The Coaches Group Chat
Grab a drink and a seat at the table with hosts Matt Houlihan, Arielle Houlihan and Chad Gordon as we chat about the world of volleyball, coaching, business, and whatever else Arielle feels like!
The Coaches Group Chat
E11: VNL Crowds, NorCal Cup Cup Behind-the-Scenes, Social Media Impact on Teams
Did you ever wonder why some volleyball matches feel like electric rock concerts while others seem like a quiet library? Join us as we kick off this episode with a sweet anecdote about York Peppermint Patties and how they became an unlikely hero at tournament desks. Chad shares his firsthand experience from Arlington's Volleyball Nations League (VNL), where even top-tier matches like Serbia vs. Turkey struggled to draw crowds. We draw comparisons to the vibrant volleyball culture in Poland and discuss the uphill battle of scheduling weekday games in the U.S., all while underscoring the impressive efforts of true volleyball enthusiasts.
The Norco Cup was nothing short of a spectacle, and we're excited to give you a behind-the-scenes look at its execution. From welcome gift bags to the thrilling all-star game and even a drum line, we pulled out all the stops to ensure a memorable experience. Despite a few hiccups, like a spike ball mishap, the event was a massive success and set a new benchmark for Northern California. Our journey from concept to reality was filled with stress and satisfaction, but seeing the packed stands and engaged crowd made it all worthwhile.
Lastly, we dive into how social media is transforming team dynamics and personal branding for our athletes. By encouraging our team to use social media as a living resume, we've seen remarkable boosts in their confidence and self-expression. Balancing the excitement of upcoming events like the Beer Olympics and Grassman, we also stress the importance of proper training and rest. Looking ahead to the SoCal Cup, we remain committed to staying prepared and engaged. Tune in for a packed episode brimming with reflections, insights, and a dash of humor.
For all of the tournament desks. I got a snack box and in the snack box was a king-size bag of York Peppermint Patties.
Speaker 2:I ate 100 this weekend.
Speaker 1:Well, I took an extra bag and I put it in the freezer. So I'm going to go grab some. York Peppermint Patties for everyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, treats.
Speaker 3:All people over the age of 45 love York Peppermint Patties. York Peppermint Patties and worthers originals that's what they had back in the 30s.
Speaker 2:All right like you've been around for long enough look sputnik, yeah no well, reporting live. We're here. Uh, this is not gonna be live, though, because it's uh no, this is live gonna be edited in like a month and a half, um, but yeah, we're here. I'm here with my good pals. Do you want to do a fucking opening?
Speaker 3:hey, matt, uh, what episode all right everyone.
Speaker 1:Uh, welcome back to the coaches group chat. I'm accompanied by my good pals, my dearest friends, the coolest of cats that means so much thing the chillest of cucumbers, the tallest of camels. Sightiest of sights Three peas in a pod, plus Lad and Lacey, or, excuse me, bobby, bobby, my bad, don't add it like that Three peas in a pod.
Speaker 1:Three peas in a pod is actually a great podcast name. We should have been on that. We're back. It was a busy week. We had NorCal Cup. This weekend, we had Chad traveling, went to VNL for the women. We had a lot of things going on. Where do we want to begin? Chad loves women's sports. He does, and you wear a sweatshirt that says you watch women's sports.
Speaker 2:I do watch it. We're on brand. Let's start with Chad.
Speaker 1:Chad went to Arlington got to watch VNL, getting a little work done with Volley Station. Can you set the stage for us? What did you see in Arlington? What was the vibe Lack?
Speaker 3:Just lack of energy.
Speaker 1:Lack of vibe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just lack of energy, lack of vibe, yeah, just a lack of vibe. I mean, like the, the volleyball world people who put on the event like do a really nice job, like the, if you're watching on online, right, like it looks pretty good, if you kind of ignore the basically entirely empty stadium. I mean I got there tuesday and the first match I saw was serbia and turkey. I think number four in the world plays like number seven, 50 people in in the stands, like I think I I don't know if I texted you guys or somebody else and it was like I think more people are working concessions well than are watching this match, because they had every single booth open.
Speaker 3:If I wanted a, beer if I wanted popcorn, no problem. If you wanted to sit next to somebody really hard because they're really far away.
Speaker 2:Where was this located at?
Speaker 3:So they did it in the arena at UT Arlington and it's a nice space for this right. I mean, it feels intimate, it feels like you're close to the court. It's kind of got a Maples-ish vibe right 5,000-seat arena.
