Barnstable does it right

My official turn here comes up later this month but an article in today's Boston Globe caught my eye. The Barnstable High School Girl's Volleyball Team is a powerhouse in MA. How it got there and stays on top of its game is the confirmation of lessons for us.

The girls on Barnstable High School's legendary volleyball team decide over a sub-shop lunch to warm up to Kanye West's "Stronger" at the season home opener that could bring their winning streak to 100 matches. Then they dash through a downpour to Kristi Everson's Ford Escort and Kara Cullen's Jeep for the short ride to afternoon practice.

After slogging through axle-deep puddles, Cullen's brakes fail at a red light, and she hits Everson's car. Nobody is hurt, but Everson erupts into tears when she pulls into the school parking lot and inspects the crumpled back of her 8-year-old compact. Cullen moans, "I just rear-ended my best friend's car." Casey Eagan breaks the tension. "This is a 'thunderbolt,' she announces. "We'll get through it.

Once again, the team reaches for the counsel of professional basketball coach Pat Riley, dispensed in his book The Winner Within: A Life Plan for Team Players, which their coach, Tom Turco, has them read every year.

and this:

Turco has begun his 20th year as head coach. He's an adaptive physical education teacher specializing in special needs students. When he wanted, in 1986, to try working with more typical youngsters as well, girls' volleyball needed a head coach. Never mind that Turco's experience consisted of one season of club volleyball at Bridgewater State College. He landed the junior varsity job, not varsity. "Thank God," he says. In 1988 alone, his first year as head coach, he attended a dozen coaching clinics. The team's 5-11 record that season comprises one-quarter of Turco's 43 career losses.

"As frustrated as I was, I sought the advice of some very, very good people," Turco recalls. "I was either going to not coach or be a successful coach."

and this:

Afternoon practice begins in a classroom. Turco quips that the car crash was thunderbolt enough for one day. Everson leads a discussion of Chapter One of Riley's book. "In order to grow," she says, "you need to trust each other."

Turco has used "The Winner Within" since 1995. He assigns seniors an "optional" book report that every senior opts to write. He turns to the book for its program of team building and framework for tackling tough subjects.

and last but not least:

Last month the girls set team goals. Number one is win the state championship. Number two? "High communication." Three? "Undefeated season." Four? "Play at your own level. Don't play down." Twelve? "Be enthusiastic."

Read the full article here.

I think Coach Turco sets forth a good model for life long learning, teamwork, and of course, the success that happens to come along the way.

What do you think?

Comments

[Rosa Say]

Thank you for sharing this Steve - on MWA Coaching, our value of the month for September is Lōkahi, the value of unity and harmony, and it is thought of as the one that builds exceptionally strong teams in the ‘Ohana in Business. So this article strikes a timely chord with me right now.

On another side note, the Boston Globe seems to be a good paper: I notice it gets linked to online quite often.

[Steve Sherlock]

Thanks, Rosa. While the Globe is owned by the NT Times, it is operated separately and has shrunk in size recently (like a lot of major newpapers who are loosing readership). It has cut a good deal of what it used to have as regular reporters internationally and nationally using the wire feeds more and more in those cases. It still does some good local reporting.

It also helps that from a New England perspective, the Globe is THE major daily. Below it are a bunch of smaller local papers. For example in Franklin, we have a weekly paper but our daily coverage is either in the Milford Daily News or the Globe (if really worthy).