So, it’s been a crazy blizzard here in Cincinnati these past couple days and it has given me the opportunity to think about my upcoming spring volleyball season. I am so excited to start practicing again. I know I am out of shape, due to health reasons that restricted me from doing any physical activities. It was probably one of the hardest months of my life. I was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst that hemorrhaged and the doctor wasn’t sure if I was going to need surgery. SO I was sentenced to a month of no physical activity. This was the hardest thing I have ever done! I have never gone that long without being active at all. I have been cleared for a little over 2 weeks now and was in full swing with getting into shape until my training was put to a standstill last week when I was struck with tonsillitis and a sinus infection. NO FUN! I really don’t know if I could have worse luck.
I have been trying to research some new training techniques. I am a setter and need some strength training tips so if you have any you would like to share I would be more than happy to listen and learn! I have been running on an elliptical, doing sprint workouts, and lifting. As I do more research I will report my findings on this blog! :o]

Leadership

lead⋅er⋅ship: the position or function of a leader; ability to lead;an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction

At the Leadership Conference the central focuses were to:

• Review individual leadership skills through self analysis and peer feedback.


• To work and interact with students across the United States to share views and opinions about leadership.


• To expand a better understanding of key practices of excellent leaders.


• Meet with others from your conference to begin dialogue about the current conditions of your campus or conference.


• Learn about the role of the SAAC as a student-athlete resource and how SAAC can help change your campus for the better.


• Discuss Division III issues effecting student-athlete well being.


• Begin developing an action plan to create positive change on your campus, for your conference or within the community and learning how to put that action plan into effect, successfully.

The theme of this conference was a "drum". All of the students were broken off into groups with people they had never met before, each with a specific drum name. All of the drums team names were names of drums from all around the world. The common theme was to bring people with all different leadership styles together and show that we can all work together for the better.
During the process of finding out what kind of leader you are they give you different leadership tests. It was crazy how much mine was related to me. The test we did was the DiSC leadership/personality assessment. The letters stand for:
D= Dominance i= influence S=steadiness C= Conscientiousness
Based on answers you have to the questions, it will put you into a category of either D,i,S,C. With this tests there were other test bases on our assessment of ourselves and what others thought of us. Each of them tie together to help give each student and administrator their leadership. With these assessments we grouped up with people to help better understand what we thought each meant. I personally was an "i". We also grouped up with people of different leadership styles to help gain a better understanding of how they operate as a leader and as a person. We were also given the opportunity to work with people of other leadership styles to enhance our ability to work with all different types of people that we will encounter on an everyday basis on our college campuses.
We were also given the opportunity to learn more about SAAC and what SAAC does for colleges everywhere. We were also able to learn more about NCAA Division III athletics and the organization in itself. There was part of the conference where we were grouped together with all of the other schools in our conference to talk about and discuss different issue that occur on our campuses and throughout our conference. We then grouped with people from our school and developed an action plan to carry out to our campus that will benefit it in some way.
During the conference we also did lots of activities. The first day we of course did icebreaker games to help us interact with new and different people. Then at night, the conference held a drum activity that everyone participated in (everyone had their own drum). There was a group of hired professionals who led us and it was such an amazing experience! There was of course meaning behind this as well, reinforcing that when different types of leaders work together it forms something great like the beating of all the different types of leaders drums. It may sound confusing but I promise the concept is simple. They also planned a trip to Dave and Busters on Saturday night. It was so much fun! This now leads me to the food! The food was so good! They kept us well fed and had amazing caterers.
At first, i did not know what to expect. I thought it was just going to be another conference where everyone sits in a big room where one person talks the whole time. It wasn't like that at all. It was a lot of hands on activities and learning that helped you better grasp the ideas they were trying to get across. The overall experience was nothing short of amazing! I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I don't think anyone can ever learn enough about themselves. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

For this entry I will be taking a little detour from the whole volleyball subject and tell you a little bit about me as a student athlete. This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the NCAA Student Athlete Leadership conference Chicago, IL. As a member of my college’s SAAC program I was nominated to go to this conference to represent my school.
As a student athlete leadership is a huge part of being an athlete. Most people don’t have what it takes manage being a student yet manage being a student athlete. As a student athlete you are forced to miss class for games, keep your grades above par, go to practice and then come home and do homework when all you want to do is sleep. Its one crazy ride but I would change it for the world. Anyhoo, the conference talked about being different types of leaders and finding the best leadership style that will benefit you in your institution. In my next blog I will talk more about what the theme of the Conference was and how I feel it benefited me as a person, student and as an athlete.

I am so excited! This week I start coaching for my club team! I love coaching almost as much as I love playing. There is no better feeling than witnessing one of your players apply something and/or use a skill that you have taught them. If you can make a positive impression on them along the way, well, that’s an accomplishment in itself. I believe that is one of the most important things you do as a coach. You need to be a good role model to these girls.
Caching 13 year olds is especially challenging because they are all still figuring out who they are and who they are going to be on the volleyball floor and off. At this age, you want to fit them into the position that is best for them and that will benefit them the most in the long run. As a coach, you also want each player to try new things and find the volleyball player they were meant to be. All of this sounds so cheesy but it is so true! Being a young coach, you need to make a positive influence on them and my goal is to teach them the skills they will need to play in high school and be the role model they need in their life right now.

HELLO!

I would like to formerly introduce myself: my name is Lyndsey Waldman and I am a college volleyball player for the College of Mount St. Joseph. I am also a coach for 13 year olds at Cincy Classics Volleyball Club in Cincinnati and in the summer I run volleyball camps for a sports club and help with for a high school camp here in Cincinnati. As you can see volleyball is a huge part of my life and I want to share my thoughts and opinions on all of the volleyball that goes on around me!
This blog will primarily be about what volleyball means to me and how volleyball affects my life. I will also be talking about current news and coaching styles and I will be giving my feedback on subjects.