This season, we are elevating our club program to a competitive, merit-based model. Tournaments will have designated starters based on performance in practice. We are creating an environment that mirrors high-level collegiate and professional play, where dedication and performance are rewarded. We believe that setting higher standards while supporting and teaching your daughter how to become successful will add a whole new layer of development. When the girls are younger or new to club, a delicate balance must be struck between competition and development. If the perfect balance is struck, players will be highly motivated every practice. Training will also be "fun" because of intense engagement and being in a state of "flow".

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In the practices leading up to each tournament, all players will have a brand new opportunity to be part of the starting lineup. This gives every athlete a clear and direct opportunity to demonstrate their skill, effort, and readiness to compete for starting positions. This means that each tournament starters can lose their spot, forcing them to stay competitive and focused in practice, while motivating players who haven't earned a starting spot to beat them out. This process is about empowerment—giving your daughter real challenges while providing them with the tools to solve them creates the stage for her to control her own destiny on the court.

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The key to making this work - is transparency. Coaches are constantly giving feedback during practice, but that doesn't mean each athlete has a clear direction on what they should be working on, and what exactly they need to do to increase their performance. This year we are implementing a badge system similar to "girl scouts" where a player earns a completion when they can be repetitively successful at performing a specific action or responsibility. This should help the girls track what they are developing and give them a measurable completion expectation. The badges have nothing to do with competition between teammates or opponents, and is the perfect way to give the coach leverage to get your daughter to focus on implementing their feedback. All players who are in good standing will get at least SOME significant play time, regardless of how they perform in relation to their teammates. 

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In addition, we are going to use the Gold Medal Squared concept of a "competitive cauldron", which can sound intense, but it is a highly effective way at motivating the girls to focus during drills. Rather than just doing the drill and getting coach feedback, players will earn points for proper execution, and when an error is made a point will not be awarded. The goal is not just to motivate each player to successfully play the ball, but also to mimic the higher level of pressure athletes feel when playing in a tournament. If we can practice like we compete, then our performance will be much more natural. This also allows us to help the girls learn how to deal with competitive pressure in practice environments. Players that win the drills each week will become the "starters" meaning its the best lineup of the team and the ones that play that first game. Players that keep in good standing through badges will be part of a second lineup for game two, but might not be a full all around spot but just front row or back row. This is up to the coach based on all athletes performance, and gives everyone more power and motivation.

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A final evaluation will be performance during tournaments, which is tracked by statistics - how many serves did you miss versus getting in? When spiking how many times were you set, and how many kills or errors did you get? What is your passing average, ie how many balls went to target versus errors? This is a great way to measure performance against our opponents and a clear transparent evaluation. Who knows, maybe the second lineup performs better or even to the first, and that data can better set lineups for striking the balance between development and competition.