Speaker 1:How many people?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think maybe like seven with like the upper Okay there's like an upper ring and just nobody right and you know I get it Like it's Wednesday, whatever. Even USA, canada was 40% full, 50%, not a lot of butts in seats. Of course I left before bigger matches over the weekend. I think those matches had a lot of people Families can get there and not work and all that kind of stuff Just during the week.
Speaker 3:I mean it's, it's tough. So I think they try and schedule the better stuff for when people can make it. But it is really just a challenge to yeah, to get butts in the seats on a weekday for world-class volleyball when you were in poland, were you there during the midweek stuff?
Speaker 1:did you see like a comparison of what it was in like a major European company?
Speaker 3:yeah, so we, we've been out there for, you know, finals and world championships over the past couple years, for women's, for men for men for men.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean a little bit different, but I mean like Poland's women's team is also like, they're big time, they do a great job and that's a world class team. Yeah, it's a little bit lighter, but if Poland plays, it's full. Yeah, it doesn't matter what day it is. People are like OK, I need to take the train at this time, I'm going to be there. Ok, it's a 730 start. It's packed 30 minutes before, 45 minutes before, people are in their seats and they're starting to cheer and they're into it. It's lighter when it's two non-Poland teams, but it's not empty because those fans will stay after Poland's match and watch the next one, or they will show up early because it's like, oh my god, I can watch Brazil play whoever. I don't care, I want to watch.
Speaker 1:Brazil. I'm sure there's a lot of players that play in the Polish league too, so there's some connection there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, of course, that league is obviously one of the top two in the world, so they have quite a diverse following. But you also just I think, when you play in Poland, those people are true fans. It's like going to New York or Philadelphia and going to watch basketball or baseball or something like that. These people just love it's just a sports country.
Speaker 1:In this case it's tough to compare US to Poland and stuff like that, but when you were there, was there any? Did you see anything around the city? I don't know where you stay. Did you see anything around the city? I don't know where you stay, but like, did you see anything that would be advertising the games to someone beyond a volleyball person?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I got lunch at a spot nearby, walkable 10 minutes, and they had like some small signage like in the window. You'd kind of have to to be looking for it to really get a glimpse.
Speaker 2:It wasn't like street signs.
Speaker 3:No, I mean there wasn't a lot until you got really close to the arena and I mean this is, I think, one of the knocks on their promotion is like are we doing this for TV? Are you trying to put butts in seats? What are we really trying to go for here? But at the end of the day, I mean like arlington's doing their best, but it's, you know, it's, it's a town outside of dallas and it's not nebraska, it's not. You know, you're gonna bring poland in town and you know, man, maybe, like you should play in chicago, like one of these huge metros and and I don't know if it's a grow the game thing in Dallas or what, but I mean it.
Speaker 3:Just it seems a little bit silly to not go to an established area.
Speaker 1:I do think there's a an argument for exactly what you said of events are the tool to for lack of a better phrase grow the game Like, if you want. If you want to help seed growth in an area, events are the way to do it, because you can showcase and you're bringing people into that space and you're legitimizing that area and texas is a legitimate women's volleyball power oh yeah, I mean a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:So I when, when they said arlington right being dallas, I immediately was like I think that's good, I think that's a good a, a a good representation of where us women's volleyball is, in particular Texas is so big and so that part I actually like I was wondering what it would look like around the actual venue itself to see in terms of promotion, because, I get it, it's tough, it's tough to promote that type of thing. But I'd be interested to see the numbers of what it looked like over the weekend, to see how they did on those marquee matchups when it's not you know A typical US sports market has a hard time with a weekday game, no matter what.
Speaker 3:I think what it was. It was Poland. They lost in four and then Turkey they lost in five. I mean, I think those matches had good fan support. But you're also like you're basically on UT Arlington's campus, you know class is finished. But you're also like you're basically on UT Arlington's campus, you know classes finished a few weeks ago.
Speaker 3:So, like all of the young folks in the area, like it's just, you know they're just gone right so they're just hoping that families come in, pay the 30 bucks to park and you know, come and do all this stuff speaking of events seeding the growth in an area.
Speaker 2:Norco Cup was this weekend vibes were high at Norco Cup. Butts were in seats so high Butts were in seats All the butts in seats, we're bringing energy back. We did All-star game Butts in seats, love butts for that one, yeah, I thought Hold it in a small arena, you'll fill it up quick. Only 100 court.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was very yeah.
Speaker 2:I love the risers. The risers are awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I made it a little bit. One set of riser makes it look like a little bit more and like it does something.
