Coaches use down time to share strategies
Brock volleyball instructors interact with colleagues across Ontario virtually
The cancellation of the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) championships due to COVID-19 hasn’t left coaching development completely on the back burner.
Brock men’s volleyball head coach Matt Ragogna and Steve Delaney, his counterpart with the women’s team, were among university mentors throughout the province who presented hour-long webinars during OVA Coaches Week.
While a poor substitute for personto-person interaction, the virtual events nonetheless are filling a void.
“I think it’s a good learning tool for coaches across Ontario, especially with limited stuff to do now,” said Ragogna, who led the Badgers to their first playoff berth since the men’s program was reintroduced in 2016.
“I think the tough thing is just being able to ask questions and have face-to-face interactions,” he said. “Usually all of our symposiums are in person.”
Also missing for Ragogna in the remote way of communicating was the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues.
“It’s a great chance just to interact, especially since a lot of coaches are coming from different areas in Ontario,” he said.
“It’s definitely a missed opportunity but, again, we are where we are.”
Ragogna discussed the coach-athlete relationship and managing expectations when working with a new team in his webinar with technical directors at the club level.
An assistant coach for the Team Ontario program that will compete at the 2021 Canada Games in Niagara, Ragogna was well-versed in the subject. He completed his master’s in sport coaching after getting a sport management degree at Brock.
“Getting a chance to speak on coach-athlete relationships and working with new athletes and teams encompasses a lot of my master’s research, as well as my experience in a club over the past seven seasons,” he said.
Delaney, who guided the Brock women to their first appearance in the national championships, focused on “competition in practice and training under pressure.”
“You have to come up with creative ways to put pressure on your training, so it’s greater than it is during a game,” Delaney said. “This will allow you to perform in games.”
Delaney, who is used to speaking before crowds and judging their response on the spot, had mixed reactions to the format.
“It’s hard to gauge the room because you don’t know what the reaction is to what you’re saying. You don’t know if you’re going down the right road or if you’ve lost everybody,” he said in an interview.
“It was a challenge but, on the other side, you’re kind of uninterrupted,” Delaney added.
“You can just go with your own thoughts.”
Delaney said it’s important for coaches to give back to their peers.
“Coaches should share all the elements of their craft,” he said. “You always have to continue to learn.
“It’s time to share some of the stuff I’ve picked up in my short coaching career.”
Ragogna and Delaney have both been involved with the OVA. They served as coaches for Team Ontario and co-coached a boys team to a Volleyball Canada championship in 2018.