible for dynamic warm-up and the coin toss. Another one could be responsible for the just the shuttles for every warm-up for every match of the day. Whatever combination they come up with, they have to schedule it out and give it to me.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

Nice. I like it. It gives order and it's an easy way. So do you decide, captains, or do you have the team vote?

SPEAKER_03 23:09

Okay, so here's the here's the special part. All throughout the several weeks and then the first tournament, everybody knows. I keep reminding everybody, these are the four captains. If we show up at the tournament, I say, hey, everybody, remember. All four captain candidates, you know, step up and then make sure that everybody remembers. Okay, now before I get to answering your question about how we pick, there's one more piece that I that has to happen.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

They have to do a speech.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

Yeah. It's a 30-second speech, 30 seconds max. Doesn't have to be 30 seconds, but they have to prepare a speech and they give it standing in front of the rest of the team. I record it on my phone. I make a video recording of the speech. And I really don't, I really don't have any requirements on what has to be in the speech. What I tell them is, whatever you say, make sure it convinces the other players on the team and also the coaches to select you as captain.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Oh, that's good. Have you have you ever had some like really good speeches that have just blown you away?

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Yeah, pretty much. I mean, they they say that it would mean the world to them to be captain, and I just want to make the season successful and be a big part of helping to make that happen. And then they roll off three specific things or goals that they maybe thought of that they want to help get the team to attain.

SPEAKER_01 24:46

Wow, yeah, that's a pretty good speech startup.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Yeah, yeah. I do give them tips. I say they can have it written down, but I always recommend don't just stare at the paper. I gave them, I give them tips and maybe use some cards, maybe use an outline. And then the other thing is I tell them, don't talk fast. There are a lot of athletes that will go up there and go and they're done. And we can't understand anything. And when that happens, I actually stop them. I say you're not doing what you intend to do, which is give a great speech. So just slow down. So there's some opportunity to learn about speaking in front of a crowd. And I also tell them make eye contact. The more eye contact you make with the rest of the team and the coaches who are watching, right? Because I'm also recording this, right? Because eye contact is important to make sure you're trying to convince people to vote for you.

SPEAKER_02 25:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:44

Yeah. So this the speech, if it's written, I collect that. I keep the recording of the speech. Okay. And the reason why I do that is later on, if one or two of them do get selected as captain, I have the paper and I'll say, uh, this is something that you promised you were going to do. Uh, do you think you're still doing this?

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Oh, that's a big thing, so they can't go back on their word.

SPEAKER_03 26:10

Exactly. Yeah. Or I might even show them the video.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Uh, Isabella, look at this video. This is what you spoke and promised you were going to do as captain. Are you still doing that two months in?

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Yeah, that's uh that's a big thing.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Self-reflect, right? To keep you on your toes. Okay, now to your question. You want to know how we select captains.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:35

There's two parts to it.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Two parts? Yep. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:38

All right. So each player on the team gets one ballot. They may vote for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Oh, okay. Even what if they didn't sign up to be later on? What if they decide oh, maybe I want to be captain?

SPEAKER_03 26:54

No, no, no, no, no. You have to be a candidate who has gone through the whole process of the speech, uh, being captain with all the duties during practice and having the duties during the tournament. Okay, you can't just all of a sudden stand up and say, I want to be captain.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

So if you're one of the candidates, the official candidates, you may vote for yourself.

SPEAKER_02 27:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:15

But you may only vote for one player. We collect those ballots. And then my assistant, Monica and I, what we've done is we look at the ballots and then we tally them, and the one that gets the most votes from the teammates becomes one captain. The coaches, we get to pick the second captain.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

We don't tell the team which one's which.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

Okay, all they know is that now we have two captains, and they know that what they had input in selecting one of them. And we say, wouldn't isn't it fair that the coaches also have some input in the direction of the leadership of our team? They say, yeah, so that's why we get to vote. It doesn't matter which one's which. Okay, that's not important. What's important is we together, players, coaches, all together, here are the two leaders for the team.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:15

That's how I do it.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

That's good. I like it. Makes it fair and keeps it organized.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

It's good.

SPEAKER_03 28:22

What are you holding there, by the way?

SPEAKER_01 28:24

I'm holding the bodin matrix ball.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

Oh, me too.

SPEAKER_01 28:28

Yes. Can you palm it?

SPEAKER_03 28:29

I can palm it.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

I might be able to palm it.

SPEAKER_03 28:31

I'm palming it.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

Palming it.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

You have to come watch on YouTube if you want to watch Isabella palm a volleyball.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

Yes, I tried. It took many attempts.

SPEAKER_03 28:41

Yeah, but isn't it easier with this ball?