Speaker 1:Nakoba had a good video of like showing it empty and then switching to like just at the start of the match and it's just, you know, surrounded by people and there's people on the risers in both levels, and so you just kind of have this tiered, this tiered situation where it's the typical like high level club match where everyone's kind of gathered around watching and like it's kind of standing room only and you know, you got the parents are sitting down in the front row, but beyond that like it's every man for themselves. So it was a cool kind of gauntlet arena set up in the middle of the tournament, so that so that part was pretty cool, just watching the tournament kind of go from an idea to something we wanted to try and get off the ground, to it being set up and getting through that and then first whistles blowing. It was a very cool, fulfilling experience to kind of get something off the ground like that. And it was one of those ones where it felt very you like.
Speaker 1:You know you're putting yourself out there, cause basically what I said is I can do this better than you Like I'm looking at the other events that we've gone to, specifically in Northern California, I'm like we can do this better. And I had to put myself on the line and actually put my money where my mouth was, to go out there and do it and it felt like it was really well received. Um, and when we do it like I don't want to just do it and like be good and be okay, I was like I know you guys hate my metaphors, but the metaphor I use is like I hope this is one.
Speaker 2:You guys are going to love this one. It's going to be bad.
Speaker 1:You're going to love this one. It's going to be bad, but I hope it serves the point. I didn't want to just be like the big fish in a small pond situation where it's like, yeah, the bar was so low before that it looks good.
Speaker 2:This is a good one.
Speaker 1:It's a regular fish metaphor. No, no, no, that's not the metaphor. The metaphor is I don't want to be a big fish in a small pond. I wanted to be a fucking crocodile in a puddle. Just make it so much better than everyone else that there was no question of this is the best shit. This is the best thing that Northern California can do. Crocodile in a puddle I felt like we were pretty good.
Speaker 3:You're not gonna drown, you're gonna run out of oxygen, or something that was thinking about that for a while.
Speaker 1:That was. That was the metaphor I was I had in my head going in to the event. It was like I'm gonna stomp this puddle. It was. I want there to be no doubt in anyone's mind that this is the best northern california that they've ever gone to I, I get that, but like did you look? Can you imagine walking up to a crocodile in a puddle and be like I ain't fucking with that? Like no way.
Speaker 2:That's TikTok algorithm.
Speaker 3:Cause it's gotta be like weird. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Inspirational.
Speaker 3:A lot of like MC, like everything's a little bit upside down, like yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Why are these stairs? That was the thought process. So there were a lot of things that we were doing that I was like what can we do just to blow this out of the water that everyone's like that was really cool. That was really cool. I liked that a lot. Like welcome gift bags for athletes. Can we give all the footage away for free for people to go and post on their own? Can we run the All-Star game at the same time? Can we you know what else? Can I hire a drum line to come in and play? Can I get Bay of C's drum line in the building on?
Speaker 2:Sunday morning Mariachi Ben, yeah, who's going to come next? That was.
Speaker 1:I think I overspent on the drum line because I really enjoyed it, but it seemed like everyone else was like yeah, this is fine.
Speaker 2:It's like that was two thousand dollars.
Speaker 1:People like show some appreciation for the drum line.
Speaker 2:No one cared, but yeah those are the, those are the lessons. What?
Speaker 1:was the worst thing, worst part of narco cup, worst moment, worst moment oh, all-star game. All-star game goes off great. It finishes up on saturday. There's one match left in in the tournament on saturday. There's one court still being played. They're in set three. It's 9 30. There's a group of kids playing spike ball in like the middle of the exhibitor area just off on their own, and I had no one put a stop to it. Like kids are just out there playing all day and the ball's like kind of bouncing around all over the place.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of space out there.
Speaker 1:There's a ton of space and so that's why I was like it's fine, like they're just playing. Sure enough, nine, 30 kid goes to play a spike ball and eyes go up to go play this ball and he starts running back and he just t-bones this poor old old lady and just pile, drives her into the into the ground and she gets rocked and she gets yeah, she got, she got hurt and our athletic trainer it happened right in front of our athletic trainer and shout out to katie was right on it, our emt was on it. Within was she was on the call on the phone with the emt got him out there in one minute and the kid that did it was absolutely shaken up and she was, she was fine.
Speaker 1:They transported her to the hospital make sure she was good. But yeah, it was just like our literally our event coordinator like 45 minutes beforehand was like wow, really, really clean day like really clean really clean event for you guys thus far.
Speaker 2:Boom transport but, that being said, to have an event that's a very, very normal situation that happens when you have that many people that get brought into a building. You are going to have things that happen. Nobody realizes how many actual situations that event owners have to handle. I was looking at the incident reports in the garage and like overall, very normal, typical one transport, totally normal event.
