Wow! It has been quite some time since my last blog post! So much has happened since July 2020, including A TON OF COACHING!!
Since July 2020 I have coached: Over 10 different teams, played hundreds of games, and put in countless hours of practice!
Oh yeah! This was all during a global pandemic!
It has since taken me about a year and a half to get back to a place personally where I am comfortable writing again! The amount of stress and work that has been put in to coaching, not only by me but everyone involved in sports has been a true test for anyone with a coaching career. There have been number of shutdowns, quarantines, testing, and more that every coach has had to learn to adjust with during these past few years. That is why I felt like it is a perfect time to write down how appreciative I am of the job that I have…COACHING!

Practice Every Day Like It Could Be Your Last
These are words that I have had to keep in the back of my head for the past 18 months or so. Almost every sports team that I know had a practice or a match back in the early part of 2020 and going into it they had no idea that it would be their last. I remember mine like it was yesterday. It was March 13th a Thursday, my Men’s Volleyball team at IVC just came off a 5 set win at Fullerton College and we were preparing for a match that next day. Then before you know it we were done. No more games, no more practices, nothing. As a coach I needed to be strong for the guys and continue to help them prepare in the event that we would return to practice and matches. However, in the moment we had no idea that the 2020 IVC Men’s Volleyball Team would never practice or compete together again.
I know that this may sound a bit dramatic but it was a turning point in my coaching career. It was the beginning to one of the toughest years ever. As the teams and programs that I am involved with began to return to in person training (after TONS of ZOOM workouts and meetings, I don’t miss these!) I began to tell my players that we need to always practice like this could be your last. Sure enough there were plenty of times when all of a sudden our practices got shut down or games cancelled in the matter of minutes. Even for my self I started to appreciate the little things that come with being a part of a team. You may be with a single school, club, or organization for more than just 1 year of season, but every one of those years and seasons are unique in their own way. Each one will never be repeated. The memories and achievements will be unique and special to that specific team or year. Whether you achieve every goal you had or not that season means something. The biggest thing is that you were able to finish it out together, it was not taken away from you completely. You knew (to an extent) when the season was supposed to be over.
But now, I think that I speak for a lot of players and coaches out there that have had to go through what many of us have that we really need to “Practice Every Day Like It Could Be Your Last”.
I am excited to get back to writing and I hope to connect with as many Coach’s as possible out there to help each other on our never ending PURSUIT!
-Coach Windy