Coach Rey

Trust Me, You Don’t have to Plan

What My Sled Dogs Taught Me About Planning for the Unknown

The New York Times | Resilience | by Blair Braverman | September 23, 2020

Working with them in the wilderness means negotiating countless shifting variables. Sounds a lot like the world we’re living in.

I used to be a dedicated planner. I knew what I’d do every day, weeks in advance. Having a plan made me feel confident and…

Students on Campus Reduces Virus Risk

Optimism. Hope. Light. We need more positive in the world today. Cornell University believes bringing students back to campus will reduce virus risk. Former Winthrop University President and current SIU System President, Dr. Daniel Mahony, spread this on his social media.

Their prediction of a reduction is based on a number of health safety protocols that can be done with students on campus,…

Flag Volleyball, not quite as cool as the newest forms of volleyball like Spikeball

ESPN Summer Spike 2018

or Crossnet the four square of volleyball.

Crossnet the Four Square for Volleyball

Actually, is not even a new volleyball type game. I’m sorry…

The 3 Ultimate Compliments a Coach Can Receive

The three ultimate compliments a coach can receive are:

When a former student-athlete that played under you, wants her daughter to play for you. (I’m not quite old enough for this one yet, but know a few coaches that have had this happen to them. I just won’t mention who they are because they are still in disbelief this is happening to them :))

When a former student-athlete writes you after…

The Superbowl No Longer Matters

Move over football, baseball, basketball and hockey – it’s volleyball’s time.

If it weren’t for one of my feeds displaying the teams in the Superbowl this weekend, I wouldn’t have had a clue who was playing. I really have little interest in football anymore. This coming from a fan that could name all the players of the great Pittsburgh Steelers teams of late ’70s and the ’85 Superbowl Shuffle…

Family Life in the Coaching Profession

Coaching is a challenging profession. It is cutthroat, extremely competitive, and extraordinarily time-demanding. Time-demands in and around the team, the office, demands for appearances (on campus, off campus, speeches, press, etc.), on the road for matches and recruiting. Don’t forget the student-athlete calls at all hours of the day, recruiting calls, club and high school coaches calls, etc.…

The No Penalty Championship Season

This season, Winthrop Volleyball found a good bit of success, an undefeated conference season (16 – 0) and a 22 – 4 overall record. All this success happened through hard work, but without a single physical penalty in the gym. No sprints were run, no stairs, no stadium steps, no push-ups, no sit-ups, etc. Part of my coaching philosophy is Positive Leads to Positive. If we recognize all the…

The literally thousands of posts, comments, tweets, etc. about Mike has been positively overwhelming. The lives Mike touched are obvious and I have really enjoyed reading how deeply and personally impactful Mike was on so many levels. Mike connected with people in his own special way. He had so many witty stories, analogies, and metaphors that he used during practices, team meetings, discussions,…

Lebron James and Cutting Sugar

For an athlete, besides the negative heart and blood conditions that can arise from excess sugar intake, sugar causes inflammation. Increase inflammation increases recovery time. As Lebron states, he occasionally eats sugar during season, but cuts it out during the playoffs. Those that recover faster perform better.

“When it comes to the playoffs, it kinda slows down the process of recovery.”

I’m In! USA Volleyball Partners with Juice Plus+

My wife has been taking Juice Plus+ for over 5 years. She started just as she became pregnant with our twins. I have always been skeptical of any sort of pills, but when the twins were born, the doctor said he about had to use some wire cutters to cut through her umbilical cords. “What’s she on?” All she was taking was Juice Plus+.

Fast forward 3 years later and USA Volleyball partners with…

John Kessel – USA Volleyball Frier Award Recipient

John Kessel – USA Frier Award Recipient

A well-deserved honor for Mr. Kessel to be awarded USA Volleyball’s highest honor, the Frier Award, a lifetime achievement award. I met John just like everyone else meets people these days, online 🙂 Way back in the day, he and I started these little blogs that have enabled us to reach far beyond what I assume both of us initially realized we would be…

My Pete Hanson Moment

There are a few coaching legends in volleyball and Pete Hanson is one of them. I only met Coach Hanson one brief moment in time, but it was enough to make a lasting impact.

When I was coaching at Miami University, we had a spring match at Ohio State on a Tuesday night. Spring volleyball on the women’s side doesn’t account for a whole lot. Its a time to get all the athletes in the match, a time…

3 Guidelines to Early Recruiting – No More Grey Area (Camps, Visits, and Communication)

There is a lot of confusion among coaches and a lot of grey area. The new NCAA legislation has been challenging and after attending the AVCA Convention and speaking with multiple NCAA Compliance representatives, I needed time to digest it all. As a college coach, we have a lot of tools to help us navigate the new rules and I’ve come to realize that club directors, club coaches, and high school…

Boys High School Volleyball in South Carolina?!?!

When I first moved to the beautiful beaches of South Carolina in the early 2000’s, I tell the story about purchasing a volleyball at a local sporting good store. I asked a clerk where the volleyball’s were located, and the conversation went a little like this:

Boys high school volleyball has grown at the second-fastest rate of any sport in the country since 2012.

Me – “Where can I find the…

19 Volleyball Quotes for 2019

John Kessel, USA Volleyball’s 2019 Frier Award Recipient (and fellow blogger)

It is befitting for this year’s top quote to be from one of the game’s great life teachers, elected to receive the 2019 Harold T. Friermood “Frier” Award, (USA Volleyball’s top honor bestowed on an individual for lifetime achievements), fellow blogger and friend, Mr. John Kessel. As expected with John, this quote is…