Krush Volleyball Club: About Krush Volleyball Club

Krush VBC is an Athletic and educational organization. We believe the underlying values we teach are fundamental to players’ development as athletes, students, and people. Although one of our goals is to develop teams that will compete for Regional Championships and qualify for National Championships, we recognize the most important lessons we teach extend beyond the gym. The value of hard work is at the heart of everything we teach. Here are some examples of things in which we believe:

• Volleyball should be fun and educational.
• There is no “ I “ in team.
• There is inherent value in hard work.
• One should strive to be among the region’s and nation’s best players.
• Every time you walk into a gym, you should learn something.
• Athletics should complement academics.
• Making your best effort takes courage. Courage is habit-forming.

QUALITY - Countless unseen details are often the only difference between mediocre and magnificent.

There is no need to choose between the two. We believe in winning, and we believe in enjoying the experience, but these are both components and by-products of a goal which is more immediate and more far-reaching: hard work. There are many things we can’t control, our level of effort, and our attitude are not among them.

Social, carefree fun happens spontaneously in the context of a cohesive group bound together by working hard towards a common goal. Consistent with this, we focus on providing the structure where a team can feel proud of its efforts.

A. Winning and enjoying the process are components of effort.

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     1. Desire to win, or competitive spirit, is one of the main motivating forces behind hard work. Desire to win makes it easy to put the effort in, but this is just the beginning.
     2. It is essential to enjoy the feeling and satisfaction of working hard, and to maintain a positive attitude throughout. You have to love the challenge in order to put in your best effort. It’s not always “fun,” but if you dislike hard work, you’ll never reach your potential. Worse yet, in a team sport you’ll bring the whole team down. If you love the process, and not just the result, your pleasure will increase exponentially. Rarely is desire to win a strong enough motivator. If winning is all you care about, then you’ve got almost no chance to be satisfied in life, unless you sell yourself short by looking for situations where you’re less likely to risk losing. You must push yourself hard; only then can you be satisfied with the results, whatever they may be.

B. Winning and enjoying the process are by-products of hard work.

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     1. Put winning in its proper place: it’s a result of hard work. Do the work, and the results will take care of themselves. The best you can hope for is to work hard enough that you win every match you’re capable of winning.
     2. “Fun” is a by-product of hard work. What are the pleasurable things that come from hard work? To name a few: individual and team improvement, more wins, the satisfaction of knowing you’ve challenged yourself, and the self-confidence of knowing that you were up to the challenge.

C. Hard work is an immediate goal.
Winning is an “end goal;” it’s someplace you want to wind up, not a road map for how to get there. Desire to win might motivate you, but focusing on winning alone won’t help you get better. “Process goals” help you improve; they are the road map. If you focus on the details, if you can put the effort into the process, then you better your chances of reaching your ultimate goal.

D. Hard work is an ultimate goal.
Hard work isn’t just a means to an end, learning to work hard is an end in itself. When all is said and done, simply being a better volleyball player isn’t likely to make your life much better. Even the rare few who wind up having a career in sports won’t be active players for much of their lives. Even if this experience has no other meaning, one should learn the value of hard work. Certainly, it’s important to know the satisfaction of working hard, especially working with others towards a common goal. Just as important, however, is the confidence and courage developed from being willing to put out your best effort, and accepting the results, whatever they may be.

The rule is that there is no “ I “ in team. The corollary to the rule is that no team reaches its potential without every player making a contribution. Each player must also be aware of their importance to the team.

A. Team first.
This means that everyone is working towards the same goals, and they have to put their private agendas aside when they interfere with the team’s goals. A team is not a democracy, it is a meritocracy. Every coach is looking to get the most out of the team, and to do that they will try to get the most out of every player. Competitive players all want to play as much as possible, but the attitude we’re looking for is “what can I do to help the team?”

B. The importance of every team member.
For a successful team, the coach must consider each player as part of the whole. In an ideal situation, every player will be proud of her contribution to the team’s success. What are the components of this?