Speaker 1:And normally there's no athletic trainer there, so there was a lot of things where it was like we did everything we could to make sure everything was taken care of, safe, secure. I took that spike ball net and I chucked that thing into the trash. So fast though. Afterwards it was like no more spikeball. No one can play. This is why you can't cancel the drumline now.
Speaker 3:Before they impale somebody. You don't deserve the drumline.
Speaker 2:Yeah, overall. Also I would say low point. Was you got sick during setup?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, On Thursday we moved in on Wednesday. That was such a bummer and I was sick on Wednesday, but it wasn't like I just felt bad. And then on Thursday, death knocked on my door. I was dying With his camels.
Speaker 3:With his scythe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he came with his scythe.
Speaker 3:There was a puddle.
Speaker 1:There was a puddle and a crocodile and I went to wrestle that crocodile and he almost got me. But yeah, I died. I died on thursday. I was up sick all night and woke up feeling I was. I was at maybe five percent on thursday, like five he kept using numbers.
Speaker 2:It kept. It wasn't like a scale one out of ten it was like I was of a hundred. He kept using numbers. It kept. It wasn't like a scale one out of 10. It was like I am at he would be like I am at 35% right now.
Speaker 3:And then all of a sudden he'd be like I'm at 5%, my battery life was down and then the next morning I walk into the convention center, he's like I am at 87%.
Speaker 2:I'm like what?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was one of those ones where, yeah, yeah, I got, I got through it and felt much better and then, luckily on, like the first day of the tournament, I was okay, I'm at 100. Part of it was probably just adrenaline, because I did not sleep at all convinced.
Speaker 2:Like he she was. Like he's anxious, he's like nervous about the event and like no it wasn't stressed.
Speaker 1:I knew it because the the girls got sick the week before the girls were sick the week before and I was like this shit. This shit's like a ticking time bomb. It's gonna hit me. Hit me in a week, guaranteed they get sick. I get sick. One week later I knew it was coming and it was like please just don't happen on Saturday or Sunday, sure enough Thursday. So yeah, we got through that. That was definitely a low point.
Speaker 2:That was a tough get through.
Speaker 1:But there was a lot of high points of the weekend and the event itself. So that part was I'm glad I was at 87. 80% above B to A level to be able to kind of experience it. So that part was good. What was?
Speaker 3:the most fulfilling of like, the part that was like alright, I've put in months for this to kind of be pieced together and like what was the piece of like? I feel like it is gone, as I hoped, you know, and getting through.
Speaker 1:I mean honestly, the most rewarding. I woke up feeling emotional on saturday like doors opening.
Speaker 1:I was I was grateful when the when the floors were down, I was like wow, wow, this is this is real, this is happening. Woke up on Saturday and was like this is this is really cool. I was certainly stressed. There was like so many things that I was like trying to save, cost savings, cost saving measures to try and take care of like the event and make sure we were as close to not losing money as possible.
Speaker 1:Um, that I was stressed about and once, once we got through and people were getting led in the doors and ticketing was working and like the things that we were prepping for and trying to get all these people on the same page with those were were working and we had people kind of manning that area and there was no major fires. That was the most rewarding. It was like just kind of watching people come in and coaches going through a normal turn, like what I would do at any other event, like walking in with your ball cart, meeting with your team in the halls and going through those moments. You just seeing that from the side of like we put all, we made all this happen and we got all this together and we put ourselves out there and and said that we were going to do it and that we were going to do it. Well, um, that was, that was. The most fulfilling part was just getting getting people through the door on day one, no doubt.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was good for you guys, what was like you walking in or or being a part of it, that you were like this is. This is cool.
Speaker 2:We need to keep this going um, for me all-star game was very cool to have that there and vibes were high and like dj bunny, the whole thing like it was just a really cool yeah dustin and kavika being there and like it was just like a really cool thing for us to be able to have an event and our coaches be, uh, comfortable at the event and come up to the championship desk and hanging out and the whole thing. Like it was just a really cool feeling for everybody to know that they were taken care of. And, um, it was. I definitely think I I got some like very strange looks from the referees when they came into the event and they saw me like standing there and I was like good morning, like welcome to norcal cup. That was very interesting. But like the, the crossover of rebecca coming in, like that's a really cool thing for me to see. I've known Rebecca since forever and um, so, bringing some Capitol Hill people to be in like involved with this stuff, um, but as, like a coach being involved in the event, it's just loves a. This is the events that we're looking for. Yeah, so it was.
