HO'OKINO VOLLEYBALL CLUB

2024 HO'OKINO VOLLEYBALL CLUB

TRYOUTS COMPLETED

Mahalo to all that have come out for our tryouts. All rosters have been completed at this time. Invitations have or will be sent out tomorrow. If invitations are not accepted, I will post opening on our website as soon as they become available.

Renew/Register for your 2024 USAV membership today.  Here is a link to the Sports Engine USAV membership site; USAV Membership.

What makes our training different from others? 

Our training sessions will focus on Concept Training.  This is the process of teaching our athletes ideas or a set of rules that will give the individual a broader view/understanding of the game. We hope that our teachings will become the core competencies of the athlete and that everyone will be able to apply these ideas to different situations on the court.

Our next training program will start in March 2021.  The number of participants per session will depend on which tier we are in.  Each session will be one hour long and will cover activities in Stage 1, b) and c).  We will cover the following skills during the training sessions; ball control, attacking, serving, and setting. 

Stage 1: Training Session

a) Footwork, Balance, and Flexibility 

b) Skills Training

c) Concept Training

Stage 2: Club Pre-Season

a) Strength Training

b) Aerobic and Anaerobic Training

c) Volleyball Terminology

d) Incorporate concepts covered in Stage 1.

Stage 3: Club Season

a) System Training

b) Tactical Training

c) Incorporate concepts covered in Stage 1 and 2.

To sign-up for our next training session, please register on the link on the right top of the Home page.

For more information, please email us at hvc01@hotmail.com.

1. Getting involved in the hype by reading the papers, social media and/or looking up your stats. After your season is over, then you can check this stuff out. During the season, focus on always improving.
2. Associating with negative people. They will slow you down and taint your progress during the season. Keep your distance from them.
3. Making a match or tournament “special”. All matches and practices are important, but nothing is ever special. Special adds pressure. Treat everything the same to stay consistent.
4. Believing ANY opponent you face is unbeatable. There are countless examples of then the underdog succeeded – David and Goliath, The movie “Miracle”, etc. It is possible for you too.
5. Getting hung up on the past or worrying about the future. Only worry about the present and how you can do your best at this moment.
6. Under any circumstances using the word CAN’T. Do not ever say that word!
7. Dwelling on a setback or loss. The best way to get over a loss is to learn from it. Grow from the mistake and use it to your advantage.
8. Focusing exclusively on winning or titles. Also note when you reach new milestones or personal achievements – they are important too.
9. Competing not to lose. Not losing should not be your goal – always play to win and achieve your goals.
10. Using extreme self-talk that puts extra pressure on you. Do not use words like “must,” “should,” or “need to.” Instead, say “I want” and “I choose.”
11. Bonus: Not being mentally prepared to achieve your goals.

By: Jon Gordon

• Communication builds trust. For the most part, the time of the coach who just hollers, but doesn’t explain has passed.  Have a communication plan for your team.  Whether it’s weekly check-ins or regular individual meetings.  Tell your team your vision for the program…and recruits…and your team’s parents.  Everyone should know why you love coaching/your sport and where you think your team is going.
• Trust generates commitment. If you’re one of those coaches who is trying to figure out how to get their team to be committed in the off-season or to hold their teammates accountable, building trust is key.  Trust between the coaching staff, trust between athlete and coach, and trust between the athletes.
• Commitment fosters teamwork. This is the good stuff! Teamwork means you’ve got players who don’t care about playing time, who are willing to sacrifice their personal desires for the greater good, who lead or follow as your team dynamics require.  Teamwork is competitive, cooperative, and collaborative…not combative.
• Teamwork delivers results. If you continually put in the work mentioned in the previous points, then you can bask in the wonderfulness that is a well-functioning team.

As you can see, this has to be intentional, but it’s good work and well worth the effort.

By: Dr. Cory Dobbs

Winning is giving your best self away

Winning is serving with grace every day

You’ll know that you’ve won when your friends say it’s true.

“I like who I am when I’m around you.

You look for the best in others you see

And you help us become who we’re trying to be.”

Winning is helping someone who’s down

It’s sharing a smile instead of a frown.

It’s giving your children a hug by the fire

And sharing the values and dreams that inspire.

