What is Celebration and Support?
Celebration is the recognition of success made by a player or the team.
Ex: your middle hitter makes a kill, the team high fives her and cheers in excitement.
Ex: Your setter makes a perfect set to you and at the end of the rally you show your appreciation for it. Ex: Your libero makes a perfect pass from a hard serve and teammates recognize her for it at the end of the rally.
Support is the recognition and administration of assistance or encouragement.
Ex: A teammate shanks a pass off of a serve, and teammates encourage the player that “it's fine" or "it’s no problem, you got it, next one.”
Ex: A player had been struggling with nerves while serving during tight games, and a teammate tells her that she’s great at serving and she's got nothing to worry about.
Looking at these terms as two separate entities is important because teams can fall short in one or the other. It is imperative that teams work on both.
Why is celebration and support so important?
It creates a positive team culture
If you don’t show positive reinforcement about the people you play with, how can you expect your teammates to be positive when you succeed?
Celebrating your teammates success is one of the most important pieces of building a winning culture. When you create a positive atmosphere out of excitement and celebration, you create a team that is enjoyable to play on.
It makes your team more successful
How good does it feel when someone gives you a compliment? It feels great, and you gain confidence. When you are confident, you perform better.
Even if you make a mistake, or you don’t feel confident, and someone comes over to you and says, “Hey no worries, you got the next one.” It feels good and it’s easier to move on.
When you celebrate, endorphins are released inside your body and you feel great. When you accomplish something and don't take the time to celebrate, you are robbing yourself of an important feeling that reinforces your success.
Conversely, if you do not celebrate your success, you are training your brain that what you are doing isn't all that exciting or important.
Too many times we see some players that are conscious of celebration and support and some players that just do not seem to care or try. A player that shows great celebration and support gets pulled down by players who decide not to show it. As coaches, we see it constantly. Their spirit will change due to others not trying to make this effort.
Being Active on the Bench will Prepare you to Enter the Game
"This game is supposed to be fun no matter what level you play at. We used to be super serious, and you'd get in the game and you're cold and stiff, so I was like, this isn't working. We just try to mix it up and celebrate our teammates' success. When we're jumping around, we're having fun and we're keeping it light, but then when we go in you feel that fire and you feel aggressive. It's fun."
-- Courtney Thompson, U.S. women's National Team setter.
You could be entering the game in the next 3 rotations, you could be waiting until the next set, or you could be thrown in for someone that got injured. No matter what, you will be on the bench at some point. How boring is it to just stand there and not be engaged? Even worse, standing or sitting on the bench can make you stiff or cold. We have all had that feeling before and it’s okay, you can fix that! Staying active on the bench will keep you engaged, keep you warm, and allow you to have more fun!
What can you do as a player?
Get out of a “comfort zone” or the “zombie mode”
The “comfort zone” is the place where you feel most at ease being. It’s the place you are most familiar with or the place where you feel like you won’t make many mistakes. People become very aware of what they think they look like and a lot of athletes believe that they are supposed to possess a certain “swagger” on the court or field, by neglecting to showing any emotion. You should never get stuck in this! This is what I like to call “holding face” or being in “zombie mode.” This is when a player looks glazed over or saying the cheers but neglecting to be excited about anything.
As an athlete, you should show your enthusiasm and stop “holding face” or playing in “zombie mode." Holding face doesn’t make you look cool. It looks like you don’t care about that point you or your teammate just got. It looks like you don’t care about that amazing pass your teammate just made. It looks like you don’t care about trying to support your teammate when she made a mistake. Let loose, show your excitement, SHOW your support for your team.
The Monmouth Men's Basketball team is a great example of showing excitement, being engaged with their teammates success, and making it fun too. Note that the players only celebrate, they do not degrade. They show great sportsmanship by hyping up their teammates, acknowledging their success, and none of their cheering is directed at any opposing player. Come up with your own ideas similar to theirs and use them at your next tournaments!
Have a voice
Coming up with cheers for a kill, an ace, or a block for example is an easy way to show celebration. You probably feel like you have seen it all and your cheers can seem like they lack variety. Try to get creative and make it fun!!!
Here are 3 great videos of UCLA, Liberty University, and a few other collegiate women’s volleyball teams explaining how celebrating is used as a tool to be a great team:
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=14334418
If you noticed in these videos, the players came up with cheers for things but they show that just making sure you are using your planned cheers is not always enough:
“You’re just going all out, reacting really fast, and the minute it drops on their side… there’s nothing better than turning to your team and just screaming and seeing them scream back at you.” --Victoria Garrick, USC
“When they’re on the court they always say that they can feel the bench; even if they don’t hear or see us they always say we bring a certain energy,” McClellan said. “So I think that motivates us to cheer a little bit harder, because they always say they can tell a difference when the bench is quiet.” -- Chesney McClellan, Middle Hitter for the Nebraska Huskers
Step Up
Everyone can step up to make a difference. It can’t just be the loudest person or the team captain. Allie Havers, a player for the Nebraska Huskers, was playing for the basketball team where she said no one did much cheering and then made the switch to play volleyball where she realized cheering was crucial. In a completely different sport and new people, even she knew that she could “step up.”
“If I see we’re not into it, or if I see the energy is down, I’ll say, ‘Guys, they need us, and we can give more than what we’re giving.’ -- Allie Havers, Middle Hitter for the Nebraska Huskers.
As a player, sometimes it feels like you didn’t contribute to a play or to the game because you weren’t involved in the play or you were off that set. It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t you that got the kill. What matters is that everything is a team effort. Even if you feel like you did nothing in that play or in that game, all players both on the court and on the sideline should be sharing the success of their teammates. Players should build teammates up when they fall short, look them in the eye, celebrate, and be supportive.
“I tell the players that there is not always an opportunity for everyone to play, but there are opportunities for everyone on this team to give. Just because you’re not on the court at a given moment does not mean that you can’t give your teammates a boost with your energy.” -- Russ Rose, Penn State Head Coach.
Cheer on the other teams in your club!
In your off games, or at the end of your wave, go watch your other teams and cheer them on! Promote your club! Do you remember when you were 14 or 15 playing Club? How amazing would it be if the 18s team was watching your game and cheering your team on? Or if you are on the 18s team and the 14s team came over and cheered your game on? No matter what age group, it’s always a great feeling.
We see a lot of our players watching our other Husky teams, which is awesome. Show more of your support for them by being loud, and cheering them on!
“The strength of the team is each member. The strength of each member is the team.” -- Phil Jackson, former American professional basketball player and Coach of the LA Lakers and Chicago Bulls.
Some people think that cheering and showing your excitement is “showboating.” But that couldn’t be more wrong. As long as you aren’t directing any type of celebration AT the opposing team, you aren't showing off. Just as you saw from the Monmouth basketball team, they used their creative and distinct celebrations to unite their team, acknowledge their success, and get people excited.
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