SPEAKER_01 28:43

It is. Because it has the little dimples on it.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Yeah. It's like a golf ball. It's textured. Can you okay? Again, if you're just listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, go over to YouTube and watch. Because right now we're holding the ball. We're palming it, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:00

Yes, I am.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

And you can see the texture of the ball. It is the coolest ball. And look at the design. It's not like the regular stripes of panels.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Yeah. This ball's awesome. Got me a hit better.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

Yeah. Oh, yeah. We were doing a lesson.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yes, we were.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

And you were hitting like I've never seen you hit before.

SPEAKER_01 29:17

I was hitting like I never seen before. It was crazy.

SPEAKER_03 29:20

And it was with these.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 29:22

Yeah, the Matrix, Baden Matrix.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Thank you, Baden.

SPEAKER_03 29:24

Yes. Love these balls. Yep. Big partner, Baden. You're awesome. Shout out.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

Yeah, shout out, Baden.

SPEAKER_03 29:31

Okay, where were we?

SPEAKER_01 29:33

I was interviewing you.

SPEAKER_03 29:34

Oh, right, okay. Should I still be scared for the rest of the questions?

SPEAKER_01 29:37

No, I feel like you answered some of the pretty big ones that I have.

SPEAKER_03 29:40

Okay. Do you have new?

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Trying to think. I do have more. Trying to think of what I should ask next because try to think of what players want to hear.

SPEAKER_03 29:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Ooh, okay, I have a good one.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Okay. Should I be scared?

SPEAKER_01 29:53

You might want to be scared for this one.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Okay, I'm ready though.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Why do you sub players out? Oh what triggers you to say that player needs to be taken out of the game when maybe the player doesn't feel like that they should be taken out?

unknown 30:08

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 30:09

Okay, this is tough.

SPEAKER_01 30:11

This is a tough question.

SPEAKER_03 30:12

But I will tell you it's not as tough as you think because when I coach teams, I they know. I tell them all of my processes and ways that I make my decisions. So for example, uh, if a player is on a court makes one big error, they don't come out. You can't come out just on one error because volleyball is a game of mistakes. It's the weirdest sport, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

You score when someone makes a mistake.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Yeah, when someone else makes a mistake.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

Yeah, that's how you earn your points. Okay? So two mistakes. If they're the same one, I might start wondering, but it has to do with the score. If we're up by six or eight, okay, I'll let it slide. Okay. Now, this player could also be, let's say hypothetically, one of the most consistent players on the team. Okay, if it's one of the most consistent players on the team, coaches, we're gonna think, well, it's maybe uh just one or two, maybe uh got winded a little bit from the last rally. Uh we would give a couple more chances. Okay, so maybe third. Third time, same exact mistake. Then uh I would start looking at my bench, right? Because I don't like to have, I don't like to have my team lose more than three points in a row.

SPEAKER_02 31:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

Okay, if we lose two points in a row, I'm thinking about what we can change. Okay, if it does get to three errors, I would I would sub the player out and I would either talk at the end of the bench or sit her down and we would just have a conversation. I say, How's it going? You feeling okay? Did you eat lunch? Nah. What did you eat for breakfast? Did you eat like six slices of leftover pizza? Oh, and you're feeling sluggish? Like, what's happening?

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:06

This is exactly what how I talk.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Now, what if they respond with, I feel like I'm doing great.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Okay. That's I think.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

What if they just respond with, like, I don't think I'm playing at my worst?

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Have you ever had that before?

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Because I mean, if they are, if they did make the mistake the same mistake three times in a row, then it is like kind of hard to tell to still tell yourself, I think I'm doing good. Like, like it's it's hard to tell yourself that, but what if they don't necessarily notice it that much?

SPEAKER_03 32:41

They don't notice it.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

I'm trying to see like the like the right way to ask this.

SPEAKER_03 32:46

Like, what if they know what they're doing? I think I know what you're going for. Okay, so they have a different perception of what happened.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Maybe they think they should not have been subbed out. Okay, so then I would do like a fist bump going, hey, I really respect your level of confidence that you have in yourself. But Isabella, you just hit the ball three times into the net on the same set. Like, do you remember that that happened? Or did I just imagine that whole thing and I was in a dream?

SPEAKER_01 33:17

Okay, yeah. I feel like that's the right way to take it because if you hit the ball three times into the net with the same set, that's that's pretty hard to not.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I don't I don't get upset. I mean, there's no there's no benefit to getting upset. I'll lighten it up by going, uh, where were you? Were you there when you saw those three mistakes? Like, were you on a lunch break? You know, because we're not off right now, we're not refing, we're actually on playing.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:46

You know, and that's kind of how I lead the discussion so that I hope the player doesn't feel extra pressure. You know, they already know they made mistakes.