Speaker 2:I had that feeling. Same feeling the whole weekend of money where your mouth is, yeah, like we've been talking a game for a while and we've been very vocal about the struggles that we've gone through with our region and the events that we've had, and so for us to be able to say that and then say like no, for real, like we, we know what goes into this. This isn't just us complaining and saying like you guys are not good at that, whatever. Like we're just saying that there's more that can be done for the kids in this area and like the kids that play volleyball in this area deserve good events and it's for people need to start coming into this space to run good events. Um, so the whole money over your mouth. This thing was like kind of the coolest thing for me to see come to fruition did you feel like a crocodile?
Speaker 3:I I your question, man I don't know about that.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I identify with the crocodile as much as you do. I don't like crocodiles.
Speaker 1:Neither do I. That's why I like the metaphor so much. I would never mess with a crocodile in a puddle.
Speaker 2:I'd be avoiding that puddle real quick, like land and sea, yeah they can get you anywhere, anything in the air. How do you feel about crocodiles Chad?
Speaker 1:No, how did you feel about the event? I want to hear about the event.
Speaker 3:Back to crocodiles. I don't have a problem with them. Alligators, I think, maybe a little bit speedier. Crocodiles, I think, a little bit bigger.
Speaker 2:What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? Oh, that's an embarrassing question.
Speaker 3:You shouldn't have to ask that, do you know? That no, but it's not relevant, but obviously you'll never catch an alligator in a puddle like. That's just dumb. Um, obviously no, I mean like for me it was the.
Speaker 2:The low-hanging fruit was like my pool was great, you know, because we had a three-team pool played three, one team dropped out, and so you got the sure yeah, yeah it wasn't like a, it was.
Speaker 3:It was ideal for me. We played three sets, ref three sets, played three sets. I mean literally I can put in the group chat. I was like matt, done by 11 30, we're going for a beer.
Speaker 2:This is great. Thank you, this is ideal.
Speaker 3:No, I mean, I just thought, of course there are nuggets everywhere in that place of intentional things that you guys tried to do to make it better, even if it's just security. Like I'm'm coming up with my coffee, I'm like, oh no, like am I gonna have to dump this? Like what's going on? Oh, there's no one at the door who cares. Wow, what an amazing event. Already they're not like super uptight about this, um, but I just I felt a lot of a lot of pride, of course, like, but I thought it was just really cool. Like that.
Speaker 3:It was the club's thing. Like, at the end of the day, I was like, wow, like this community, yeah, through the hooligan contingent, put on an amazing event in an area that obviously we have a lot of passion for and we want to do right by these kids, and we want to do right by this community, and we want to do right by this region and then to like to actually see it happen like, oh, this was kick-ass, everybody had a great time, we took the best of what it should be, got rid of the stupid stuff that doesn't matter Of, like, oh, you can't be on the sport court if there's a volleyball within 100 meters or something Like what. That's a weird rule and then everybody just it flowed Like I was sitting next to parents. What's the club From like, from slow?
Speaker 1:Top flight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and they were like yeah, man, like, so, like, is this like your club's thing? I was like yeah, well, it's, it's like the first year that they're kind of trying to put it on. What do you guys think? How's it going? They're like oh, it's been great. Everything's just been flowing amazing. It's quality, it's everywhere. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on. They just had no complaints at all. They're like yeah, the person that told me to do something about my granola bars coming in, I eat right in front of him. That, that'll show him, but I'm like that was probably like Lisa McFall.
Speaker 1:That he did that too, so I'm like I don't know Both parties win.
Speaker 3:I don't know, um, but no, I mean, I just like to watch something. I mean we talked about it on the last pod that we never published. Um, we have like 100 episodes we haven't released in a while. You people out there have no idea, but it's just so cool to try. It's just so cool to create and to put your name on something, put it out there and then obviously reap the rewards not only from the kids having a great time, but like, oh yeah, oh, like, yeah, man, like I could do this. That's kick ass. I mean and I'm sure you're probably riding this high of like man, I, I, I planned for months and this thing went great, except for that woman with the spike ball and I don't know. I mean, it's got to be a great feeling for you guys right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think to put a pin in NorCal Cup, looking back on it, yes I put in a ton of time planning it and yes we put in a ton of work in the days that we were there. But the community part was the most incredible thing of the amount that I relied on our community of people as volunteers, literally like Betab database, set up all the courts, like that was one of my biggest. Biggest things was like just getting the courts on the on the ground was one of the most rewarding things and that was all of our guys coming in and putting in you know, three hours of work, like of actual like mostly kids have never done manual labor in their lives and they came in and they put those dollars down.
