Episode 53: A Kid from Arcadia featuring John Speraw

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hey everybody Welcome to the USA volleyball show we are coming to you sort of live  in Omaha Nebraska of all places in the United States Stephen or should I say Divine Divine  Divine Divine yeah uh won't name the coffee shop that that did this but uh found a new spelling  to my name I've never seen before s-t-e-b-i-n I thought it was you but hey you know maybe there  was a huge their own with their handwriting mine looks like chicken scratch I love that no that  was nice that was fun no it's great to be here in Omaha Nebraska what are we doing here what's  happening my first time at this very special event the ABCA convention and the NCAA championships  uh Women's Volleyball Championships here too yeah the energy is awesome so far uh we got in  pretty late last night after after our what nine hour nine hour drive Colorado we had quite the  series of events you know uh Curtis Ward and I we started uh from Colorado Springs driving up  to Denver to pick up you Stephen and then we left some materials back in the spring so we  had to drive an hour to have him back down the other way and then we went way out east  and kind of took the very scenic route through Kansas City it worked out through Kansas not  Kansas City sorry the outskirts of Kansas and then ended up here late last night and I was  very fortunate we took that route because there are a lot of people kind of stranded  it up in the what are we what are they in Northeast Colorado area yeah Colorado uh yeah uh our colleague and marketing um who's supposed to be here right now with us um but  unfortunately took the route that we were originally planning to go on uh and uh is  stuck there and and Northeast Colorado but sending Good Vibes to her hopefully we see  her and everybody else traveling and everyone else traveling that route to your truck or wherever you  know you're part of the staff uh making your way over here yeah uh traveling in general  um you know hope you guys are all safe getting through these you know winter storms yeah yeah  no joke well very exciting episode we have uh uh this episode here very exciting guest uh  pretty high profile guest I would say pretty or very very very helpful guest um very excited to  to be able to steal uh US Men's National Team head coach UCLA men's volleyball head coach John sparra  uh exciting to steal him away from his long list of duties here at ABC for sure literally did our  interview and was Off to the Races yeah elsewhere his phone was blowing up during the interview and  uh a bunch of new things added to his list of uh his itinerary for for the weekend but  um exciting get to talk to him great conversation uh I know our listeners will definitely enjoy it  um but let's let's just jump right to right in let's go right in here's U.S  Men's National Team head coach and UCLA men's volleyball head coach John sprawl John thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us here  at the ABCA convention the American coaches volleyball Association Convention did I get  that acronym right you did okay nailed it awesome like how you looked at me no awesome but yeah thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with us we really appreciate  it this is uh exciting to have you here well it's exciting to be at this event this event's  fun to just see all the coaches come together in one location every year a lot of friends  a lot of talk about volleyball of course and a lot of good speakers and an opportunity to  have conversations like this yeah so uh just yeah right off the bat here what's uh what's your role  here at the convention I know you're doing some presentations uh what what all are you involved  in here a few different things I think first of all I like coming just to represent men's  volleyball uh this is centered around the Women's Volleyball championship and a lot of times the  men's coaches haven't really arrived or shown up in in terms of the numbers that well it's hard to  match the numbers on the women's side but uh I want to make sure that we're represented I  think as the national team coach that's important to be here and see people and have meetings a lot  of meetings are scheduled this week so I think it's an important time an opportunity to really  connect with people in the sport I'm speaking so I'll be giving some educational seminars and then  we're also running a board meeting for the first point volleyball foundation so a lot of different  hats I'm wearing this this year this uh this convention yeah we'll definitely talk about the  first point Foundation a little bit later yeah I hope you have your running shoes on because  you'll be running around yeah session to session yeah Thursday's crazy I usually come in today and  I I really wanted to come in yesterday just so I could have a day to relax connect uh do this  show and uh and then get into Thursday running because once Thursday starts it's non-stop right  yeah yeah it's kind of kind of like that for us too we're doing we got a lot of different  hats that we're wearing as well filming a lot for coaching education and all right we're actually  doing a live podcast and the podcast Center which we haven't found out where that is yet but I'm  sure but I'm sure it's nice yeah we're going to do that with Tama miyushiro so that's gonna be  great oh great and hopefully have a little live audience some foot traffic coming through to  check that out but if you're walking by we'll be here oh cool what is that that is Friday is that  right Curtis yeah Friday um so we're excited for that but yeah doing