Sticking Together: The Importance of Staying in Touch

By: Dave Portney, AVCA

Originally Published in: Coaching Volleyball

"Allow empathy and compassion to guide your decisions. Because we're all in this together, it's more important now that we band together in ways we haven't seen for quite some time."

In times like these, it can be tough to find the words to say. In the immediate aftermath of seasons coming to a pre-mature end and recruiting/spring season coming to a halt, coaches are often looked at to share inspirational words to guide their student-athletes and communities until we're back on the court.

It's not always that easy.

Regardless of our abilities to communicate about issues like a pandemic, it's still important your team has some sort of communications strategy. Here are three do's and three don'ts to consider as we navigate uneasy times.

Since I'd like to end on a positive note, I'll start with the don'ts:

Don't be a doctor or scientist. Okay, obviously unless you are an actual scientist or doctor in this field. Coaches and programs are community leaders, therefore have a special role in only sharing information we know for a fact to be true, no matter how well-intentioned we are. Please consider information sometimes changes by the hour, so what's true in the morning could be obsolete by the afternoon. Volleyball accounts and websites are not expected to share the latest general information on a global health crisis.
Don't be impulsive. It's better to say nothing at all than something you might regret down the road. Figure out what you want your strategy to be, but keep it flexible based on new information. Posting without a plan can lead to unforced errors, which can turn into more trouble for you and your program than you'd care to deal with.
Don't (or limit) scheduled posts. We've all seen a few examples of social media posts that were clearly scheduled before the pandemic hit our country in a big way. Because this information is so fluid, over-scheduling posts can lead to your social media accounts coming across as tone-deaf if they're outdated. If you must, be ready to delete any of the scheduled posts at a moment's notice.

Now for the three do's:

Do have empathy and compassion. Allow empathy and compassion to guide your decisions. Because we're all in this together, it's more important now that we band together in ways we haven't seen for quite some time. If we can truly connect with
our audience, then deciding what strategy to move forward with will come more naturally.
Do share things to train from home. Just because you can't have your players in the gym doesn't mean they can't do something to improve. From garage touches to get your athletes jumping and practice blocking technique to peppering with a fellow quarantined family member, there are any number of activities they can do on their own. Encouraging them to post their activities on social media not only gives your accounts content to re-purpose, but to keep an eye on what your student-athletes are doing to improve. Don't be shy about getting yourself on the volleyball accounts to update what you and your team have been up to recently.
Do have fun and be creative. Especially in the college women's space where this is prime recruiting time, potential recruits are on social media literally all day until they're back in school. Now's a great time to share with them what you and your program are all about. Just like we're doing here at the AVCA, we're trying to find new ways to deliver quality content to our membership that aren't all typical for this time of the year. For example, now that weekly polls and weekly awards have concluded for the spring season, I'm sifting through previously recorded videos to extract clips for re-purposing in ways not previously consumed. Maybe you share with your followers basic volleyball tips, unknown facts about your team, baby pictures are always a hit, or even highlights from last season. The bottom line is your followers and potential recruits are online now, so do what you can to grab their attention.

It's easy to neglect your online tools in times like these, where the health of our communities is the top priority. I'd prefer to view these tools that have at times distracted us, to now view them as the best tools to keep the volleyball community connected.

#VolleyOn