Good luck to all Front Range teams participating in this Sunday's power tournament. To see the complete list of teams in the power tournament, download this PDF . If you need directions to any of the sites, click
here. All sites have unique rules that govern their use (you can download many of those rules here); most sites do not allow coolers in the gym. Please represent Front Range well by being sure to obey the rules of the facility, as well as the tournament director. If you have any questions, please contact
your coach.
Cardinal: Coach Joe Brand |
Colorado College |
Amber: Coach Erin Glass |
CO Performance |
Royal: Coach Patrick O'Brien |
rMAC |
Navy: Coach Shayla Glendenning |
NORCO |
Pink: Coach Jen Pokraka |
rMAC |
One of the things all great competitors do is to respond to increased pressure by an opponent by applying more pressure to the opponent. You got a chance to feel this in an exercise you and your teammates did with me.
Last week, I took all of the Front Range girls teams through a bridging exercise. In the exercise two girls push their hands against each other while stepping away from each other to see how far apart they can get while still bridging over two teammates kneeling beneath them. The exercise let you experience a number of things you can use when you compete at Northern Lights. Remember the exercise?
The bridging is pretty easy at first and then suddenly gets much harder. NOW you have to 1) apply lots of pressure in a balanced way, 2) respond to incoming pressure by pushing back hard, 3) maintain composure and focus under pressure, 4) work with your partner and communicate (some communication is non-verbal) while under pressure, 5) know that you can push even harder and take yourself and your partner even further. The exercise pushed you physically, mentally and emotionally. Remember both understanding and feeling the difference when you pushed yourselves further?
Now your job is to take those feelings and skills on court with you and apply them to yourself and with your teammates whenever you compete (even in drills). Once you understand what it means to compete hard and apply pressure to your opponent,, you've taken a first important step. Next you need to practice it to perfect it and master it, so you'll know you have it to use when you need it at Northern Lights.
Your coach will take advantage of what you learned by catching you doing these things in competitive situations at the silo and in tournaments. Notice when your coach praises you and points out to you when you're doing any of the items listed above, using phrases like "There it is," or "That's it," and then describing which of the above items you were just demonstrating. Also notice your coach catching you when you aren't doing these things and challenging you to step it up.
Thank your coach for both the praise and the criticism - you need both to become more aware of what you're doing so you can master the art of applying lots of pressure to your opponent when you feel the pressure of competition.
This gives you a great way to shape the competitive behavior of your team.
Tim Engels, M.A., sports psychology consultant to Front Range Volleyball Club, is a sports psychology consultant and counselor in Denver, CO. You can contact him at (303) 956-5691 or tengels@qwest.net.
Prep Volleyball recently released their "Soph 79" list of the nation's top volleyball athletes in the sophomore class. The list is based solely on the players' achievements in the high school season and not on any club achievements.
Congratulations to Nicole Dalton (Soph 79), Nicole Edelman (Highest Honorable Mention), and Laura Steiner (Highest Honorable Mention) for their inclusion on this prestigious list!