a lot doing a lot but we're  excited for it it's our first time here too oh well you're gonna it's it's a show yeah there's  a lot going on there's a lot I've been to a lot of different volleyball events but this is the first  um ABCA I've been to I think the first few as well that is correct yeah it seems a lot I saw  I saw your post about meeting some of the alumni at UCLA alumni I think and our coaching alumni  yeah I'm not sure friends uh but it seems kind of similar to the what what high performance used  to do with the coaching Clinic just like right Community volleyball Community coming together  and coaches that small community to come together and catching up well there's just a lot of friends  here uh obviously I'm I'm here and I'm supporting Texas because Eric Sullivan the assistant coach he  and I were roommates in the dorms Dykstra Room 710 you know I love that so I think there's a  lot of friendships here and uh it's fun to see former players former assistant coaches that  have now moved on to their head coaching careers and and oftentimes we get so busy in the coaching  profession recruiting and obviously me traveling around during the Summers with usav that's the  one time of year where we really can get back together and share some stories yeah that's cool  how are your how are your nerves going into this and you seem very cool comic collected you know  get here you know a few days in advance you know yeah to relax and such too but you know lots going  on you're being pulled in multiple directions you know you ever get nervous in you know situations  like this and uh I don't get nervous uh I know tomorrow I've got to be prepared prepared prepared  I have to be prepared tomorrow because uh I have the have the board meeting and that'll be in the  morning and then I'll go straight from that to the coach's luncheon and then I walk straight  from that right to the on court session I'm giving a clinic on blocking so I've got to finish that  this afternoon and really really reflect because it it's not just what we do on the national team  but the the audience here is so broad-based you have Club coaches college coaches coaches of both  genders and different levels and so if I'm going to be talking about what we're doing blocking wise  on the national team for the men it may not always relate to everybody that's listening so I'm trying  I'm gonna spend a little time this afternoon be prepared for that and then I leave right from that  and go into a seminar where I think it's more of just a q a so that's easy and then I go to  a little happy hour where we're doing some first point networking and then I'll go to the match  and when I get to the match clearance then I'll be able to sit down relax watch some volleyball  yeah then it's nice I don't get nervous to answer your question uh it it's me mostly going around  and talking so I do that quite a bit as part of my profession so it's a little bit like riding  a bike yeah yeah uh to Jennifer our fans our listeners USA volleyball fans uh UCLA fans too  um what's something they don't know about you any like Hobbies interests uh you know book genres  you like TV shows that you like to binge or yeah something like that well essentially I used to be  really an Avid Reader I used to read a lot in fact when I first started coaching with Hugh McCutchen  when I was the assistant in in 2007 and 2008 we were doing all these flights I was really I'd  been coaching at UC Irvine for three four years at that point maybe going on five and I was thinking  to myself I'm a coach and yet I really don't have an academic background in a lot of these areas  which were pulled to do meaning uh I I majored in a science at UCLA but I didn't have any background  in specific academic understanding of motor learning so I wrote a list of all the different  books I could potentially read and then um we all are in the recruiting business so is that  sales is that Talent acquisition what is that okay what are some of those things I really wanted to  learn I wrote these different categories out and I just started to study and read like crazy like  I'd always been more of a Fiction guy in 2007 I became a non-fiction guy okay yeah it was a pretty  big shift and then I spent all those flights and all that time hammering books I just read a ton  between then and I'd say 2012 when I became the head coach I was still reading a lot and then then  I got married had two kids and and they're five and seven right now Brooklyn and Haley and so my  reading has literally grinded to a complete halt So when you say like Hobbies like I was thinking  about all the things I used to do before parenting yeah my hobby now is parenting right it's the one  thing I have time to do besides coach and and interact with my teammate or my players and  coaching staffs so so yeah I used to I used to be really into photography I used to be really into  reading yeah used to snowboard a little bit but that's really tough during the men's volleyball  season because that's right through the winter so all these things I used to do now I just try and  find time to work out yeah I think that's really important for me finding that time and the best  way for me to do that is I work out with the team so I do that with the national team as much as  I can particularly when I'm on the road and then uh yeah I see you in the weight room with them uh  yeah side by side yeah I try to do laps and stuff on the gym yeah that's right I do the warm-up with  them every day that gets me a little loosened up and my flexibility isn't so great so that  helps me there and and then I try to get a lift in with them every