It’s giving your parents the message “I care.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for being so fair.”

Winners are willing to give more than get

Their favors are free, you’re never in debt.

Winning is giving one hundred percent

It’s paying your dues, your taxes, your rent

It’s trying and doing, not crying and stewing.

Winners respect every color and creed,

They share and they care for everyone’s need.

The losers keep betting that winning is getting

But there’s one law that they keep forgetting

And this is the Law you can live and believe

The more that you give, the more you’ll receive!

This post is provided by Coaches Network

Communication is a two-way street. Not only do coaches need to be able to send clear messages that are interpreted as intended, they also need to receive messages from their athletes and staff.

In a book published by Human Kinetics, Sports psychologists Damon Burton and Thomas Raedeke, describe what good communication looks like and why it’s so important to the success of a coach.

Coaches who can clearly communicate expectations, goals, standards, and feelings to their athletes will be better able to provide instruction and lead their team. First, it’s important to note that there are two types of communication: verbal and nonverbal. Both can play a major role in how you interact with your athletes.

Many don’t realize how much nonverbal actions or gestures can affect the messages you send to others. According to Burton and Raedeke, “communication experts suggest that between 65% and 93% of the meaning of a message is conveyed through tone of voice and nonverbal behaviors (Johnson 2003).” This means that your behavior should reinforce what you say. For example, if you tell your athletes to have a positive attitude regardless of the score, you shouldn’t have a sad or dejected look on the sidelines when your team is losing or making mistakes.

Just as athletes will pick up your nonverbal cues, coaches can also learn a lot from the way athletes behave. Not every athlete is going to tell you when they’re feeling confident or when they’re unhappy or discouraged. By being an active observer, you can better understand how your athletes are feeling and how you should communicate with them.

Timing is key to communication. Coaches constantly need to make judgments on whether a message needs to be sent. Sometimes a situation requires a coach’s intervention, while other times athletes might benefit from having the independence to figure things out on their own. Try to find a balance between talking too much and talking too little. Coaches who talk too much tend to ramble on and bore their athletes with unnecessary instruction, while coaches who talk too little can make the mistake of assuming their athletes know what to do or what is expected of them.

Interpretation is also a major factor. Saying something is one thing but getting others to correctly interpret what you mean is another. It’s easy for coaches to think that what they say to their athletes will be interpreted as encouragement or helpful instruction. Yet, according to Burton and Raedeke, a simple “Run hard!” from a coach can sometimes be interpreted as “He never thinks I run hard enough.” In order to effectively communicate, you will need to give equal weight to the content of the message and the emotional impact on the receiver. By getting to know your athletes, you can become more aware of what to say and how to say it.

Burton and Raedeke cite a study that involved spending hundreds of hours observing coaches and evaluating their impact on athletes (Smith 2001, Smoll & Smith 2006). The researchers observed more than 70 coaches, coded over 80,000 behaviors, and surveyed close to 1,000 athletes. Their findings provide a helpful guide to effective communication.

They found that athletes responded positively to coaches who provided:

Positive feedback after a good performance effort

Corrective instruction and encouragement after a performance mistake

Technical instruction and a moderate amount of general encouragement unrelated to performance quality

On the other hand, athletes responded unfavorably to coaches who:

Failed to notice or reinforce good performance efforts

Criticized mistakes

Provided instruction after a mistake in a critical fashion 

Are you in pursuit of success? Of course, you are.  You are a coach and that’s what we do. The pursuit is nearly impossible if attempted by yourself. We need help. Here are 6 key pieces to cooperation.

By Dawn Redd-Kelly, Head Volleyball Coach at Beloit College.

Cooperation

Most of us coaches would love to think that we are the magician’s behind the curtains of our teams…willing them to excel and exceed expectations.  But when we wake up from dreamland, we realize that we are beholden to so many groups of people that when you sit down and really think about it…success is a truly wonderful thing, a group effort, and something to be celebrated.  Now, let’s look at the:

The 6 essential pieces of cooperation

1.  Administration:  So coach, you’ve landed that sweet interview at the school of your dreams and they ask the Interview Hall of Fame question: do you have any questions?  Well, as a matter of fact you do!  Your knowledge of your sport is only going to get you so far.  You’ll also need to know how many assistant coaches your program will be funded for, what shape your equipment is in…and if you’ve got the budget to upgrade as necessary, what the facilities (locker rooms, gyms, weight room, etc.) are like, how the travel schedule is put together and what the mode of transportation is normally.

