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By Ashley Wu
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Oct. 17, 2008 |
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“Smile as if it’s your last smile, laugh as if it’s your last laugh and
play as if it’s your last game. Never let anyone look down on you
because you are small, different, or unique, but stand up and play how
you feel you should play, and you will overcome.”
This is the key to success, according to girls’ JV volleyball coach Steven Wesley.
Although the girls’ lost two matches out of the three against Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory on Sept. 16 with the scores 19-25, 25-19, and 5-15, they blew Mission away on Oct. 9 with scores of 25-5 and 25-18. This victory follows their second place win in the Carmichael Tournament in Sacramento on Oct. 4.
Wesley’s persistence in preparing the girls for hard play contributed to the girls’ wins at Mission and the tournament. “With the conditioning that coach makes us do every Monday, the team is kept fit,” sophomore libero and defensive specialist Jocelyn Kuswanto said. “Coach makes us get the drills perfect. It’s the same thing during the games — we push ourselves and just shake it off and keep going when we’re tired.”
Players attribute their success to Wesley’s coaching methods. “Coach never lets us give up and pushes us to do things we didn’t know we could do before,” Kuswanto said. “He shows us that we have the potential to win, and when we accomplish what he wants us to do, we are inspired to do more.”
Sophomore captain Ruby Wong agrees with Kuswanto that Wesley is the coach they need to lead them to championships, especially because he is a lot stricter in his coaching style than the previous Lowell coach. “We have more conditioning, but the things he makes us do bring us all closer as a team,” Wong said. Freshman middle blocker Reilly Fitzpatrick said this team is much more disciplined than her middle school team, and that Wesley improves the team with better plays.
The girls are experienced, but they still need to bond. Wesley has encouraged players who do not often talk to each other to hang out together, especially for the long car rides to their away games and their overnight stays after the games. “Besides the basics of volleyball, team unity and sisterhood are very important parts of the game which we are going to need much work on,” Wesley said. “My focus is on making the team grow together without leaving anyone behind.”
Not only does Wesley focus on team bonding, but he also promotes the relationship between coach and player. “Coaching is much more than just a dictatorship but a chance to help influence, encourage and support each individual as a player and as a growing person,” Wesley said. Wong considers Wesley “a friend and mentor, as well as a coach,” she said.
Come watch Wesley's coaching style and the girls in action today at 3:45 here at Lowell in their game against Galileo.
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