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     1. Every player gets opportunities. There are at least two kinds of opportunities. First, as mentioned above, the opportunity to earn a playing time is always there; every player gets the same opportunities in practice to earn playing time. Whether in game situations or practice, the coach is responsible for identifying the strongest line-up, which means constant reevaluation. The second type, opportunities to compete in game situations, varies from team to team, along age lines. The older the team, the more it is true that playing time is earned, not given. Whoever is playing best will play the most, but this is always subject to change based on what a player does with the opportunities in practice.
     2. Every player has a role. Those players who play less than others are vital parts of a team’s success. First, they always have the opportunity to show they can help the team improve. No starting line-up is ever permanent. Also, they can raise the level of practice, maintain the level of play when called upon, or raise the level -- thus earning more playing time. When a player isn’t happy with her role, the appropriate response is to be sure she understands what she needs to do, then work as hard as possible to effectuate the change.
     3. Exposure. By the time a player gets to the 16’s, recruiting is an important part of club volleyball. Coaches are aware of this, and will look for appropriate opportunities to give every player exposure in positive situations. Keep in mind, however, that most recruiting in volleyball is player-initiated. When a player has been corresponding with a program that is in attendance, our coaches will look for opportunities for exposure, provided that it is not at the expense of the team.

In case it isn’t obvious, we do all we can to stay aware of the big picture. This may mean simply keeping one play, one match, or one tournament in perspective. This may also mean recognizing that there are values more important than winning which we must follow as we pursue volleyball excellence. We believe our philosophy allows us to remain true to our principles and develop great teams and players. Doing things right and doing well go hand-in-hand.

Below are some examples which address specific situations. While we do not expect players and their families to put volleyball above everything else in their lives, we know what it takes to be successful as a team or an individual. Time management, prioritizing, making tough choices, and self-discipline are all skills which will allow players to grow as athletes and people. Our teams are most successful, and individual players have fulfilling experiences, when the commitment level is highest.

A. Academics, Family, & Social Life
As a club volleyball program, we are preparing players for success as student-athletes. That’s student first, athlete second. One of the reasons we have coaches who have played for, or worked with, college programs with all our teams is to provide role models who understand just how difficult it is to balance academics, sports, family, and social life (yes, we believe in that, too). When the time comes for choosing a college, we offer advice for the academic side as well as the athletic. The emphasis on school does not mean that players are encouraged to miss practices for academic reasons. The lessons student-athletes must learn include how to plan ahead, so we expect that players won’t miss practices due to a lack of foresight. In the end, however, we’d rather you miss a practice and invoke a modest penalty than fail to turn in an assignment.

B. School Sports
At Kaepa Krush VBC, we believe as long as a player decides to play a school sport, it is up to the player to set her priorities. What we expect, however, is the player will do everything possible to fulfill her commitment to her Krush team. The consequences for missing a practice or tournament for a school sport are no different than for other legitimate reasons. These consequences are more than obvious things like not playing as much in games. When you miss an opportunity to practice, you won’t improve. This affects performance, thus playing time. Still, club volleyball is a long season, and there have been plenty of multi-sport athletes who miss some training, but when they are there full-time, they’re in great shape and ready to catch up quickly.

C. Personal growth.
There are a number of important lessons that come from playing team sports, especially at the high level at which Kaepa Krush VBC teams play. Many of these have already been mentioned. Here, however, are a few of the things that we consider important: accepting responsibility, teamwork, communication, challenging yourself, discipline, and working passionately for something. There are a lot more, but the point is just this: we’re aware of the big picture, and we try to make it a part of everything we do.

Choosing a team shouldn’t be based on whether it’s the best team in the club. Instead, a smart decision will consider the quality of the team, the coaching, your role, and the program in general. At Kaepa Krush VBC, the approach to every team is the same. We expect a high degree of commitment from every player and coach on every team.