2.  Support Staff: If you think you can really succeed without the training room staff keeping your athletes in one piece, the sports information director getting the word out about how awesome your team is, and the strength and conditioning staff…well, strengthening and conditioning your team, you are living in la-la land.  Not to mention the office workers who make copies, mail letters, and make sure your credit card bill is paid on time.  They are crucial to what we do!

3.  Parents: No matter the level (youth through the collegiate ranks), parents will play a key role in our sports programs.  Whether they’re supplying orange slices, baking cookies, or making a holiday dinner for a college team that’s on the road and can’t make it home…they’re important and you’d be well served to embrace your team parents.  Additionally, building a good relationship with your parents will help when one of your players makes the inevitable grumpy call home.  The parents who feel involved and believe in you and your program will nip that in the bud.

4.  Fans: There’s no such thing as a home court advantage without them!  The ones that come to your games in body paint, or do pushups for how many points you have, or who travel all over the place just to watch you play.  Those folks are awesome and it’d probably be a good idea for your program to figure out a way to celebrate the die-hards who are always there for you.

5.  Athletes: You can know everything about your sport, but you can’t play.  Your knowledge is useless without your athletes.  They’ve got to buy-in (cooperate) to your offensive and defensive schemes, your ideas on off-season workouts, and ultimately…to you as a coach.  They’ve got to be willing to work hard every day in practice and in even harder in the classroom.  You’ve got to trust them to be good spokespeople for your program and ambassadors for your team.

6.  Coach: I haven’t forgotten about us coaches!  Our job is to be knowledgeable…that’s the way we earn the respect of our teams.  We’ve also got to be caring…once we reach that combination, that’s when our teams start running through walls for us.  We need to be able to make in-game adjustments that put our team at an advantage.  In terms of functioning within a larger group, we must be able to manage our athletes when they’re out of our sight (in the classroom, at night when they’re out with their friends), so training up quality leaders is huge.  Finally, we’ve got to be our team’s biggest advocates.  Whether we’re fundraising or just getting the word out about good things that are happening within our programs, it’s part of the job of the head coach to get out front on these things.

As Coach John Wooden says, “in order to reach the full potential of the group, there must be cooperation at all levels.”  Hopefully you were thinking about some of the folks who help you and your team out and will thank them for their cooperation.

This article was provided by InnerDrive, a mental skills training company.

What is the hallmark of a champion? Big players perform their best in big matches and at the most important competitions. Think the likes of Tom Brady at Super Bowl 2017 and Laura Kenny at London 2012 and Rio 2016. But what do these types of athletes do that allow them to raise their game when the situation requires it? Can students employ the same techniques in their exams?

Researchers have been investigating why some people flourish and why some wilt under pressure. The answer seems to be around if you can get yourself into a ‘challenge state’ (characterized by feeling supported, believing you can meet the task and remembering previous successful performance). The opposite is a ‘threat state’ which is when athletes don’t feel in control, feel isolated and dwell on uncertainty.

A new study has just been released that adds to our understanding. It is on ‘psychological state that underlie clutch performances’. ‘Clutch’ performances is the term used to describe “superior performances that occur under pressure circumstances”. It is delivering your best when it matters the most. We had the pleasure of speaking to one of the researchers, Christian Swann about his paper. He detailed the 10 characteristics of performing brilliantly under pressure:

• Complete and deliberate focus – concentrating on the task at hand

• Intense effort- 100% commitment and work rate

• Heightened awareness – to both your surroundings and your own mental state

• Being up for it – being pumped up for the moment

• Absence of negative thoughts – focusing on what you want, not what you don’t want

• Fully absorbed – immersing yourself in the performance

• Confidence – believing you will achieve

• Control – focusing on what you can control (your thoughts, feelings and reactions)

• Increased motivation – being determined to succeed

• Enjoyment – fully embracing the challenge.

