Lisa joined the JVA Staff in December 2013. She has a solid volleyball background at all levels. After completing her volleyball career at Purdue University, she served as the Student Assistant Coach followed by three seasons as the Assistant Volleyball Coach at Samford University where her responsibilities included recruiting, aiding in day to day team training, managing community service functions, and coordination of camps. In 2011 she helped guide the program to its first NCAA appearance.
Message of the Week
Message of the Week
Sometimes, it is hard to please everyone. And believe me, we do our damndest to try. Every call is different. Every club is different. Every event is different. You never really know what question is going to come our way, what issue is going to pop up, or what challenge a Club Director is going to need help navigating. But one thing I can promise you: we are always going to try to help.
We hear the questions about schedules, feedback about events, the frustrations, the suggestions, the ideas and, yes, sometimes the complaints! And honestly, I have said this before, we want to hear them. Our events and our organization are better when our Club Directors tell us what is working and what isn’t.
Schedules, in particular, can be a beast. There are a lot of moving pieces, and there is rarely a decision that makes everyone happy. We receive an incredible amount of feedback, and we try to look at the majority of what clubs are telling us while also doing our own research and digging into what will work best for the athletes, the clubs and the event itself.
Sometimes, it feels like your back is up against a wall. You make a decision, and someone doesn’t like it. You change something, and someone wishes you hadn’t. You solve one problem and another one pops up behind it.
Well, I guess that is part of it. And I think our Club Directors understand that better than anyone.
You are doing the same thing in your clubs every single day. Trying to make decisions that affect hundreds of athletes and families. Managing coaches, parents, facilities, schedules, budgets, travel and a million other things that nobody sees. You aren’t going to make everyone happy all the time. Neither are we.
But you keep pushing forward. Take the feedback and learn. You adjust when you need to and stand behind the decisions you believe are right. And then you get back to work. Maybe bang your head against the wall a few times in the process.
That is what we are going to keep doing at JVA. We aren’t going to get everything right and we aren’t going to make every person happy with every decision. But I promise we will listen and do our research. We will have the conversations and continue looking for ways to make our events, resources and organization better for the clubs we serve.
And through all of it, I think we need to remember something pretty important:
This is fun. We are in volleyball!
How many people can honestly say they get to work in sports every day? How many get to watch young athletes chase goals, compete, make friendships, overcome challenges and experience moments they will remember for the rest of their lives?
Yes, there are hard days. There are days when you second guess why you are doing this job. There are days when the emails pile up, the phone keeps ringing and it feels like nothing is going exactly as planned…and you wait for the next problem…
But then there are the good days! The packed gyms. The athletes celebrating with their teammates. The Club Director who finally gets a problem solved. The coach who sees an athlete grow. The parent who sends a thank-you. The event that comes together after months of work. The moment when you step back and realize, “Wow, this is pretty special.”
So to our Club Directors… keep going. Keep challenging us. Keep asking questions. Keep advocating for your athletes and your clubs. And when things don’t go your way, keep perspective and keep pushing forward.
We will do the same.
Because at the end of the day, we are all working toward the same thing…making volleyball better for the athletes, clubs and families who make this sport what it is.
And damn, we’re lucky we get to do it.
With a lot of gratitude,
Lisa
Sometimes, it is hard to please everyone. And believe me, we do our damndest to try. Every call is different. Every club is different. Every event is different. You never really know what question is going to come our way, what issue is going to pop up, or what challenge a Club Director is going to need help navigating. But one thing I can promise you: we are always going to try to help.
We hear the questions about schedules, feedback about events, the frustrations, the suggestions, the ideas and, yes, sometimes the complaints! And honestly, I have said this before, we want to hear them. Our events and our organization are better when our Club Directors tell us what is working and what isn’t.
Schedules, in particular, can be a beast. There are a lot of moving pieces, and there is rarely a decision that makes everyone happy. We receive an incredible amount of feedback, and we try to look at the majority of what clubs are telling us while also doing our own research and digging into what will work best for the athletes, the clubs and the event itself.
Sometimes, it feels like your back is up against a wall. You make a decision, and someone doesn’t like it. You change something, and someone wishes you hadn’t. You solve one problem and another one pops up behind it.
Well, I guess that is part of it. And I think our Club Directors understand that better than anyone.
You are doing the same thing in your clubs every single day. Trying to make decisions that affect hundreds of athletes and families. Managing coaches, parents, facilities, schedules, budgets, travel and a million other things that nobody sees. You aren’t going to make everyone happy all the time. Neither are we.
But you keep pushing forward. Take the feedback and learn. You adjust when you need to and stand behind the decisions you believe are right. And then you get back to work. Maybe bang your head against the wall a few times in the process.
That is what we are going to keep doing at JVA. We aren’t going to get everything right and we aren’t going to make every person happy with every decision. But I promise we will listen and do our research. We will have the conversations and continue looking for ways to make our events, resources and organization better for the clubs we serve.
And through all of it, I think we need to remember something pretty important:
This shit is fun. We are in volleyball!
How many people can honestly say they get to work in sports every day? How many get to watch young athletes chase goals, compete, make friendships, overcome challenges and experience moments they will remember for the rest of their lives?
Yes, there are hard days. There are days when you second guess why you are doing this job. There are days when the emails pile up, the phone keeps ringing and it feels like nothing is going exactly as planned…and you wait for the next problem…
But then there are the good days! The packed gyms. The athletes celebrating with their teammates. The Club Director who finally gets a problem solved. The coach who sees an athlete grow. The parent who sends a thank-you. The event that comes together after months of work. The moment when you step back and realize, “Man, this is pretty special.”
So to our Club Directors… keep going. Keep challenging us. Keep asking questions. Keep advocating for your athletes and your clubs. And when things don’t go your way, keep perspective and keep pushing forward.
We will do the same.
Because at the end of the day, we are all working toward the same thing…making volleyball better for the athletes, clubs and families who make this sport what it is.
And damn, we’re lucky we get to do it.
With a lot of gratitude,
Lisa