time they're lifting on the  road at home it's a little bit harder because the weight room's a little bit smaller but at UCLA I  work out with the guys and do their plan every day every time they lift and that's that's my way of  getting that in I gotta take care of myself well uh um after the Women's National Team open program  last year uh Nate go uh one of your assistants uh him and I went snowboarding oh yeah yeah so you  got to come up with that sometimes dust off the old board we were talking about it next week yeah  because it snowed recently so much in California and that's just rare this time of year and rare  for me to have a week off before the Christmas holiday but our kids are still in school they're  in school late and I was like gosh can we pull them out let's let's do this yeah I'm a bad guide  I would say though I lost Nate for about half an hour 45 minutes or so on the mountain where  were you at we were in uh a basin karapo Basin in Colorado okay so we stayed an extra couple days  after the open program and hit me up and uh we went up to the mountains yeah yeah we had a great  time great it was fun well maybe someday yeah all right I'm gonna hold you to it okay sounds good  I love it believe me I love it we talked about having like a full like USC Volleyball uh and  U.S national team coaching staff trip up to the mountains like a retreat I've never been with it  I still need to take some time to go oh yeah you got to do it I think that's a great idea Retreat  get a couple cabins and yeah I think that'd be gone that'd be awesome pitch a social committee uh really quick you touched on just being a a dad now and that's kind of uh taking away  some of your hobbies but yeah uh we have a lot of listeners who are coaches and and you know  parents themselves uh what do you I guess what's that balance like and what do you love about being  a dad uh oh and coaching yeah well just separate from coaching right I love being a dad that's the  greatest experience I've ever had uh you hear that when you're not a parent and you're like come on  um it's pretty incredible to have this realization about how much you can love something right uh and  I think that's been really oh it's just been I think a such a special life experience I'm  a little bit of an older dad so maybe I'm a little bit more reflective on it but I I really am really  enjoying it and I think for me the key is to really try to disconnect and not be on  my phone for periods of time when I get home in the afternoon which is hard I think the demands  of watching video and phone calls and recruit phone I mean you could do that endlessly when  I was single I probably did uh now I've got an amazing wife and two special little girls and I  come home and I really want to bring my focus to make sure that they see that I'm I'm I'm present  I'm paying attention we're playing Legos and I'm not staring at my phone and sometimes that's hard  as coaches so I think for me I'm just really trying to to be present I think is the most  important thing and enjoy this time because I know it goes fast I can already tell parents say it all  the time it goes really fast and uh it hasn't been a tough sell for me when people have told  me that like I get it I can see it going too quick already yeah five and seven is that what you said  five and seven seven yeah are they getting in a volleyball or have a little bit uh Brooklyn is  the seven-year-old and last year I was watching a women's volleyball match at UCLA that we were  streaming on the computer and she crawled up on my lap and started asking me questions really  interesting questions too like what's the end line right like she she saw the the line Mac  May was playing yeah and and so she was why is Mac jump from behind that line when she serves  the ball and what about this and so she was asking some really interesting questions too what's that  very technical oh very yeah uh yeah she's she's gonna be fine Brooklyn's gonna be fine so she  Mack was also spinning the ball on one finger as part of her server team grabbing it and serving it  and oh my gosh that was then the girls were trying to to spin the ball on her finger and then I you  know obviously I know Mac so Mac signed a ball for the girls this last summer when she was in Anaheim  with the national team we we needed a babysitter so I was like let's call Mac and Michelle my wife  was are you sure like I'm like she's in Anaheim I'm sure she'd love to do it the kids would lose  their mind yeah and so we did we called Mac and she came over and babysat one day for the girls  which is really special how Wild yeah have mac may as your babysitter look back on that oh she  was so great yeah we're taking photos and doing all that that's so fun that's awesome I know it's  it's funny we kind of bring this up too because a few like the you know Men's National Team players  that uh we've had on the show before um you know have brought the topic of fatherhood and  you know how that's kind of bringing and bonded a few players together and you know how you shifted  from you know old hobbies and habits into you know new habits that are you know centered around being  a dad and being a father so you know how often do you guys just have the conversations the candid  conversations of you know fatherhood and you know bonding and you know just overall advice you guys  can give each other you know from a coaching standpoint right you know to your players and  such well we certainly have had a increase in the number of dads on the team increa including  just the other day uh Gabby Garcia had his first chance I saw that Noah was born congratulations  