A Desert Diary: Volleyball

This year I had the incredible honor of being the JV Girls Volleyball coach. Though I had never coached professionally before I thought that my level of skill and experience with this favorite sport of mine would be sufficient to guide me through a month long coaching stint. Though I was nervous at first and full of some initial self-doubt, this experience was one of the most wonderful, challenging and rewarding I've ever had in my life. I learned so much and forged incredible bonds with a group of young women who will forever be a part of my life. As opposed to me "coaching" them or "telling"them what to do, I felt more like a nurturing mother guiding them and inspiring them to work hard and find joy everything. As always, it wasn't just about the volleyball.

We had a fun but short season. We started off so strong -- winning most of our games and taking GOLD in our local tournament competition. However, by the time our Inter-Kingdom tournament rolled around at the end of October, we were pretty worn down and exhausted. After losing several of our players to prior commitments and injuries, we ended up only taking fourth in our second but last tournament in Yanbu. The girls learned a lot from the experience. They were obviously heartbroken at their loss, but learned to accept their shortcomings and focused on keeping their spirits high even in defeat. They never stopped smiling and I never stopped being proud of them.

I learned a great deal too. Though at first I felt like a failure as a coach, I quickly realized that I couldn't get down on myself....all my energies had to be channeled into lifting up my girls' spirits and making them feel better as opposed to feeling sorry for myself. It was a humbling experience and I feel I am a stronger person because of it.