NYR; What's yours?

Every year it happens; thousands upon thousands of people determine that next year they will _______________! For some it might be to get more organized, spend more time with family, or maybe prioritize better. For many, it likely has something to do with shedding some pounds.

It's true, most of us feel a little like the very fat, very stuffed turkey we ate for Christmas dinner following the holidays. You feel tired and lethargic, and the closest you get to exercise might just be standing up to find the remote so that you can turn the game on.

Check out the top 10 NYRs of 2012 according to the Statistic Brain Research Institute (statisticbrain.com):

1	Lose Weight
2	Getting Organized
3	Spend Less, Save More
4	Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5	Staying Fit and Healthy
6	Learn Something Exciting
7	Quit Smoking
8	Help Others in Their Dreams
9	Fall in Love
10	Spend More Time with Family

Do any of those look familiar? We feel it's safe to guess that New Year's Resolutions have a tendency to stay relatively the same year to year. Regardless of your personal NYR (New Year's Resolution, for anyone who didn't catch on to that), come April, we have long forgotten those goals and they are but a thing of the past. In fact, statisticbrain.com says that only around 8% of people who made resolutions in 2012 actually achieved them. In case you were wondering, that's not much.

What if this year was different for you? What if this year you could stick to your NYR? What if you really made it happen this time?

Here are three tips we have heard that are most likely, in our humble opinion, to help you succeed...

1. Set reasonable goals

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that losing 50 pounds, changing years-old habits, or completely reorganizing and prioritizing your life is not going to happen overnight. Be honest with yourself! The more realistic your goals are the more likely you are to achieve them! Essentially, you can set yourself up for failure by expecting too much, too soon. Frustration quickly edges in and that creep of a voice in your head determines, "I just can't do this. Maybe next year." DON'T let it get to that point!

2. Set buffers in place that will help keep you accountable

Write your goals down, tell your family and friends about your goals, and get things in motion! The quicker you move forward toward a goal the harder it is to quit on yourself cold turkey. For instance, want to lose weight? Join a gym, hire a trainer, download an exercise or calorie counting app. Do something that sets things in motion, which puts your brain in the "no turning back now" mode!

3. Plan for the longterm

Oh how easy it is to set a NYR for the "right now" moment. "Starting January 1st I am going to keep my house clean and organized!" So often we get in the mindset of setting goals that only go as far as "right now." Look to the future, and set your goals for a little longer term. Say, by July I will have organized every room in my house and will have developed a better house cleaning concept week to week that works for me. According to a study done by the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania referenced in this New Year's Resolutions's article, 75% of people who set a NYR will still be working towards it a week after good ol' January 1, but that percentage quickly declines to only 46% after 6 months. If your mindset is in longterm results mode, not "let's do this now!" mode, you are more likely to see success.

No matter the statistical percentages of those who actually achieve their goals, it is important to at least set some New Year's goals for yourself. According to Statistic Brain, "People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions."

So there you have it folks! If you haven't already, get cracking on your reasonable NYR for 2013.
HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at Amarillo Juniors!!!

Photo courtesy of G2 Class Blog*

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Winning the battle; Raising champions in athletics

Parents of athletes ask yourselves, "Overall, what do I hope for my daughter to gain from her club volleyball experience?"
Team coaches ask yourselves, "Overall, what do I hope my athletes will learn from me during this season?"
Players, ask yourselves, "Ultimately, what do I hope to walk away with at the end of my volleyball career?"

Making your high school team... a college scholarship... coming away with irreplaceable life skills and experiences?

These questions are important to ask so that we stay focused and on-task with our expectations and requirements. It's important that we are moving forward toward our ultimate goals.

As a club we came off of an extremely successful weekend of play last week. Eight of our 11 teams playing ended up top 5, and 9 of the 11 made it to the gold brackets of their divisions, 2 took home the gold championship, 2 got second in gold, 3 got third in gold, 1 won the silver championship...
That was one mighty successful tournament weekend!
However, coming off that weekend our club was faced with multiple situations in which a parent or player was unhappy about playing time.
Ohhh, playing time.
Such a difficult topic, but an important one to address all the same.
Our club philosophy is heavily focused on training. It does not guarantee "equal" playing time in any age group, and once at the level of 14s time on the court is not guaranteed at all.

But when we say we're training-focused, what do we mean?

"We view the training process to be the most important aspect and we do guarantee that your daughter will be trained correctly in every skill set," said Amarillo Juniors Club Director and 15 Royal Coach Stephanie Bankhead. "One of my favorite things about volleyball is I feel it is the ultimate team sport, as it is the smallest playing area with the greatest amount of people playing together in any sport.

I want to encourage all of the parents in our club to see the big picture of what playing volleyball can teach our children about life."

What is our club goal? To help our athletes learn how to win the battles they are faced with on and off the court.

"Amarillo Juniors. We create champions in athletics."

It is no secret that we are living in an "era of entitlement." You can ask any employer, and it is getting worse by the year. There are many steps we, as a volleyball club, take to battle this era and develop athletes that are hard working, flexible and well-rounded.
Success only comes after a battle. So how do we train our athletes and our daughters to win the battle?