last week yeah congratulations to Gabby so um you know Matt Anderson Micah Christensen and  Garrett Malone to Tia I'm going to miss guys um but I David Smith obviously has been a dad for  a while but I think there's uh I think there's a shared experience with that I mean there's just  um when you go through that experience it's Unique and I don't know that we're giving each other  advice but we're sharing and experiences together and uh certainly celebrating being a dad and and  it is fun at the train Center usually it happens the week before we go on a trip the the moms all  get together and plan a time when they all show up and so there's a there's usually one practice  when there's a lot of kids running all over the place makes me nervous because I don't want an  error to take somebody out I have a tendency to go stand in the back and try to get my old  blocking skills back your dad you're going to Dad mode yeah so stay sharp I always worry about that  so it is fun to have more and more dads on the team I I've seen that generational shift  it's interesting now that I've been doing this as long as I've been doing it I've seen these phases  when I was in on the team in 2007 and 2008 Loy ball was a dad Tom Hoff was a dad Riley salmon  was a dad I'm going down the list and um you saw all of that which is obviously a departure  from my Collegiate Experience not many dads on the Collegiate landscape and uh and so I thought that  was fun I wasn't a part of that at the time but I thought it was fun and then we get into 2000 when  I took over in 2013 we ended up in Rio with the youngest team if I'm not mistaken because  someone told me this the youngest team that we've ever taken to the Olympic games that's right yeah  and so there's no doubt uh Dave Smith maybe at that point so now of course that's all changed  over the last eight years and and here we are 10 years and uh now we've got a lot of dads again  so it's just the generations continue here yeah yeah the athletes we've had on talk about just  that the uniqueness of being a professional athlete and a dad and how that's just so rare  and and just to have that Community around them they're all going through this like you  said shared experiences right um they're able to kind of you know feed off that energy talk about  it and and have that support system I think with them because you're traveling all over the world  too right and you're away from family so they start makes a difference yeah yeah I think you  know technology has helped that I think quite a bit that's true and you can see here you got  these big athletic tough guys and you'll see one of our guys on FaceTime you know talking to  his four-year-old and there's a different way of communicating with a four-year-old and it's it's  pretty neat to see and of course I think that's the shared experience you know you know maybe in  future Generations you would have given the guy a hard time for talking to his four-year-old like  that now you're just like that's not that's what you do right yeah and uh and so now we all we all  do that yeah yeah that's awesome see a different side of of the athletes which I think is cool uh  a question we always like to ask our guests is how are you introduced to the game of volleyball  it goes way back I grew up in Arcadia California which is near Pasadena it wasn't a Beach Community  so not a back in the late 80s early 90s when this was all happening for me it was not a traditional  place to play volleyball there happened to be a really good volleyball coach it was a math  teacher at Arcadia High by the name of Chuck Friedberg and he had created this program at  Arcadia High that was really really successful so one of my best friends Robert chai I met him  on the first day of kindergarten he's the best man of my wedding and is now our stat stat guy  at UCLA and has been with us in the 20 years I've been a head coach he's been my data guy awesome  um and so Rob had an older brother Mike and Mike had started playing volleyball at Arcadia High  School so I went over to Rob's house one day and he was like hey let's let's they call this pepper  let's go out on the front lawn and do this and I had no idea what I was like literally no idea  what I was doing I eventually I was in junior high school playing football and baseball and  basketball and recognizing that I wasn't going to play football in high school I was gonna get  broken into and so I I was trying I really didn't love baseball so I was trying to find another  Spring sport and and knew that that volleyball option was there and that they were successful  and so my first formal volleyball experience was going through the Arcadia High School program  and uh and I loved it I think you hear this quite a bit when people are exposed to the game  that once you play it once you actually have the opportunity if you're not traditionally  um in a community that you where you see it all the time or you don't have much experience with  it but you have the opportunity to go play most of the time people go oh that was really fun yeah  it's literally a very fun Sport and that's why I think we have so many late transfers players  that are coming in a little bit later age that get exposed to that and come to the game a little bit  later at least that was my experience in the early in the early 90s um so I think maybe we're seeing  a little bit more players get introduced to it earlier and certainly I was just at a tournament  this last weekend recruiting for UCLA and there's a 12's division down there yeah that wasn't even  on my radar when I was 12 years old so um so I know that that's good for the growth