Speaker 1:Same thing thing tearing up courts right, we had five teams that were doing court tear down and tear up and, and when we had a whole mishap of like when our labor could come in on the last day, the first people I went to to try and get assistance the following day was our senior, like a kid, who was or graduated, was like hey, I need help tomorrow. Are you around around? I'll pay you, like of course, but I need help. And they're like absolutely I'll be here.
Speaker 1:Right, like first thing, like no questions asked, yeah, I'll be there. And we got everything done within three hours of getting the courts all torn up. It was just a massive effort of really people who just wanted to help the community of beta BNS. Right, like Nick's year bond, did all the cat drawings for free. Daniel Rosai, without even fully being prompted, booked his family a hotel room for the whole weekend so that he could be there and help and just do whatever. Whatever he needed, from assembling the dimes booth to setting up course to helping string things off.
Speaker 1:Kyle Chamberlain was like. I felt like he was like slave labor, but he was there because he wanted to be there. He spent every hour possible trying to help. The Falls were like, hey, just get us a hotel room, we'll work for free. And they manned the hardest position at the front. They had to do ticketing, so every complaint they actually were the first people that got to deal with it. My mom and dad were doing ticking like all this. All these people that we were pulling from just came from so many branches of my life, in our life that helped us put this thing on and make us look good, and so it was just.
Speaker 2:It was very cool to see all the, all the parent beta parents and players and then our community that came together to to help put something on it's been really cool to watch that transition like from where we were at what 11 years ago when we started this like we were 22 and 21 starting doing this and the like.
Speaker 2:The whole idea for us at the beginning was, like we can prove that we can do this like on our own, and I think that it was almost it was the right thing to do at the time, because we needed to put our head down and, like, prove where we were at.
Speaker 2:But how it's evolved into at this point is like we have put our head down and worked really hard to get to this place and we now have so many people that are just willing to show up and be there and want to help and are, like, so ready to be called upon to do something because we for a long time didn't really ask for help with anything and there is so much room for growth in what we do if we open our arms up and say like, yeah, we'd love help in any of this stuff.
Speaker 2:I mean, we've been talking about this with facility stuff for years of like. The moment that you ask is the moment that, like there are so many people that believe in what we're doing and so it's a really cool thing to see the evolution of what that has turned into, because we have so many people that are. I mean, I watched Rowan's parents show up and Jack Roloff's dad show up and was like I've never I've. It was just kind of like this call to action of like I just really want to come and help and like see what this is about, and like you've got parents doing manual labor.
Speaker 2:Jack's dad walked in and was like I've always wanted to set up one of these courts. I've never seen it. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen.
Speaker 1:He just saw the time, Not like there was a sign up for it. Even he just was like I'm here to help. What can I do?
Speaker 2:I just was so moved by how many people were just like all the parents that were packing the bags the welcome bags and the moment that you enlist that help like. It just was a really cool thing to be able to see. That is the community that we have, that we've instilled in the kids for a long time, but there's so many other people that have really just wanted to jump into the culture of it as well, which is super cool, so yeah.
Speaker 1:So shout out, shout out to the community. People stepped up big time there was no culture right. Someone's got to answer that bell. The other thing that was interesting and I think this is a good segue into some things for you is we had so many shooters at this event. Oh my goodness, we had so much content that got created this weekend. It was wild.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the content world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we had I think we were the most content stacked tournament there. But there's been an interesting one of like going through the start of summer season bringing your team back on after all of the craziness that you've gone through of of kind of taking off on Instagram and now your team is very much front and center of a lot of what you, a lot of what you do, and so there's a lot of eyeballs on them, Correct? Can you give the people some, uh, some insight into what that did you have?
Speaker 3:a conversation with them.
Speaker 1:Like what was the, the. What's that been like for your team?
Speaker 2:um, it's been something that I've thought a lot about it over the last couple months. Um, we've had a ton of conversation like, uh, how to go about this and what the right decision is, on like involvement and inspiration and the whole thing. Uh, we sat down at the first practice of the season and I kind of just like went through it with them of like this is what has taken place and they've all seen it. Obviously, like I put stuff out there every single day on social media. We just went through like every single facet of it about how I like there's no other team that I would rather do this with Like right now. I think that this is a great team for me to be able to like put this out there.
Speaker 2:I believe in what they do.
Speaker 2:I believe in who they are as people.
Speaker 2:I think that they're incredible kids on this team and the culture of social media as of the last however many years has kind of for kids has been like hide everything, and I have really given them the like myself as a resource of like, if you want to put yourself out there, I am happy to walk you through it and like post stuff and help you create and give you inspiration to create and try to try and put yourself out there.
