YMCA Volleyball Coach Volunteer Exeperience by Vanessa

YMCA Volleyball Coach Volunteer Exeperience by Vanessa - May 2018 Scholarship Essay

I coached a 5th and 6th coed volleyball team at the Garden Ranch YMCA in Colorado Springs, Colorado for the spring season. I play volleyball for The Classical Academy’s high school team so I thought it would be fun to be able to use my knowledge to help younger kids.
There were ten players on my team, nine girls and one boy. They were at different levels of skill for volleyball. At the beginning I just started out with basic drills to teach them passing, the skill that is used the most for that age group. Once they got good at passing, we moved on to setting. I did not focus too much on hitting because it is hard and most of the kids could not do it. I went over it a little for the kids who were more advanced. I also taught them how to serve. We started with underhand serving because it is the easiest and something they can fall back on it need be. Once the players mastered underhand, I went on to overhand. A little more than half of the kids were able to serve overhand.
We had practice once a week and a game every Saturday. I really enjoyed the games because it was fun to see how the kids improved each week. We did not win all of the games, but we did win a lot. At the end of the season, we had a party and I organized a players versus parents game. Everyone enjoyed it and it was a lot of fun. I also gave out awards that I came up with. Also, before the party, I had each of the players come up with one positive adjective about each one of their teammates. With that I made a word collage for each of the players.
I learned a lot through coaching. I learned that as long as I am strict, as well as fun, the kids will do what I ask and not be big trouble makers. I learned that it is fun to give back to the community, especially doing something that I am good at and enjoy. I would really like to volunteer as a volleyball coach again. It might be fun to try a younger age group though.