of the game  yeah yeah I will definitely uh touch on touch more on the growth of the game especially on the boys  of men's side for sure but I love that question so much because every every answer is different  we had one of our uh uh sitting national team athletes she skipped a cheerleading practice  right she skipped a cheerleading practice sneak into the uh volleyball tryout oh wow all right  so you just never know we're gonna hear and we love that and and I know all of our listeners  also have different experiences too so um love hearing that from you you mentioned that like  a particular moment where you just kind of see it and you get hooked like do you have you know one  of those moments that you can you know recall you know from you trying the game and you know kind of  being immersed into the program and you know just that liable moment like yes I I made the right  decision like this is this is it for me oh um I remember a couple moments along the way where I  played it and recognized that it fit a particular skill set for me I remember even in ninth grade  but I started playing in 10th grade in ninth grade I remember playing it during PE with already the  idea in my mind Hey this is something I might do next year I went to a three-year high school  so at Arcadia High at the time was three and three years Junior High three years High School  so I knew when I was going to make that 10th grade jump that that was something I was going  to do so playing that in in ninth grade I already had in the back of my mind and I could already  tell maybe because of height because I've been a basketball player a good jumping ability I was  already the best guy on the on the court so maybe it was like it was good when you're good yeah I think the the thought that comes to mind when you're asking that question is the influence  that Chuck Friedberg had on on a number of us um because he knew what was out there for us and he  also knew that we had no idea we happen to have a very special group of athletes that came through  Arcadia at that moment many of whom went on to play division one volleyball uh we my senior year  we were actually undefeated one CIF I mean we got a really good team Jesse Gantt went on to become  an All-American at BYU Jason mcinty was outside here he went to be on an All-American at Loyola  Marymount so and there were others that went D1 as well and so we had a randomly really good  group is lucky right you have a bunch of guys that happen to be born in the right time in the right  area and that's what happened to us but Chuck saw this and I remember vividly getting together he  brought us over together I remember there was four of us and he said hey this is something you can do  in college and I'm telling you that you have the athleticism and this is something you should be  looking to do and there's Club volleyball that's out there and there's here's here's a club you  can go play for and this is something you should pursue because there's a long-term impact for you  and I think when you aren't aware of what's out there for you the mentorship that we received  within that moment the the moment that Chuck took to try to inspire us for something that  we didn't even know existed I think I remember I reflect on that moment as as being a special  moment for all of us and certainly my journey that's awesome yeah we hear a lot about those  you know the people that impacted you know a lot of our guests um to to make volleyball a  career uh whether that's coaching or or being a player professional player um and those people  are very special so I think that's a nice message for any coaches listening who you know whatever  level you're at you know Club coach High School coach whatever uh to have that eye even on the  officiating side of the officiating side yeah right just recognizing you know your surroundings  who's around you and that talent and that not everybody knows about professional overseas  volleyball or Collegiate volleyball are those opportunities so um just to share that knowledge  with them and you never know what's going to happen you never know never know it's crazy to  me yeah there's times when I'm out on a court and you're part of a national anthem and you're in an  arena overseas and there's 15 000 people there and I mean it's still to this day every single time  I go out there in that moment I'm just a kid from Arcadia wow this happened it's why wild it's wild  um kind of Switching gears here wanna you know as you've been reflecting on the 2022 season  um with the national team um what were some of your your wins for the squad  um I know you had a very good outing at vnl uh coming out with the silver medal  um and I I'm sure that was just huge for for the team especially coming off uh Tokyo  um where the result wasn't what you guys had hoped for and worked for but  um just yeah just your your thoughts um just from you know your own Reflection from 2022 or some of  the wins that you've been marking down there's a number I think of course you're as a coach you're  also thinking about where you came up a little bit short yeah so that's usually at the Forefront  of my mind but if we're gonna if we're gonna stay positive all right Stephen we'll stay positive you  can bring those too I'll ask the other questions try to give them a positive spin that's good uh so  um the positives for sure were the first week of Eno we uh brought a really young team we had  uh gosh I could go down the list Jake Haynes and yeah divestino and Josh was setting the  team for really walking down the court as a starter for that week is the first time and  Kyle lensing and opposite