1. Nothing is freely given and all opportunities have to be earned.

How often have you received a job opportunity having done no work toward achieving that position? Have you received a raise or promotion at work without working hard for it and proving that you are capable? Do you get an "A" in school for sitting at your desk and putting forth no effort? Absolutely not. This concept can go even further into these young women's lives as they venture on through marriage and raising a family. Do you have a healthy, happy marriage and family life if you don't work at it, day in and day out? Everything in life takes work, and most everything in life is a battle.
On the volleyball court, these young women have to compete for their positions. They have to put forth the effort in the areas of their attitude, readiness to adjust, teamwork, and skills. This is a great training tool and practice realm for them to see that opportunities are earned, not freely given.

2. How to overcome adversity.
Adversity can present itself in a multitude of forms, but it is an ever-present companion throughout our lives. Some experience more than others, but we all are faced with it. Like this blog points out, on the court, adversity can come from your opponent. In our sport, it can also come from player to player relationships, coach frustrations, parent upsets, and more. The athletes have an opportunity to learn how to a) not be afraid of adversity when it presents itself b) make necessary adjustments to overcome the adversity c) rely on the team structure and dynamic to conquer the adverse situation. Through facing adversity we gain strength. Are you allowing your children to face adversity or sheltering them from it? 
"I'm the parent of two adult children and remember how difficult it was on me as their mom when they had problems in their lives. I wanted to just snap my fingers and make things better for them. However, in my season of now being a grandparent, I realize that allowing our kids to work through adversity while they are young and still in the nest, so to speak, enables them to handle the BIG adversity the world will throw their way as adults," director Stephanie Bankhead said.

3. The "we" is greater than the "me."
Team sports are about the best platform we can think of to teach our children how to work, function, and be successful as a unit. Regardless of positions, each player has a role to fulfill on the team. When each player stands up and fulfills her role, the team dynamic is strengthened and goals are reached.
This concept, like the others we've discussed, so easily fits in to the big picture of life. We will continually make sacrifices in our lives for our "teams"... be it our family "team," or our workplace "team." Teaching our athletes that the unit is greater and stronger than the individual creates cohesion. A team who has one another's backs and stays focused on working together may lose a battle or two, but they will definitely win the war.

In life we very seldom have gain without pain, and we've all heard the famous saying, "Life's not fair." Regardless of its cliche' nature, it is true.

"The world is not 'fair' nor is it 'equal' and we need to teach our children that they will need to work hard in life, things don't always go our way, we are right to put others' needs ahead of our own and that everything usually all works out well in the long run if we just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep our faith," Bankhead says. 

We are so grateful to have the opportunity to help guide our athletes to success on the court through our cohesive skill training programs. We are even more grateful to have the opportunity to help guide our athletes to successes in their lives through our ventures on the court throughout the seasons.

How do you win your battles? Have you overcome a particular battle that you'd like to share?
Email your story to info@amarillojrs.com for the chance to be featured on our blog!

Congrats to all of our teams last weekend and good luck this weekend!
- Amarillo Juniors

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Set 'em high

As the first tournaments of the season draw near, we here at Amarillo Juniors have been thinking a lot about our goals for this season...
1. Continued cohesiveness on our coaching staff so we can grow and learn from one another
2. Establishing solid director to coaching staff to coaches to players relationships
and on and on the list goes... For us, this is an essential part of success.
It's an essential part of your success, too.
Goal setting does a lot for your game, including keeping you focused and driven, even when the going gets tough.We all know that there's a time during every season when we're just plain ol' tired. Having our goals set in front of you all season long will help you stay on task and press on during these moments.

How do you set goals?

First of all, remember to be realistic with yourself. You want your goal to be difficult to reach, yet achievable at the same time. Also, keep in mind the role you play on the team. How are your individual goals going to help you in the role you have on your team? It's a good question to ask yourself.

Also, it's important to be specific when goal setting. Saying, "I want to be a better server" is pretty vague. Try to really evaluate where you are at and decide from there where you would like to be. You can even work backwards. Visualize yourself where you would like to be, then take backward steps in your mind to determine what you need to do to get there. Try, "I want develop a more accurate serve by increasing my ability to serve to specific positions on the court in specific ways for a higher ace percentage." Or, "I want to increase my vertical jump by 2-3 inches and have a hitting percentage of .250 or higher." Specificity can be a huge tool in helping you attain your goals. It's easy to lose sight of them when they are too vague.

Write them down! This is a very important step. Write your goals down somewhere... maybe in multiple places. Put them on sticky-notes and have them stuck to your bathroom mirror, your desk, your computer, your locker, and so on. If we keep our goals in front of us we will remember them. This helps us continue to reach for them regularly.

Share your goals with others. Your coach, your teammates, people you trust. Make sure people around you know your goals, too, so they can help keep you accountable. We are much more likely to continue working hard for something if we know that someone in our life is going to ask us how it's coming!

Remember, going after our goals is a matter of short-term hard work to establish long-term results. If you put the effort in each day it will bring you one step closer!

Good luck!

- Amarillo Juniors

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