SPEAKER_02 33:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

So why kind of compound on top of that? So I try to lighten it up because you know, everything is a learning moment. So then I might say, Hey, go get some water. And oh, I've used this before. I said, go get some of the super water.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Super water.

SPEAKER_03 34:13

Yeah. They go, What's super water? I said, it's the water in your water bottle. It's really special.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

It's super water.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

It's super water.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Well, it makes it super water.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

It's a mindset thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

It's a mindset, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

Yeah. It works, it works a lot better when you're coaching 12s when you do this stuff. You say, Your mom, I asked your mom last night to put special super water in your water bottle. And they'll be like, Oh, okay. Yeah, go get a sip of that. Uh, if I try that with my 16s or high school, uh they they'll either give me a weird look or just give me a laugh just to kind of out of respect so that I don't feel too bad, and then go get water. And then I just tell them, just take a deep, take a couple deep breaths, get some water, and then um we'll see about getting you back in so that you can kind of redeem yourself.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

I think that's a perfect way to take it.

SPEAKER_03 35:07

Yeah, would you like that?

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Yeah, I would.

SPEAKER_03 35:10

Okay, so you're in high school, and if I said there's super water and I convinced your mom to put it in there last night, what would you do?

SPEAKER_01 35:17

I might think to see if that's really true because I know there's no such thing as super water, but I might want to believe it because I just hit three balls into the net. Yeah, so at this point, I might take anything.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Yeah, yeah. There is super water. Yeah, it's a mindset thing. Yeah, just go take a breather and then we'll get you back in. Okay, in the meantime, I mean, this is all good because you want a deep bench as you go through the season, and it's good to play players. I I have a goal. I try to get every player in every match, okay, at some point. Uh, it sometimes is difficult if you have a lot of players on your team, but I I try to keep a checklist and try to get everybody in because the more you play everybody, the deeper your bench is, right? As you get towards regionals or maybe even nationals if you're that fortunate. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:09

That's good.

SPEAKER_03 36:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:11

Okay, now time for another question if you're up for it.

SPEAKER_03 36:15

Okay, you asked me about subbing players out, right? I have another answer on another scenario where I would sub a player out.

SPEAKER_01 36:24

Okay, go for it.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

Okay. Um, and again, this might happen more at the younger ages, like 12s, 13s. If my server goes on a run and gets six, seven, eight points in a row, I'll sub her out.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Really?

SPEAKER_03 36:39

Yeah. I'll sub in somebody else to serve for her.

SPEAKER_01 36:42

Why is that?

SPEAKER_03 36:43

Why? Well, there's a couple reasons. One, a coach many, many years ago said that why would you compound the stress on the other side when you're coaching 12s? You might have fourth graders, fifth graders, maybe sixth graders, and you're pounding on them and you're going to 15 in a row, 17 in a row, 18 in a row. I mean, that's that's got to be hard on them, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

Yeah. So I just kind of go by feel on what's happening. Maybe if they're passing some, great. You know, I might push them a little bit more. But if we get five, six, seven, and they're not even touching the ball at all on the other side. I I don't want to be the that guy, that coach, right? So I'll sub out. And my players know that. And somebody else goes in and serves. And if she gets two more, I'll summon someone else and give another opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Nice. That's nice.

SPEAKER_03 37:42

And that was recommended by um a coach, Harm, if he's even watching or listening to this. Um shout-out. Yeah, small shout-out. Uh, he gave me that advice. He just said, just kind of think about that. Think about what's going on with the kids on the other side. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

Yeah. So what about your older players? Will you still do that?

SPEAKER_03 38:08

Older players, well, it's kind of harder, right? Because it gets a little more competitive and we don't go on runs. Yeah. But there could be another scenario where I would make a substitution. Let's say that we're getting beat on one pin, you know, and getting blocked. Uh, I might put it in, let's say, a lefty or another player that hits in a different way. There's a different timing about her approach, right? So if we're missing or if we're losing two points in a row, I'm already thinking about something to change. If we miss three in a row, I don't want to miss more than three in a row. If I have plenty of subs and enough subs to go around, yeah, I'll put in another player that has a different cadence or rhythm to her approach or hits it a little bit differently. So let's give those blockers something different to deal with.

SPEAKER_02 39:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

So to change it up. If it's not working, I need to change it. I don't like just static, okay, let's just not do anything. You know, our job is to coach, and so we we make changes.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 39:15

Yeah. Hey, that wraps up part one of Isabella interviewing me. She's gonna keep the questions going next week for part two. She asks me how I determine playing time. You want to know the answers to that? We'll see you next week, right here, part two. Just go. Appreciate you being here today. Keep learning, keep growing. And remember, let's play volleyball because it's fun. And we'll see you in the next episode. Just go.