This research compliments existing literature on the psychology of Olympic Champions, with work-rate, confidence, positivity and the ability to block out distractions featuring in both. What is encouraging is that these are skills that can be learnt and developed. They are not set in stone. If athletes and students can master these skills, they give themselves the best chances of success when it matters the most.

Article written by Reed Maltbie, Chief Content Officer and Lead Presenter for Changing the Game Project.

Warrior cultures are not teaching winning but are teaching competing.

Warrior cultures set themselves apart by how they view, approach, and even deal with winning. It is not the goal. It is part of the journey. It is accepted humbly and then they move on to the next day.

Great parents and coaches know that all warriors are winners, but not all winners are warriors.

That is worth repeating: all warriors are winners, but not all winners are warriors. The simple commitment to personal excellence, high standards, and an ethereal quest to be better than the day before makes a warrior a winner.

Breaking rules, taking shortcuts, using others for your gain, and finding the easy route that guarantees victory makes a person a winner, but it certainly makes no warrior. It is important that we strive each and every moment we educate to create true warriors in our children. Persons who live by unbending values, who cherish the challenge, who respect the nature of competition and who run headlong into the quest for excellence. We are obligated to intentionally create those kinds of players in every moment…even the solitary ones in parking lots.

It takes a certain set of traits and beliefs to develop warriors, but if you are deliberate you can create warriors in all your athletes. Here is a guide for knowing how to create warriors not winners on your team:

• Warriors are purpose-driven WHILE winners are trophy-driven. While winners seek the terminal moment on the podium with an object that will someday be rusty, dusty and sold at a garage sale, the warriors are driven by some inner purpose that stems from a need to seek excellence in all they do. Master the self and you will find real victory.
• Warriors are internally motivated WHILE winners are externally motivated. It stands to reason, if you seek trophies, you seek something outside of you. Your drive is motivated by some external need that may be out of your control and is certainly not owned by you. Warriors, on the other hand, are driven by some inner quest. They wake up each morning starting fresh to make a better person than the day prior. Like New Zealand All Blacks legend Richie McCaw who writes “Start Again” in his journal each new day. This has nothing to do with the world outside of him and has everything to do with the world inside his soul…something he alone can own.
• Warriors have a growth mindset WHILE winners have a fixed mindset. I like to use the term I coined during my Masters Thesis to describe a winner’s fixed mindset – American Idol Syndrome. He spends his entire life thinking he is special and endowed by some great being to win since the day he graced this planet. One day he loses and what follows is an epic meltdown, like on American Idol when Simon Cowell would insult some would-be singer, “but momma always said I was the best!” A winner doesn’t see the loss as part of growth and a waypoint on the journey. He simply melts down and turns back to the journey. Steph Curry and his team lost a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals and instead of tossing a colossal fit, they saw it as a chance to get better. They know losing is part of the journey and the only thing to do at the hands of a loss is to grow.
• Warriors are process-oriented WHILE winners are outcome-oriented. Winners always seem to have an eye on the end-game. They will cut a corner during training to get to the finish line first. They focus on the arrival instead of the journey. When we constantly have one eye on the goal, we only have one eye on the path. It is easy to take a misstep that way. Warriors embed themselves in the process. For them, the arrival is merely another moment along that journey and what is most important is keeping both eyes directly focused on the path itself. This creates a mastery mindset in warriors. The focus on each and every step means mastery of the journey itself. Returning to Steph Curry as an example of a warrior, even as the reigning three-point leader, he went into the 2015 offseason focused on honing his shooting skill even more. He was so intensely committed to the process, he shattered the single season three-point numbers the following year.
• Warriors are values-based WHILE winners are glory-based. A winner’s core mission tends to be glory. If you judge success only by the number of trophies, you are a glory seeker. You tend to base your own existence, happiness, and core mission on how many trinkets you collect and how much glory you can have heaped on you. Glory feeds the ego, the ego disconnects who we are from why we are. In other words, we stop chasing that why, that inescapable passion to follow our life purpose and grow our soul. Instead, we chase those things that grow our ego. We become bigger than life, and more important than the world around us. Warriors feed the soul with all they do. They do it because they are rooted in strong values that remind them of why they do what they do. The New Zealand All Blacks provide a great example of values-based warriors. All they do is rooted in the beliefs that better people make better All Blacks, that they should plant trees they may never see, that they should leave the jersey in a better place. For them, it is about serving the world with their unshakeable purpose and leaving an imprint that is bigger than themselves. It is about creating a legacy of excellence for generations to come. Seek values and you battle for something greater than glory or a trophies, you battle for something greater than you. You battle for a legacy of excellence.

