My Monthly Sports Minute: A HS Student-Athlete’s Sports Advice for Coaches, Parents & Peers

I recently had the privilege of chopping it up with a high school volleyball player named Iyanna Nelson. In her sophomore year, Iyanna transferred to Henry Ford (HF) High School in Detroit, Michigan. During the 2019–2020 season, she became the captain of HF’s varsity volleyball team. As an assistant coach of her volleyball team, I have seen Iyanna develop strong leadership skills, vastly improve in her knowledge and hunger for the game, and most importantly persevere through life’s challenges.

Before transferring to HF, Iyanna attended one of the highest-rated academic high schools in the city. Her former high school had a top-tier volleyball program too. Iyanna observed that students who attended her former high school and suburban ones had more access to K-12 sports opportunities than urban schools like HF. She also learned students had access to additional sports opportunities, both inside and outside of school, like club volleyball.

During our recent convo, I asked her a simple question: What would she tell future coaches, players, and parents?

Here is a summary of our overall conversation:

1. Iyanna recommends that coaches meet their players where they are. For example, she recalled that when she didn’t have a volleyball, an HF coach taught her how to make a wad of socks to temporarily use instead. Later, the coaching staff brought balls to practice for Iyanna and her teammates to purchase. This made the sport more accessible to girls like her.
2. Iyanna realized the HF coaching staff did not have the financial resources other schools had, but they made up for it with patience and care. Her HF coaching staff was far different from coaches at her previous school, who led her to believer there wasn’t much room for girls who “didn’t have everything down pat.”
3. Iyanna suggest coaches “use the older players to teach the younger players the ropes (i.e., how to deal with nerves during games, reinforce VB skills, how to get into the groove of playing, how to watch the court and respond).”
4. On a volleyball team with a wide variety of skill levels, Iyanna advised parents to trust the family atmosphere and ask their daughter to remain coachable. She recalled meeting parents who were concerned that their daughter would be overlooked on the team. Iyanna reassured them that her team wants all players to succeed. She also mentioned trusting coaches.
5. Iyanna encourages parents to support their student athletes at all times. Also, she wants to remind them not to be so upset with a lack of resources that they don’t demonstrate pride for their student-athletes.
6. Iyanna wants her peers or teammates to not get so upset with penalties. She said, “Just focus on how you are going to play.”
7. Iyanna also recommends not getting upset when other players aren’t as hungry to win. She stated, “You have to want this for you.”

I left our conversation with the reminder that high school athletes in urban settings need more than conditioning, high expectations, and game time. They need coaches who are dedicated more to the players than to winning the game and the praises associated with winning. It was a refreshing reminder that we need to know our student-athletes. Coaching staff must reinforce the basics of the sport, develop a sense of community/family among the team, discipline, and support that will live beyond graduation.