Tyler Mitchum come off the bench against Brazil uh so we just had this  youth movement going on Mason Briggs was there as a backup libero we were just really young  we had a bunch of the veterans that were coming back late from overseas and that was what we  decided we needed to do it's really nerve-wracking these days with the world ranking setup the way it  is and how that affects Olympic qualifiers yeah and so we really relied on um these young guys to  go out there and do it for USA and and so they did I I would bet if you even asked them they didn't  expect to go 4-0 that week right yeah and and to beat Brazil and Brazil with that young group and  Haynes had a great match [Music] um it was just uh I think really fun because the expectations were  low it's that's always the hard part right it's it's you want to be good you want to be great you  and that comes with expectations and then you got to figure out how to shoulder those expectations  um that's the that's the goal that's where you'd rather be when you have these opportunities  sometimes that happen where you're young or you don't have all your players or sometimes a coach  inherits a program that hasn't done very well for a while and you know these the expectations are  low and if you can figure out a way to have a good run when the expectations are low it's the most  fun in sports it's really a blast and so we had a blast that week and and when we got four wins  that set us off on a path that I think really gave us an opportunity to get to the finals and I think  all of us that ended up at the finals including the number of the veterans that came back  really owe a lot to those young guys because they stepped up when we needed to and uh that  was really fun that was a fun start so that to me week one of v l last year was a win yeah  um then we went on we still pretty young week two did well then we had a really nice training  block so when we found out that we were going to have week three in Osaka I knew  that Panasonic was the the club team in Japan Panasonic is coached by Laurent Tilley well  I coached Kevin Tilly at UC Irvine I've I know that Tilly family really well I think probably  I saw the press release and text him and because the idea the hardest part about this summer the  challenges this summer okay we'll get away from the winds for a second this is the hardest travel  summer we've ever had ever I've been doing this since 2007. this was the hardest one for sure  and it was because we spent 75 days overseas and the way that they've set up vnl now you and  I understand why they did it they gave a week off in between thinking you could go home but  if you're in North America and don't have any domestic events it's really hard to do that all  the time so we went down to Brazil we did come home after that then we went to Bulgaria and  then do you come home to Bulgaria and then go to Japan and try to win not if you have you're  gonna have incredible amounts of jet lag you're not going to know what time zone you're in yeah  so we had decided that we were going to go to Bulgaria and then go immediately to Japan and  so I called Laurent and we were able to go set up a training camp at Panasonic which was outstanding  a win thank you to Panasonic for hosting us and to Lauren for being a good friend and um and so we  went straight there and had this amazing training camp Micah Christensen then came and joined us so  he had a week to kind of ramp up and connect with the guys and then we go into that last week and  have another really great week in Osaka and put ourselves in the finals uh the finals were a great  run great run we didn't play very well the first two set two sets of the final at that point you  throw something against the wall and it stuck for a little while so that was kind of fun so that was  a win down02 and putting TJ at opposite that was a win yeah uh the fifth set was a loss we didn't  play very well we gave up a couple Aces and uh had a couple unforced errors and so you know I'd like  to get that that fifth setback of the v l finals I think if you look back at the body of work  I think it was a really nice tournament uh I think considering all that we went through and  the challenges and the young guys coming in and stepping up and bringing in Micah late and and all  that I think not having Maddie Anderson all that having to do with fatherhood by the way they all  had family obligations that we needed to manage and we try to be really supportive of that so  um so yeah we I thought vnl overall was great the challenge of course was then how the turnaround  time to World Champs we were trying to give guys a couple days off which isn't very much and then so  you get we have two days off and then we come back and then we had only eight total practices before  we leave for World Champs so what are you gonna do it's crazy and so for us to have the front end  of the world championship block and the back end of vnl was a bit of a scheduling challenge for us  and then it turned out we had a couple injuries of course and so we had six practices before we left  to go to Poland and then when we got to Poland we had a a number of nagging little injuries that  affected performance and so I don't think that we were in a very good position at uh at World Champs  I really felt like we could have been better yeah we could have been better and a lot of it was it  wasn't in our control I thought that we did a great job of of preparing with the limited time  that we had and putting Maddie back out on the court and getting him connected and then trying to  go out there and play in the World Championships I I really felt