Congratulations go out to our amazing, undefeated State Finalist Girls Volleyball team who finished up the season today with a final record of 24-1. If you want the details of the match and of any of their previous victories along the road to Worcester, you can find them in many other media outlets.
This Blog entry is a humble attempt to put into words, just some of the many amazing lessons in excellence and championship mindset that the 2023 Bulldog Volleyball team has provided for the rest of us to learn from.
I ask Bulldog student athletes from any of our sports to take a look and see if anything that I have observed below about our State Finalist Volleyball team's successes can be something we take to our other sports programs as our journeys through Bulldog Athletics continue.
1. Resetting Mentally- The sport of volleyball, by nature, demands this in order to be successful. And it demands it CONTINUOUSLY. Our 2023 'dogs did it as well as any team I've ever seen. After each point, our players find ways to put that point behind them and move on to the next one. Whether it be a huge point we just won or a tough point lost, it's on to the next one. They use many tools to achieve this and they all revolve around team. They come together after each point. They celebrate after a winning point- TOGETHER. Or they come TOGETHER to help each other move on to the next one. I'm not sure there is a larger lesson for other student athletes to take away than this one. You feed off of your teammates when you have a mini-victory in order to climb higher...and you seek support from your teammates when you lose a point or suffer a setback. This resetting after each point is something all of us can apply to our own sports in our own way and is a prerequisite of a championship mindset.
2. Enjoying the Successes- Again, many sports teams do this well but our 2023 Girls Volleyball team had it down to a science! You only had to see this team compete once to know that they were having fun. They smile all the time. From warmups, to after big winning points, or as a method of shaking off a bad point. The smiles are powerful. So much for the traditional "game face"- that scowl of seriousness. That practice in successful teams nowadays is nowhere to be found. Watch this team warm-up for their matches and you see a loose, confident groups who is loving what they do and are fearless! No tension. Just love of the game and their team. Bulldogs everywhere- find the joy and you will find the success!
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| Hall of Fame Coach Pat Cawley in huddle |
3. Coaching Matters...and players must be Coachable- They don't make coaches better than our Coach Pat Cawley. At the helm of this group is a knowledgeable, hard working, passionate, caring coach (as are all of her assistants- but I'll keep this one to Pat.) Coach Cawley is an amazing role model who has instilled in our girls a confidence and relentless attitude. All coaches strive to hold high expectations while also being supportive and caring. Coach Cawley exemplifies that. But let's not forget that there are two sides to coaching...the coach and the one(s) being coached. This group was coachable. They were sponges for volleyball knowledge. Coachability is a key characteristic of a student athlete. Note- Coachability is not just blindly listening to your coaches- but it is having a growth mindset and looking for feedback to improve. It was clear that the 2023 Volleyball team members were coachable and the results speak for themselves.
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| A loud, positive bench makes a difference |
4. The "Bench" Matters- I chuckled with a bit of skepticism earlier in the season when I saw a video on social media (likely produced by the great Ed McDonough) that talked about the toy horse that would take residence on the Volleyball bench this year. It represented recognition given each match by the coaching staff to the person on the bench who got "horse" from being so loud in support of those on the court. Tacky? Yes. Effective YES! Our Volleyball team understands that a loud, supportive, positive bench makes a difference. It's not hard to see if you are in attendance at a match. The Canton bench rocked and clearly made a positive difference this season. There was no attitude on this team that if you were "on the bench" you were not involved. ALL Bulldog teams could benefit from watching our Volleyball bench and looking to replicate it!
5. Don't Yell at the Officials!- Our girls were amazing with the respect they showed officials. Coach would appropriately do the questioning of the officials when things were questionable, but our girls stayed in their lane and CONTROLLED the CONTROLLABLES. Despite the inevitable "questionable" calls that this team encountered, they always stayed focus on the task at hand and were never thrown off by the fallibility of the official.
6. Positivity is the key (Don't roll your eyes...please read.-) Obviously this one relates to the earlier point regarding enjoyment and smiles...but it is more than just enjoying things. Positive energy is a powerful weapon in sports. After watching this post-season journey, which was filled with plenty of challenging moments, I am hard-pressed to find a moment of negativity from the Bulldogs. Keeping it positive works.
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| Teammate Connection |
I'm at a lot of high school sporting events each year and I cannot say that all (or most) of them have anywhere near as positive a vibe as our Girls Volleyball matches. The stands are positive. The bench is positive. The players on the floor are positive. It is not uncommon at other Bulldog sporting events to see negativity creep in, and in some cases, take over. Let's all take a page from this Championship team and keep it positive!
7. Human Contact Is Important- Since Covid, there have been many studies done that teammates making physical contact with one another more often is good for team success. We lost a lot of that during Covid but recent research shows that when a team seeks out more physical contacts with their teammates during matches and practices- magic is easier to attain! Just watch the number of high-fives, fist bumps, back slaps, hugs and other player-to-player moments of physical contact that occurs between members of our Girls Volleyball team in a match. It is a staggering amount. It happens CONSTANTLY. And it clearly matters. Whether it is being used as a reset, a show of support or as a celebration, it is happening ALL of the TIME. Bulldogs- seek out your teammates during competition and connect more!
8. The Dog Pound is Powerful- Let's support each other! Nobody will ever convince me that our Dog Pound didn't make a positive difference in the Girls Volleyball team's Semi-Final thrilling win over Algonquin. The Pound was HUGE Wednesday night. They were critical in helping the girls find their footing heading into that 5th set. This Volleyball team's success should show us that the support matters!
9. CARE- There were a lot of Bulldog tears during the post-match ceremony today. It makes total sense that those tears fell. When you care deeply about something your emotions are at greater risk!
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| TEAM matters |
We get more devastated in defeat when we care deeply. One of the main reasons this group exceled was that they CARED DEEPLY. Bulldogs- when you care deeply about something, you are willing to put the work into being great at it. And then a funny thing happens--- when you put more work into it, you care MORE! It is a chicken and the egg kinda thing, but the bottom line is that caring about and having pride in what you do has a huge positive impact.
FINALLY- Congratulations again to our once-beaten, State Finalist Girls Volleyball team on a historic season. And THANK YOU to all of you for providing a roadmap for the rest of us!