Speaker 2:And so, um, I have seen a ton of just change in my the kids that I've been around of, just like thinking that, like the kids that I've been around of, just like thinking that, like this is really cool, even if people don't like it, like I like it, this is who I am as a person. Like this is the stuff that I want to put out there and this opens doors for me and this is a living resume that I get to put out there that anybody can go on and say, like this is who this kid is, or this kid is or this kid is, and I just think it's a really um, it's a really weird world that we've been in with, like how we've raised kids to uh, almost shame them of like don't put stuff out there that you don't want anybody to see. It's going to live there forever. You don't want anybody to be able to like go back and see what you have put out there.
Speaker 2:Rather than helping them on how do you put stuff out there? These kids are going to be looking at it all the time. We're not preventing them from looking at it. These kids are on their phones all day long. We've been adults saying that forever. Why can't there be adults that help them with creation? Why can't there be adults that help them with creation? Why can't there be adults that help them with like, how do you define what your brand is and who you are on, figuring out what it is that you like and how to put that out there?
Speaker 2:And I think that that's been something that I've helped. I've been trying to help people that want that help with. There are kids that are like I'm not super into it, no problem. Like I don't, that's totally fine. Like I'm still here to coach a volleyball team. I'm still here to dive into all these things that we've done the entire time. We just have a camera on a lot and we have a ton of things being put out there, and so I want them to be able to uh, to gain value from that, and so there's been a really incredible response to it from my team so far.
Speaker 2:There's been a ton of connection that has been made from it. Yes, there's definitely some negative that comes with it and there's a lot of attention and a lot of eyeballs and not the greatest response from people all the time and every first point against my team. It's like the other team is going to Disney World or something. It's like, wow, this is wild, but it is what it is and I'm totally fine with that and I think that they're fine with it too, like they know that people want to go get them, but they're pretty bold kids and they're not really afraid of people coming after them. People were going to come after them anyways, so might as well have everybody watch. So that's been where we've been at so far apologies, I'm chewing this cough drop.
Speaker 3:Um, I'm curious because I'm. I can imagine when I'm 16, 17, 18, you know, if I had somebody filming, multiple people filming while I'm training yeah, not even playing right, but like I'm imagining, like if I was in my own practice today. I'm making errors, I'm, you know it's getting a little chippy and you know my starting to lose and I'm the reason we're losing. It's like, oh shit, all this stuff, do the kids? Do they stay pretty true? Or do you have some kids who are ramping it up or maybe even ramping it down, just like, hey, I usually talk a lot but I don't want to be too extroverted because I don't want to do anything. That's.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 3:Because I can imagine some of the personalities on your team like, oh yeah, I'm super into it, but I'm also like I'm the harker kid. I'm like, yeah, no, thank you. Someone else can go.
Speaker 2:So we kind of had this conversation at the beginning of, like the only way for this to be real is to be real, and the moment that you start thinking about the cameras on is the moment that you stop being who you are, like I'm the same way. Sometimes it gets me a little while to like warm up when I have a microphone on and like I'm doing my thing because I'm not like super comfortable. It's the moment that I forget about it is the moment that, like there's so much trust that my team that I've already built with my team before all of this that this works, because they know that I'm not going to put anything out there that they don't like. And they also know that if there's ever a moment that they're uncomfortable with anything, they can have an open conversation with me. And that comes from like that conversation happening.
Speaker 2:And also I've been with this team for a year and a half now and like a bunch of these kids for a while, and we dive into uncomfortable things a lot, and so like they know that that is an open door for me, that nothing that I do is trying to make them look bad.
Speaker 2:It's actually I'm only trying to make them look good and even with the struggle that we face and the bad things that happen, that is good too, because they're kids and I'm a human and I'm not perfect and they're not perfect and some of the most relatable things is the struggle that we have and that was the. I think that was the moment that a lot of them really understood what I was trying to do, because they like that. We had that conversation. It went back and forth of like no, you're being very real here and that's what people want. People want the real stuff. They don't want the shellac perfect version of what everything is, and that's the reason why it's gotten as big as it's gotten so far yeah, I mean, I think that's kind of where my question stems from, though.
Speaker 3:Like, hey, I get that, that's the real. But like, if I'm, you know, not a super extroverted person by default, yeah, do I want. Like, am I comfortable with other people seeing that part of me of like, oh hey, I'm trying to learn too yeah but maybe I want to just kind of learn from the back of the class and not be up up front. I mean, is it a?
Speaker 3:I had them come to me and let me know if it was okay with them or not yeah, so there's almost like a different strategy depending on kind of the pockets of personality on this team and and with my kids there hasn't.
