admin, Author at Headstrong Mindset LLC

USA Volleyball Article: Creating an LGBTQ+ Inclusive Volleyball Culture

Did you see my article in USA volleyball’s January 2021 magazine issue of The Court?

The article is titled Creating an Inclusive Volleyball Culture. Don’t worry if you don’t have a subscription, you can read the full article here.

I had the opportunity to interview Galen Dodd, the technical coordinator for the U.S. Men’s Sitting Team and Giovana Melo, the head women’s volleyball for CSU Bakersfield about their thoughts and experiences around LGBTQ+ inclusion. I also share 4 tips for creating a safe and affirming space for LGBTQ+ athletes on your team or in your club.

As a cisgender lesbian woman and Athlete Ally Ambassador, LGBTQ+ inclusion is a matter close to my heart. Most people don’t realize the level of discrimination that exists within sports and the devastating impact on the mental health, performance, and retention of athletes. Here’s a few stats from the Trevor Project that I included in my article…

A national survey of more than 40,000 LGBTQ youth conducted by the Trevor Project in 2020 found that 40% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide, and 68% reported symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. The survey results highlighted a correlation between LGBTQ discrimination and mental health challenges among youth. However, survey findings also showed that LGBTQ youth who participate in sports reported higher grades and fewer symptoms of depression.

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In the Huddle with Kevin Hambly, Stanford University Volleyball

Confidence, Interview, Teamwork & Team building

After inheriting the program in 2017, Kevin Hambly led the Cardinal women’s volleyball program to back-to-back NCAA national titles. In 2018 he was named the Pac-12 and AVCA Pacific North Region Coach of the Year. Prior to taking the helm as the Director of Women’s Volleyball at Stanford, he was the head coach at Illinois for eight seasons, where he led the Fighting Illini to six NCAA regional appearances and the 2011 national championships.

What does the Stanford women’s volleyball team do for mindset training?

We do a lot of stuff that we work on individually. We see what the needs are of the individuals. We talk a lot about confidence. Confidence is where the training and the mindset intersect. If you put the time in, you can develop confidence. The other things that we talk about (are) mindfulness and finding your center. We talk about breathing. We do some meditation training. The thing that we talk directly about as far as competing on the floor is; being aware of where your thoughts in competition, being aware of where your thoughts are in practice and if they are negative thoughts, replacing those thoughts. We talk a lot about thought replacement and being aware of (what) you’re thinking. Replace the thought “I can’t do this” with – “I can do this. I am strong. I am powerful. I got this.” We talk a lot about that thought replacement.

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Inside the Huddle with Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Creighton University Head Volleyball Coach

Confidence, Interview

When Kirsten Bernthal Booth took over the Creighton University Women’s Volleyball program in 2003, the team had a record of 3-23 the previous year. Since then, the Creighton women’s volleyball team has become one of only 10 Division 1 volleyball teams to be ranked in the year-end AVCA Top 25 poll each of the last five years. In 2015 Creighton had their first Sweet Sixteen appearance and in 2016 they made their first run to the Elite Eight.

The Kirsten Bernthal Booth that was hired back in 2003 inherited a team that won three games in a season. How did you convert the culture of your team to adopt a “winning mentality”.

I’ve always been a coach that believes in process. Doing the right things and not being totally locked into outcomes. To me, as an athlete and as a coach, that frees you a little bit. We’d really focus on process and taking risks. In a small way, if a player tipped, they were probably going to get yelled at. If they had a perfect set and they made a low risk decision, they were going to get in trouble with us. And if they had a good set and they went for it, regardless of outcome, we were going to cheer for that. It allowed them (the players) to go for it and know that there weren’t going to be ramifications. I know that sounds simple, but it really did switch the mentality. We’re a pretty high risk program. When you get a good ball, we’re going to go for it. It’s paid dividends because at the Division I level, if you give the other team that opportunity, they’re going to throw it down your throat, so we’ve got to seize it.

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Interview with Beth Launiere on Preparing for NCAA Playoffs and Avoiding Player Burnout

Growth Mindset, Interview, Self-care

2019 was a landmark year for Beth Launiere. Not only did it mark her 30th season as the Head Volleyball Coach at the University of Utah, but Launiere was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year and led her team to the program’s fourth Sweet 16 performance. The team’s match up against BYU in the second round of the NCAA playoffs has gone down in Ute volleyball history.

In the 2019 NCAA tournament your team beat BYU 3-0 at BYU. How did you prepare your team for that big match-up?

There were a number of factors. We had very high goals for the season and expectations for ourselves. We were ready for the NCAA tournament. We finished 3rd in the PAC-12. We were ready to make a nice run (in the playoffs) and we felt really confident. We really thought that we had a shot at hosting, and found out that we were going to BYU for the 3rd time in 4 years. I couldn’t have been more proud of my team for the way they handled that. I had very strong leadership. Right from the start they were like, it’s a bummer but it doesn’t matter. I’ve been doing this long enough now to know that if you start getting too worried about where you’re sent and what your seed might be, then you’re probably starting from behind right off the bat. So we just had a really great mindset going into the tournament right away. We took the mentality of wherever, whoever and whatever it takes.

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The Unexpected Key to Resilience

Self-care

Roberta Kraus, PhD. is the President of the Center for Sports Psychology in Colorado Springs. She’s a expert at helping individual players, coaches and teams develop a mental strategies that result in consistently achieving a player’s peak performance. The mental training programs that she’s designed and implemented have a proven track record of improving player performance, communication and team dynamics under pressure.

She’s worked hand in hand with Olympians, Paralympian’s, college programs and athletic departments to enhance athlete performance through mental training techniques. (I’m not talking about lifting weights and doing extra rounds of box jumps here!)

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A Team Culture of Belonging vs Fitting In

Teamwork & Team building

There is a subtle but critical difference between a culture of belonging and fitting in. Creating a team culture of belonging is the key to melding a roster of over a dozen unique individuals into a single team with a shared sense of identity and purpose.

A culture of belonging starts with belief that every member of the team has an essential role to play. Finding and utilizing the unique assets of each player on your team will optimize your team’s potential. A culture of belonging celebrates each player’s uniqueness.

A fitting in culture on a team ostracizes players who are different than the majority and forces assimilation. Assimilation is the process in which a minority group comes to resemble or assume the values and behaviors of the dominant group. The consequence of assimilation is a loss of identity for the minority.

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