9. Mark Lebedew:'Focus on the single thing that will do the most to help your team win.'

Hi everyone! In this article I'm happy to feature Mark Lebedew.

Mark is the former head coach of the Australian men's national team. He has coached at many high level European teams and is for sure a mindful coach when it comes to all aspects of our game. You'll learn that in this article but even more when you check out his own blog. Enjoy!

Mark, why and how many years ago did you decide to commit to being a professional volleyball coach? What pushed you towards that decision?

I decided to be a coach when I was 21. I really loved volleyball and couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. I tried studying at university but was just not interested.

I was not a great player, I didn’t want to be an administrator so the only choice left was to be a coach. If I knew now what I knew then, I don’t know if I would have made the same decision.

Matias here: ok, an open ended answer, makes the readers excited haha ...we'll get back on this, maybe during a video call?!

What advice would you give yourself as a starting coach?

Trust yourself, and you don’t have to shout.

Do you have a particular goal as a coach? Maybe a goal that you already reached or a goal that is so hard to reach that it gives you daily motivation?(and some healthy stress :-)) Can be personal on a team or club level, or all of those.

My only goal from the beginning was to be the best coach I could be. To do that I have to understand the game how it really is, not how we imagine it to. That is the background of everything I have done.

I haven’t reached my goal yet, because I never can. It is incredibly frustrating to keep moving and the end point is never closer, but that is the way it works.

The future of volleyball, how will the game evolve according to your opinion? Or what are you hoping for that the game will look like in a couple of decades? Will the speed of the game increase? Will the game become more technical?