1. To live another day.
In volleyball-speak, this means to make the play you have to, in order to make the play you want to. Okay, so you can't make the perfect play, but you can make the smart play.
2. There is always something you can do to improve yourself, your "volleyball IQ", and your team.
Whether it's learning things like self-discipline or a solid work ethic, watching film to keep improving your skills and court awareness, or being the best you can every single practice so that your teammates get better, there is always something you can do to, simply, be better.
3. How to be tough.
Things like: knowing your mistakes, getting to your teammate first, finishing plays, being alert, and making every game important are some of the most impactful lessons I learned in high school volleyball.
4. Celebrate the small wins.
By celebrating the small wins, I learned that it gave my teammates and I the confidence to go after the big wins. I learned that the small victories and accomplishments add up to big victories and big accomplishments when you look at the bigger picture.
5. Focus on what you get to do, not what you "have" to do".
My coaches taught me that our skills on the court are gifts, not an obligation. If we wanted to achieve a certain result, we'd have to commit ourselves and appreciate the process that it was going to take to get to where we wanted to be.
6. Expect to win.
Whether it was on the court, in the classroom, in a meeting–we should expect to win. This might sound totally hokey and maybe a little cocky, but this was one of the most important lessons I learned. Going into a game or a tough exam, expecting positive results often led to positive outcomes too. That doesn't mean there wasn't an occasional bad grade or game, this just means that there was usually a correlation I found between positive beliefs and positive results.
7. Leaders lead.
A true leader puts herself/himself in the thick of things. They are not superior to anyone on the team, they are more or less the backbone of the team: still involved deeply in various day-to-day things, and never do they put themselves "above" anyone else.
My high school and club volleyball coaches were amazing; they helped form who I am today, and I am forever grateful to them for all they taught me in the short time I played under them.
