Brock University coaches have been tapped for their expertise to conduct virtual coaching clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Sports organizations across the province are leaning on several Brock head coaches to discuss strategy and success on the heels of several milestone seasons by high-profile Badgers teams.<\/p>\n
At this time of the year, the volleyball community in Canada is typically focused on youth provincial and national championships. However, with all championships having been cancelled this year due to COVID-19, the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) has put together OVA Coaches Week, a series of webinars from coaches across the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) to technical directors at the club level.<\/p>\n
The OVA reached out to Brock men\u2019s volleyball head coach Matt Ragogna and women\u2019s volleyball coach Steve Delaney to present an hour-long coaching webinar, including a Q&A session.<\/p>\n
The duo are no strangers to the OVA and have served as coaches for Team Ontario and recently co-coached a boys team to a Volleyball Canada banner in 2018.<\/p>\n
Ragogna, who guided the Badgers to their first playoff appearance since the program was rebooted in 2016, conducted a webinar on the coach-athlete relationship and how to manage expectations when working with a new team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love getting the opportunity to speak to groups about different areas of coaching, especially in a volleyball context,\u201d said Ragogna, who recently completed his first season as head coach of the Brock men\u2019s team. \u201cAs a coach within Team Ontario in the Canada Games cycle, I was really excited to get this opportunity to speak to coaches looking ahead to hopefully a beach and future indoor season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ragogna completed his Sport Management degree at Brock followed by his master’s is in Sport Coaching. He is also the assistant coach for the Team Ontario Program which will compete in the 2021 Canada Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting 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 club over the past seven seasons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Delaney recently led the Brock women\u2019s volleyball to their first U SPORTS national championship appearance and couldn\u2019t wait to share his approach through his webinar, \u2018Competition in practice and training under pressure,’\u00a0to gain an edge over the competition through practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m doing this because I think it\u2019s one of the most important high performance tools you can use to elevate your team in practice,\u201d said Delaney. \u201cYou have to come up with creative ways to put pressure on your training, so it\u2019s greater than it is during a game. This will allow you to perform in games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Delaney has attended a few of the OVA webinars himself and recognizes the value of giving back to his peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to give back,” he said. “Coaches should share all the elements of their craft. You always have to continue to learn. It\u2019s time for me to share some of the stuff I\u2019ve picked up in my short coaching career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s basketball head coach Mike Rao recently conducted his first-ever webinar for the Ontario Basketball Association entitled \u2018A Championship Season,’ which delved into what went into the Badgers’ historic national playoff run.<\/p>\n
He explored team chemistry beyond the X\u2019s and O\u2019s with topics such as building trust, team-first scoring and self-evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, winning is not success,\u201d Rao told his audience. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where you start, but where you finish. Were you better at the end of the season than where you began? For me, that\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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