More Excitement After Great Plays For A Boys Team

Question
Hello, I am a boys high school varsity volleyball coach. I am having a problem with my team showing emotion and excitement after they make a great play. If they make a block or an ace or a kill they just kind of stand there and get ready for the next play. Do you know of any ways that I can use to get the kids to show emotion and excitement after a great play. I want them to be loud and cheer after a great play, but they just seem to refuse to do it. I tell them that being loud and excited makes the game more fun and helps to keep the team up beat. Can you help me with this problem? If you know of tactics or drills, or anything to do, please let me know. Thank you for your help and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Answer
Good morning coach and welcome to www.allexperts.com!

a) First, I will kinda disagree about one thing.  I don't really mind if my teams don't get all that excited over a great play.  Each team is different.  Sure, it makes the game more fun, but some teams just aren't emotional.  And since you're coaching boys, I imagine that expecting celebrations is even more challenging. Personally, I don't worry about it.

b)  But, second, if you really want your team to be emotional, you can do a number of things:
    * Offer the team X minutes off the next practice for each celebration after a great play;
    * Offer the team X minutes off the next practice for Z celebrations during a match/tournament after great plays;
    * Show them video of other teams playing so that they can see other teams' celebrations, w/o you even mentioning it.  Your team then may go, "I see what Coach is talking about."

There is more than one way to beat this rug!  haha  Keep on using your imagination, and you will accomplish what you want to accomplish!

Thank you for visiting me!  And please visit www.coachhouser.com.  I know that you'll love the smiling faces!

Tom Houser
Roanoke, VA