A LEADER, LEADS BY EXAMPLE: A leader must be a positive role model at all times. Every word spoken has to be a positive word. Every act the athlete does must be a positive act. A leader can never be negative. The athlete must be a shining example of what it takes to be great.

A LEADER BRINGS OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS: A leader must be the type of person that others want to be like. The athlete has to inspire his/her teammates to be their very best.

A LEADER IS AN EXTENSION OF THE COACH: Most athletes are well behaved when the coach is around. However, when the coach is not around, negative things can occur. Any type of negative talk, about the team or another athlete, is detrimental to the team. A leader does not try to cut corners in any way. The athlete knows what the team rules are and does not break them or allow others to break them.

A LEADER IS A HARD WORKER: A leader must enjoy serving others. The athlete must want to do the things that are necessary for a team to have success. A leader is always trying to think of ways to improve the team.

A LEADER PUTS THE TEAM FIRST: It is easy to come up with excuses why the athlete can’t get a task done.  If you want to do something, you can almost always do it. If you don’t want to do something, you can almost always find an excuse so that you don’t have to do it.

A LEADER TRULY WANTS TO BE A SERVANT: You can’t fake it, you either want to be a positive servant to your team, or you don’t. The leaders of a team do not have to be the best players. In fact, I think it is neat when someone who isn’t a great player steps up and takes on a leadership role. Your job as a member of this team is to find some way to make a positive contribution to the team. For some that contribution may be providing leadership.

Years ago a young reporter assigned to the “minor” sports of the Olympic Games-rowing, canoeing, and kayaking—set out to uncover how the champions in these events mentally prepared for success. Considering these athletes participated in outdoor sports he began by asking what they would do in case of adverse conditions caused by rain, strong winds, or choppy waters—all obstacles certain to happen at some time during their events. To his surprise the response, was always the same: “That’s outside my boat.” After hearing this from athlete after athlete the reporter realized that a focused perspective was their guide to inner excellence.

The Olympians’ intense internal focus served to eliminate distractions—those things that were out of their control—thereby allowing them to concentrate on those things they could control. These premier athletes chose an attitude of optimism over pessimism, of responsibility over irresponsibility, and of problem solver over victim of circumstances. They focused on results, not on obstacles.

Attitudes are important. Your outlook on life is the lens through which you see the world. When challenges and adversity hit you or your team, and they will, you have an opportunity to decide what to focus on. Your focus can and will influence your teammates. When your teammates are frustrated or uncertain about a course of action, they will look to you as a guide to their decisions and actions.

The Olympian rowers exemplify how focus on objectives, not on the obstacles, is the key to championship performance. The major point is that everyone has the ability to choose their attitudes and develop a positive state of mind. Players with poor attitudes are going to be unhappy and quick to blame their circumstance or other teammates for failure when confronted with trials and tribulations. Many choices of attitudes exist, and the one’s you and your teammates choose matter.

Obstacles are always a part of the competitive sports environment. Effective team leaders accept this fact and focus their attention on what they know they can do, regardless of the external context. Committed team members know and accept the vital role of problem-solver as a responsibility of team leadership. And being an effective problem solver requires leaders to know when a problem is outside the boat.

The high-performing team leader recognizes the importance of helping his or her teammates to manage the journey. The first step toward focusing your teammates on the objectives is reinforcing team member commitment to the team’s objectives—its vision, mission, and goals. And when obstacles arise, become an active change agent helping teammates adjust their attitudes and refocus their energy. Whether in calm or troubled waters, champions overcome obstacles by focusing on objectives.

