Volleyball coaching tips?

Question

I am a 25-year old male and I have just been named the girls volleyball coach at a local middle school. Anyone have any good tips? Not just volleyball strategy, but how to deal with middle school girls? Thanks everyone.

Answer 1

First, congrats on your new job & good luck!

Now...to cut to the chase...middle school girls tend to be a bit "emotional"!  They tend to get down on themselves easily, so use a lot of positive reinforcement. Make your rules extremely clear - have them call you Coach "last name"; you will not tolerate the "drama" on the court; name calling or cliques will not be tolerated. Since you are a guy, you have to be especially careful. Do not touch the girls in any way - just demonstrate skills or better yet, get a female assistant.

Most important, remember that these young ladies are beginning to define themselves. Some of them may falter when given the added stress of athletics along with tougher schoolwork, social pressure, & other issues. Always keep this in the back of your head, and if the stress seems to be getting to one of your players - speak with the school counselor or the child's parents. We are coaches, not counselors. I always try to be stern, but understanding with my team (I coach 8th grade). I have found that many of the girls in this age group enjoy having defined expectations & rules - it takes some of the stress away.  Oh yeah - don't forget to have some fun with your team as well...they aren't Olympic athletes - they are still little girls.

Enjoy! Send me an email if you need any help!

Answer 2

Dude, I am in the same situation!  I will be looking for advice as well!

Answer 3

okay, be your self and keep distance from the girls like at a good friendly"teacher against student" distance don't get too comfortable, cause this one coach i had got too comfortable and call these girls this name and he got fired and everyone is creep out bout him, do useful drills and act confident about it, respect the girls and they will respect you, or else if u guys have losing season then they will gang up on u and blame u for everything, keep things under control never let them take control or else, talk and just be urself, don't try too hard so naturally you and ur team will bond, be happy and let things just flow,watch ur eyes they might think ur a perv so watch out and good luck

Answer 4

One thing I did when I started coaching Jr. High was talk to the girls about what they wanted to get out of the season.  I was obviously looking for them to say, "win regionals"  or learn to...  I kind of guided them in the right direction and we came up with some team goals.  (One of ours was to win over half of our games, since they had not won any the previous year.)  Then I asked them how we could reach our goals.  We discussed lots of ways, one including lots of hard work.  They all said they were willing to do it, so I started discussing some of my ideas for the year.  

I also took over from a coach who didn't make them do much physically.  I solved this by doing ALL of the drills I expected them to do, including the running.  Then when they started whining, I reminded them that I was "old" and was able to do it!  

Girls unfortunately need a lot more time for discussion about feelings, teammates, etc.  I talked with the girls about coming to me when they were having problems.  We had a different grade make locker signs for the games each week.  It was hard for some of the girls because I don't really sugar-coat things.  I explained that though I tell it like it is, I am also very upfront about what they can improve on to increase their playing time.  

I make it a policy to only discuss anything with parents with the girls present.  I let the girls do a lot of the talking and have them explain things to their parents.  It seems like a lot of times girls tell their parents things that are not true, but won't lie in front of you.  I also had a parent meeting before the season started to explain my policies.  This cleared things up many problems that I feel would have came later in the season.  If you have any other specific questions, feel free to contact me!  And GOOD LUCK!!!