Speaker 2:There has been a little bit of like I'm totally fine with the camera, but I'm just not like really ready to like start posting all the time or start whatever. Um, almost all of them have been like great with it and like anybody who's been uncomfortable with anything has been able to say that, and I'm able to be like great, awesome. Like who's been uncomfortable with anything has been able to say that, and I'm able to be like great, awesome. We're still filming practice, but I'm not highlighting you and doing collaborations with you.
Speaker 3:No problem, that's okay if you don't want to, Most of the team is. I don't know what the Extroverted. I was going to say goobers, yeah, 100%.
Speaker 2:But in a way of they want to do this and so they're um what have the perks been for them thus far? I mean shoes, and we got like we got. We got cash.
Speaker 1:I gotta, I gotta think a lot of their like their personal accounts have gone up in terms of.
Speaker 2:I actually said this today. Yes, personal accounts have definitely gone up and like they're followed by, like all the 13 year old girls are all about this and like, for sure, um, but even the shoe stuff. I was like I was hoping that, like maybe they would like them and like I told them all like you do not have to wear them, it's okay, this is just like this is for you guys. It's great, I mean, a majority are wearing them and like they love it the sabrinas yeah the sabrinas, and like it's just a cool thing that they got.
Speaker 2:And, yes, there's going to be a lot of people flame them for like this stuff and like they know that is coming too, but like it is what it is. Like every time that anybody is on the team has ever said like I don't know, like we're just getting chirped up by, like all these other kids that are in our grade or in our school or whatever. I'm like okay, well, if they do, you think that they would want to do a sponsorship deal with somebody? Well, yeah, obviously, okay, well, then it doesn't matter. Like this isn't you don't get there until you start like putting yourself out there more and the whole culture is just like make fun of everybody for everything. So like, who cares?
Speaker 1:so you're saying that they want to scythe the highest camels back because you guys are sticking up?
Speaker 3:for those who miss the cold open.
Speaker 1:That has a thing about death and camels, yeah yeah, it's true, though, like when you stick out, people want to cut you down 100, that's the easiest way to put it yes, scythe, camel, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker 1:But when you stick out, when people want to cut you down 100%, that's the easiest way to put it. Yes, scythe, camel, blah, blah, blah. But when you stick out, when you are trying to do something different, or you are doing something different, everyone's going to want to cut you down. Yep, which I think is one of the most interesting things that I heard you guys talk about was just the fact that every time you play a team, you're going to get a tidal wave of emotion that comes against you guys, which, honestly, I think, if you're knowing your team, getting trained with that, go through Norco cup go through SoCal cup and you're going to get all these teams that do that.
Speaker 1:You can those guys learn to handle those tidal waves. That's such a oh my, what a, what a blessing of a lesson that they will get and what a way to get the most out of themselves If they're able to, if they're able to kind of perform some mental and physical jujitsu and like turn that wave against their opponents.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we. I don't know what's coming. I expect it to be a weird thing that we haven't seen before, and I don't know if we will be successful or not but I definitely will be real though but we will be.
Speaker 2:This will be as uh as true to what I have been trying to preach the entire time whether we are successful or we are not successful. I hope we are successful and we are not successful. I hope we are successful and we are training to be successful. But my kids are being taught the things that I believe are important and we're highlighting that and it resonates with a lot of people and it's creating impact in places that I never even thought I would create impact and they see that happening and I am leading this whole thing by example and they are seeing the things that I get with a magnifying glass and they are supportive and this is the way that I would want young men to be raised at this time period. I think it's a really, really cool thing.
Speaker 1:Agreed.
Speaker 2:So, but we'll see. We've got a lot coming here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, everyone will be able to watch along, yeah that's for sure. That's the cool part about it.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:Well, nice work everyone. That was a good quick episode of the pod there Was it quick.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's probably like an hour and 15.
Speaker 1:Quick-ish I don't know what time we started, but quick-ish. Big weekend ahead. We got Beer Olympics, we got Grassman. Grassman we should train for both we should train for.
Speaker 2:Both.
Speaker 1:We should get rested up for all those big competitions and then, I think, next week, pre-socal Cup, we'll circle back. Let's do this again. We'll see what sites need to be talked about.
Speaker 2:That means we've got to go. Monday, tuesday, wednesday, that would make sense, one of those days that I play every day. See you in July, everybody.
Speaker 3:Every day.
Speaker 2:I go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, right. I don't know, I think I switched one of my practices to we don't go Monday, we go.
Speaker 3:We go Monday? No, we don't.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do, it's not on the mic. Okay, well, you know, deuces, quiet coyote, quiet coyote, quiet coyote.