In light of the holiday we would like to share some of our "thanks!"
We are thankful for...
1. The athletes in our club! We are so incredibly blessed to coach such AMAZING young women! Each year brings new blessings!
2. The parents of the athletes in our club. We are thankful to have you all on our "team" as we teach your daughters the game of volleyball and, of course, some life lessons along the way.
3. Our amazing club directors. Hands down they are absolutely THE BEST club directors in our area... and beyond!! The hours they put in would absolutely astound you. For those of you who don't know, to survive being a club director you have to really REALLY love these kids! haha
4. Our awesome head coaching staff. They all help formulate our club-wide coaching systems to be sure that our athletes are receiving the best, most up-to-date skill instruction available!
5. Our coaching staff. Hands down they are the most experienced, dedicated, and caring coaching staff in our area!! The behind-the-scenes work that goes into coaching club oftentimes outweighs the work that all can see. We are incredibly grateful for the time they give of themselves to all of the athletes in our club.
We hope that this week you will ponder on all that you are thankful for and enjoy the holiday!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM AMARILLO JUNIORS!!!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The Inside Scoop
Most people are innately nosey. Yes, we did just call you nosey.
For those of you that are willing to admit it (and, ok, those of you who aren't, too) here is a little peek at our first coaches meeting of the season!
Staff season theme: UNITY!
Unity is a noun. In fact, it is defined as, "The state of being one; a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one; oneness of mind, feeling, etc.; concord, harmony or agreement."
Anyone see a pattern here? How about the word "one"?
At Amarillo Juniors, we are focused on practicing what we preach. Individually, each coach in our club will preach "team team team" to our athletes all season long, doing everything short of pounding it into their heads with a hammer. (Ok so we don't really use physical violence to get that point across, but you see what we mean, right?) On that note, we believe it is essential for each of us as a staff to live out what we repeat season after season to our athletes - TEAMWORK!
One way our staff attempts to achieve that goal each year is by attending monthly meetings in which the entire staff gets together to discuss drill ideas, skill training, team building strategies, coaching techniques, and more.
One of our season quotes is, "The WE is greater than the ME."
Yes, that means we have each other's backs. That means we work as a unit. That means that, despite some differences in our coaching styles and variations in our skills training our foundation is the same.
In fact, it was years ago that this same core group of people decided to begin coaching cohesively across the board as a staff. Our rockin' head coaching staff (Jason Skoch, West Texas A&M head coach, Jason Culpepper, Randall High School head coach, Scott Sandel, Tascosa High School head coach, Jan Barker, Amarillo High School head coach, and Stephanie Bankhead, head club director for Amarillo Juniors) establishes yearly how we are going to teach our volleyball fundamentals and foundations to our athletes.
Some of you might also be interested in learning that each year the Amarillo Juniors coaching staff each individually sign a "Coaches Code of Conduct." This means there is no just "talking the talk," but a whole lot of "walking the walk."
Now, does this mean that at some point a parent (or player, but in the spirit of honestly we're going to let you know it is more often a parent) will not be upset by one of our coaches coaching styles or coaching decisions? Absolutely not, and truth be told, that line is often blurry, much to the frustration of everyone involved. We encourage the parents in our club to remain mindful that your athlete's coach truly DOES have her best interests at heart, and never makes any decision without a reason behind it. Oftentimes that reason is something you never thought it would be. Bottom line? Let the coaches do their job, they really do care about your kiddo!
At our meeting we also discussed the fact that the parents of our athletes are entrusting their daughters into our care to help teach them excellent volleyball (and therefore life) skills for 5-7 months of the year, and each coach on our staff takes this role extremely seriously. Collectively, we understand how difficult it is to step back and entrust your child's emotional well being to us, all the while knowing that there's a possibility not everything will go her way.
Bottom line is, our staff is hyper dedicated to our teams, and therefore dedicated to each individual athlete. We are dedicated to doing the best we can as often as we can and as long as we can to train our athletes and bring them to into their highest volleyball potential, ultimately leading to a successful collegiate career, should they so choose. We are committed to staying unified as a club and going at it as a team.
We are so pumped for what all this season will bring, and truly appreciate how many amazing families have chosen to be a part of it with us!
- Amarillo Juniors
For those of you that are willing to admit it (and, ok, those of you who aren't, too) here is a little peek at our first coaches meeting of the season!
Staff season theme: UNITY!
Unity is a noun. In fact, it is defined as, "The state of being one; a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one; oneness of mind, feeling, etc.; concord, harmony or agreement."
Anyone see a pattern here? How about the word "one"?
At Amarillo Juniors, we are focused on practicing what we preach. Individually, each coach in our club will preach "team team team" to our athletes all season long, doing everything short of pounding it into their heads with a hammer. (Ok so we don't really use physical violence to get that point across, but you see what we mean, right?) On that note, we believe it is essential for each of us as a staff to live out what we repeat season after season to our athletes - TEAMWORK!
One way our staff attempts to achieve that goal each year is by attending monthly meetings in which the entire staff gets together to discuss drill ideas, skill training, team building strategies, coaching techniques, and more.
One of our season quotes is, "The WE is greater than the ME."
Yes, that means we have each other's backs. That means we work as a unit. That means that, despite some differences in our coaching styles and variations in our skills training our foundation is the same.
In fact, it was years ago that this same core group of people decided to begin coaching cohesively across the board as a staff. Our rockin' head coaching staff (Jason Skoch, West Texas A&M head coach, Jason Culpepper, Randall High School head coach, Scott Sandel, Tascosa High School head coach, Jan Barker, Amarillo High School head coach, and Stephanie Bankhead, head club director for Amarillo Juniors) establishes yearly how we are going to teach our volleyball fundamentals and foundations to our athletes.
Some of you might also be interested in learning that each year the Amarillo Juniors coaching staff each individually sign a "Coaches Code of Conduct." This means there is no just "talking the talk," but a whole lot of "walking the walk."
Now, does this mean that at some point a parent (or player, but in the spirit of honestly we're going to let you know it is more often a parent) will not be upset by one of our coaches coaching styles or coaching decisions? Absolutely not, and truth be told, that line is often blurry, much to the frustration of everyone involved. We encourage the parents in our club to remain mindful that your athlete's coach truly DOES have her best interests at heart, and never makes any decision without a reason behind it. Oftentimes that reason is something you never thought it would be. Bottom line? Let the coaches do their job, they really do care about your kiddo!
At our meeting we also discussed the fact that the parents of our athletes are entrusting their daughters into our care to help teach them excellent volleyball (and therefore life) skills for 5-7 months of the year, and each coach on our staff takes this role extremely seriously. Collectively, we understand how difficult it is to step back and entrust your child's emotional well being to us, all the while knowing that there's a possibility not everything will go her way.
Bottom line is, our staff is hyper dedicated to our teams, and therefore dedicated to each individual athlete. We are dedicated to doing the best we can as often as we can and as long as we can to train our athletes and bring them to into their highest volleyball potential, ultimately leading to a successful collegiate career, should they so choose. We are committed to staying unified as a club and going at it as a team.
We are so pumped for what all this season will bring, and truly appreciate how many amazing families have chosen to be a part of it with us!
- Amarillo Juniors
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