that whoever won that that match  between us and Poland was going to have a good chance to play for the final that was true  um I just wish we had played a little bit better because we played pretty well versus Poland you  know if this set wasn't great but we also lost some opportunities the end of the second set  like we we had some opportunities in that quarterfinal that I I really really think  about a lot some other winds integrated get got the staff back together yeah yeah and so  um we brought back Matt ferbringer full time so having Matt back is great for us he's experienced  he's exceptional he's really sees the game well he's very very good from the defensive side that's  what he did the Rio quad so having him back has been outstanding and then we added Javier Weber  and so bringing in somebody with a different perspective on How to Train teams and Javier  and I go way way back so I've always been excited to work with Javier and thrilled that we were able  to put this together for this quad so he's made a tremendous impact already because he's added  like I said I I really am trying to to learn is more about how to do this job better and  when you're the head coach that sometimes is a little bit harder and and so you have to seek out  other people with different perspectives that you respect and other mentors and evaluations  a little bit of research here and there and but to have Javier come on the staff is is a huge win  obviously the rest of our staff Aaron Brock is our trainer Nate your snowboarding buddy that you left  behind and uh Tim hello our strength Edition coach I just feel like that staff is lights out lights  out I am so thrilled with the way everything is gone there I'm thrilled with what's going on at  UCLA we got a lot of transition this summer there too I'm thrilled about that it's just um you got  to have good staff you got to have good teams to to coach the team and we've done a really good job  in both places we're talking about this summer so I think yeah I'm really pleased with the win that  we have with the staff so those are the winds that jump out of me um I think we'll be better moving  forward but I also know the margins I mean the men's volleyball World internationally is so crazy  so everybody's so good that there's never a point where you're like oh we're pretty good I'm feeling  pretty comfortable it just doesn't exist and so you're always thinking about which what what you  have to do to get a little bit better and even if you get a little bit better there's no guarantee  we could get a little bit better you would think we'd be in a better place next year we kind of  know who the guys are staff is in place it was a little crazy early in the summer of that too and  now everybody kind of knows we've implemented new defensive systems our offense seems to be  going very very well of course we have Micah Christensen who's the best outer in the world  right now and yeah he you know he's phenomenal so he's really making our team offensively  fantastic so I think there's parts of me that goes oh you know pretty good pretty good and  then I think no it's you could you could still be better next summer and not get the results never  comfortable yeah yeah never what are some of those you know not so positive moments that you you know  brought up right before uh you know Steven's question there that are more so in the in the  Forefront of your mind you know those pain points those you know points of just you know realistic  Improvement that needs to happen right like you're you know kind of gearing towards uh reflecting on  for 2022 and you know maybe you know trying to anticipate and you know stay ahead of for 2023.  yes so uh I do think our offense is is in a good place right now I think you're always looking at  um how do you how do you put the best 14 guys together eventually you go out go to  the Olympics your best 12. what is that what is that combination um I think we have a lot  of really nice veteran experience how are we going to supplement that and make sure that we bring in  some youth that was a big that was a big area of focus for us I'd say that was a win last summer  for us bringing in some young guys that had you know tremendous impact Collegiate age guys  um serving past still I mean at the end of the day you can talk about all these systems  serving and passing is such a huge part of it I think our serving last summer was way better  so can we continue to strategize what we're doing from a reception perspective  I think about that the the time it's a non-controllable in terms of looking back  on 22 there wasn't anything we could do about it there wasn't anything we do about some of  our nagging little injuries that came that cropped up during the World Championships  but maybe there is I mean we're certainly going to talk about it with the training staff and the  strength conditioning staff about what we need to do to continue to customize everybody's specific  plan some of that is based on age some of that is based on physical need some of that is based  on an injury history about what we can do to be preventative I mean the professionalism of  the staff is so high that I think you can have some pretty Elite level conversations and really  do get into the details of how you do that for our guys I think if we're I think we're healthy  uh we're going to be in a really nice place and if we continue to improve our servant  pass and a little bit of Defense I think we're going to be a good volleyball team  um they announced the B L schedule or at least locations uh for next year and Anaheim is on the  list for for one of the legs which is