From Court to Keyboard: My Volleyball Journey as Inspiration for This Blog

Hello and welcome to the Parent Volley Blog! This is meant to be a resource for parents, new or experienced, to learn about the sport of volleyball, gain tips on how to best engage with your children around their interest in the sport, and learn how to interact with coaches and mentors to maximize your child's experience and volleyball potential.

My name is Joy Gabrielli Gould. First and foremost, I am the proud parent of a girl who has developed a tremendous interest in the sport of volleyball. Watching her grow and develop in this sport, both as a person and as an athlete, has been one of the most fulfilling and inspiring experiences in my life. I am so grateful for coaches and teammates she has had thus far, because I have seen how those relationships have developed her in ways I never could have as a parent.

Secondly, I have played the sport myself - as a high school athlete, a club volleyball player, and a Division III athlete at both Wheaton College (in Illinois) and Gordon College (for one semester through an exchange program). I have had many different kinds of experiences, some very joyful and exciting, and some very disappointing and difficult. Every experience was meaningful though, and I hope that the range of my experiences can be helpful throughout this blog. As a parent I would assume that most of us would hope for only positive experiences for our young athletes, but I can promise that the more challenging or frustrating experiences can be worthwhile as well and may even be more impactful for character development in the long run.

Third, I have coached the sport at the Division III collegiate level at Gordon College. Following graduation from undergrad I had moved to Boston to work as a research assistant at Boston Children's Hospital. During that time, I came to learn that the head coach at Gordon had to move on short notice. She reached out to me to see if I would be willing to step in as head coach there, given my love for the game and my experience as a player. I was tentative, at best, in taking over the position, as I had always thought that I would make a poor coach - I was too eager to be on the court playing myself, so I couldn't imagine having to sit or stand on the sidelines watching. I came to learn, however, that coaching provided me insights into the game that stretched far beyond the experience of playing. I also came to learn that one of the MOST fulfilling aspects of the game is watching the development of players under your instruction. My passion for self-improvement translated easily towards supporting the improvement of others, and I have found myself regularly gravitating towards sharing game tips and skill tips with younger players whenever I get the chance. Some of my happiest memories of the game are tied to my role as coach watching one of my players finally put some skills together that they had been working on or watching the team gel as a community and gain success in wins on the court.

Lastly, I am trained as a clinical child psychologist, and I work to train graduate students in clinical psychology. I also run a hospital-based Adolescent Outpatient Mental Health Clinic. I mention this because it gives me some unique knowledge of the current status of youth mental health, the importance of extracurricular activities, how sport can influence identity formation, and how kids respond to communication, reinforcement, and critique. I have heard young people in clinic describe sports experiences that were absolutely critical for their health and wellbeing - sometimes having only sport as a means for grounding them in their identity and value as people. I have also heard young people describe sport as a primary stressor, a negative influence, or a toxic environment where their were belittled, demoralized, or even socially and/or mentally harmed.

I hope that these various identities that I hold may be useful in informing the content of this blog. I believe that the overlap between roles as well as the unique viewpoint that each role brings can serve as avenues for perspective.

Volleyball is a complicated sport - between subbing in and out, front row versus back row, defensive schemes, blocking schemes, set types, service types, serve receive formation, referee calls, creative cheer types - there is a LOT for parents to learn about and keep track of. I hope this blog can be a resource for education for parents about these aspects of the game as well as an instructional guidebook for how to support your young athlete in their engagement with it.

One last tidbit - my best friend from high school has remained one of the most important people in my life. We played volleyball together for our high school, our club, and then through college. We were on almost all of the same teams, yet we had very different experiences. She continues to coach (very successfully) at the high school level today. Her wisdom and perspective will surely find its way into these blog posts, so I wanted to credit Renee Zobel with her incredible influence now. :)