Article by Cory Dobbs, Ed.D. - Founder, The Academy for Sport Leadership

10 THINGS THAT REQUIRE ZERO TALENT:

BEING ON TIME

WORK ETHIC

EFFORT

BODY LANGUAGE

ENERGY

ATTITUDE

PASSION

BEING COACHABLE

DOING EXTRA

BEING PREPARED

IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU.

The most dangerous phase in language is....

"We've always done it this way!"

- Grace Hooper

Complacency Breeds Mediocrity

Constructive criticism and positive feedback is the lifeblood of an individual’s growth.  Individuals that remain content with the status quo will frizzle out and go by the wayside.  It is important that we continue to reinvent what we do, how and why we do the things that we do.  In order for us to grow, change is a must.

Take some time to stop and think about how certain changes in your life could positively affect you and the people around you.  It could just be a few minor changes that make a major difference.

I haven't forgotten the parent who sat across the court from the bench. He would talk with his daughter about how she was playing and what she could play better. I'm not sure everything he was suggesting was the same that the daughter was hearing in the huddle or at halftime. What is the girl supposed to do? Should she listen to her dad or listen to her coach? 

Click the link below for a brief interview with Kevin Eastman, VP for basketball operations with the Los Angeles Clippers. When asked why he would not say anything during his son’s games Eastman said, “The answer is simple. Because I’m a parent, not a coach.” He goes on to say that athletes play for coaches, just like people work for bosses in the real world. It is essential to communicate through coaches and bosses rather than a third party, and athletes can learn this skill through sports.

http://youtu.be/AEQXw76oooM

inspired by posting from Shad Martin

You can reach the author of this article, Jeffrey Kerns, at Jeffreyskerns@aol.com.

Jan 18, 2016

To My Daughter Allie,

RE: Why I don’t Pay for Club Volleyball.

One of my friends asked, "Why do you pay so much for club volleyball?, Below is a summary of my answer, I wanted you to know what I really “pay” for and what I hope you gain from these experiences. The truth is I never intended to pay for club volleyball.

I pay to assure that you are  pushed beyond your perceived limits. I pay professional coaches to challenge you at every practice and match. I pay them to push and challenge you to the point where you might want to quit because it is so tough. I pay them to build up your confidence at the same time so you don’t. I pay them to coach you in volleyball because I understand that your self-assurance on the court transcends to your everyday life. I pay for you to learn how to set goals and chase down dreams. I pay your coaches to help install a high level of self-confidence that you can and will accomplish the goals you set for yourself. I pay so you have more caring and responsible adults involved in your life. I pay for the days when you arrive at home exhausted from school and you are not psyched to attend position training/weights/plyo-metics, but you do it anyway because it will make you better. I pay for the life lessons that losses, frustrations, and disappointment from competition can provide. I pay for life lessons, victories, and personal/team accomplishments that competition can provide. I pay for these opportunities because I do not have to push or force you to play volleyball, rather your desire to play is unequivocally intrinsic.

I pay for you to have opportunities to take pride in your actions on and off the court. I pay for you to be accountable to others (coaches, teammates, club directors) and to help you understand that you are not the center of the universe. I pay for the opportunity for you to honor your teammates and coaches by always giving your best effort on and off the court. I pay for you to have the leadership opportunities volleyball offers. I pay to provide opportunities for you to help everyone around you improve as a person and teammate. I pay for you to understand that you will forever be surrounded by more talented people and less talented people, and that a true leader has the humility and patience to work with both. I pay for you, my daughter, to learn that it is the accumulation of hours upon hours of practice combined with numerous personal sacrifices to be an overnight success.

No it is not club volleyball that I am paying for, I am paying for the time and conversation with a teenage girl on the way to and from practice. I pay for the smiles and sense of purpose that playing club volleyball provides you. I pay to provide lifelong memories from traveling and going to new places with me. I pay for you to experience new cultures, foods, and cities that we experience by traveling to tournaments. I pay because its clear that volleyball sparks your life, passion, and sense of pride. I pay for help in guiding you down the right path. I pay because club volleyball reinforces the life lessons about hope, compassion, hard work, and commitment to yourself and others, that your mom and I have taught you, and continue to model for you.

Most importantly I pay for the bridge of understanding that volleyball provides a father and daughter.

Love always,

Dad