We are human, we make mistakes! Sometimes it is replenishing to hear others moments of imperfection, or a funny moment in a game, because it reminds us we are not alone when making a mistake. In the sports world, athletes and coaches are always portrayed to be the best and do the best, but to get there we have to be knocked down at times to become stronger. Mistakes are apart of the process of becoming the best coach or athlete you can be, mistakes help you learn and grow. Listen to what our five coaches have to say from their experience! 

Coaches:

Paul Dill: Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rosanna Sguerra: Assistant Women’s Volleyball Coach at Denison University. 

Maya Hayes: Graduate Assistant Women's Soccer Coach at Auburn University

Brian Wright: Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach at Occidental College. 

Dan Klinect: Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach at Emory University.

Paul Dill

Paul tells us a story from the late 90s when they had a match point against them, and the opposing team ran out of subs. In result of this, their middle hitter was up to serve who typically never served in a match. The middle hitter makes the serve barely over the net. One of Paul's players received the serve, but her pass barely went more than two feet above the court. The opposing team started to celebrate their ‘win’ when Paul's outside hitter stuck her fist out at the last moment, made contact with the ball, and hit the ball over the net into the opposing teams back corner. They ended up winning that point, and eventually winning the match, but as Paul says, it was an unbelievable moment. 

Rosanna Sguerra

Rosanna’s ‘Not Top 5 Moments' is a combination of a few moments with one of her rising seniors on her current volleyball team. Rosanna tells us this player is the "goofball" of the team, and they catch her falling to the floor or running into the net a few times during practice. Rosanna mentions there are many times she wished she recorded practice due to the funny moments this player has.

Maya Hayes

Maya tells us a story of a time she played a game in a torrential downpour, she says the rain was so bad it was hard to even take the game seriously. The opposing team went to shoot a goal, and while their goalkeeper was diving to get the ball, the ball stopped in a puddle, and the other team was able to kick it in while Maya's goalkeeper was diving to the opposing side of the goal. Maya says all they could do was laugh when it happened.

Brian Wright

Brian’s ‘Not Top 5 Moments’ came from a trip to Europe for a tournament. His team was playing an exhibition game, thinking it would be a normal game, until they see the stands completely packed from left to right. When playing against the opposing youth professional team, Brian went to put pressure on the other teams left back, but the player mishits the ball and it ended up hitting Brian. Brian then fell down and for the entire rest of the game, the whole stand of fans were heckling him and making fun of him for getting hit by the ball.

Dan Klinect

Dan tells a story that happened two years ago during a soccer game against University of Chicago. A cross came up to the goal from the left side and shot, but instead their goalkeeper leaned to grab it and attempted to one hand punt it. He ended up punting it into their own goal. He also tells two other similar stories. 

Sometimes it is refreshing to hear about others not so best moments because it reminds us that even the best athletes and coaches, make mistakes too. Learning from our mistakes to do better the next time, is key!