huge I think I wanted to get your thoughts on just being able  to play in front of the home crowd especially in Anaheim which is where you guys train it's huge I  I can't express my gratitude to USA volleyball and volleyball world for making that decision  uh it's uh first of all it's exciting for the American volleyball community that hasn't had  an opportunity to see us play on American soil in a long time and so I'm personally going to spend  a lot of my time telling a lot of people book your trip yeah this is this is not something that  happens very often there's gonna be a lot of great matches too so if you're a young player and of  course you're going to want to come see USA you're also going to want to watch Iran Argentina at 3  P.M right yeah so I think if you're a volleyball fan this is a tremendous opportunity tremendous  uh for us personally uh we discussed it a little bit earlier is the grind of the vnl  travel schedule is hard so if you can get a home match it's really meaningful just from well-being  and connecting with family and I I don't know if if I was happy or or Michelle was my wife was more  happy you know I think it's probably the wives yeah and uh for us it's important though yeah  it's important yeah and and we need to on the international side of Brooklyn and Haley want  to come watch a volleyball match we have to bring them overseas and so for years we were in Chicago  and we were we had a pretty good thing going in Chicago I think we were there for six straight  years and so much of that is just scheduling and and how things line up but to be back and play in  the US is great for us yeah yeah I remember some of those Chicago matches uh and I think hosted  Poland I know one year and you know Poland game the only downside I remember this goes way back  but we were playing Bulgaria in Chicago and the crowd was overwhelmingly for Bulgaria right yeah  and screamov went back we're up 2-0 and rattle off like five Aces place is going bananas and they  come back to beat us in five and I remember I was so upset and I Doug Biel was there and I was like  Doug we're never coming back and you we have to get more fancy you're like I was  upset you know gotta go somewhere else can we be home home yeah so so yes so for the American  volleyball fans because we're going to be in LA and Iran is in there I mean there's  there's gonna be some fans out there for sure for sure so when the tickets go on sale America Step  Up come to Anaheim be there be front row make a lot of noise we'll put on a good show for you yeah  even if it was you know Bulgaria Poland home match it's cool to see that because I've never yeah  I've never experienced an international match an international crowd for volleyball obviously Tokyo  uh yeah it was covered you know Olympics so didn't get that there so I and I've only seen it on TV  um but it was kind of cool to see that in the in the states in the U.S so what it could be you know  if we if we could fill that with more Americans for sure but uh yeah if you're listening now uh  when tickets I don't think tickets are on sale yet but grab your tickets and and go see it because  like you said it doesn't happen very often no um and it's been a while since uh We've hosted  a men's uh International competition at this level it has been a while I don't remember the last time  and I think bring bring somebody in your network of family or friends that hasn't watched men's  volleyball yeah we talked a little bit earlier also about what we see from experiencing the  sport from a playing perspective boys that are exposed the sport here's the volleyball let's  play this they love it because it's it's just fun so the sales pitch is not hard you just got  get a ball in their hands yeah I think for the fan what we hear a lot is when somebody watches men's  volleyball for the first time they can't believe what they're watching the athleticism the power  it's a different game and then they're hooked so I think for us in terms of how we strategize how  we're going to grow the men's game we talk a lot about how we can just get get the word out  have somebody show up at a volleyball match see it live and and so for sure come on out  and bring some friends yeah yeah I think it's a perfect transition yeah into the growth of  boys and men's volleyball there absolutely kind of reminiscent on the first time I saw the Nationals  at the Galen Center I think it was 2015 the usav cup I actually met uh yeah um Taylor sander and  uh Michael Christian Yeah Christmas in there and then that's when we were playing Iran yeah  yeah and that's crazy what part of the pyramid too it was yeah it was great I was like I was really  I've been hooked ever since I mean 2013 you know that's when I first started playing volleyball  senior high school but yeah just reflecting on the game and just you know how that it's  grown yeah definitely agree with you just you know what's your suggestion of just bringing somebody  there who's never seen the game yeah yeah that you know football player friend or that athlete  friend who you know is Bored during Springtime and you need something to do uh you know go out  and try volleyball go look at what it looks like go look at the top tier people playing the game  yeah it'll change your life for sure yes I agree yeah I remember I uh just quickly and we've talked  about those on the podcast but uh you're probably getting time I'm not I'm not a volleyball I don't  come from a volleyball background uh parents in a play don't have any siblings you play but I I  um was playing in a fun uh like six's beach tournament like in in college uh just for  a fundraiser or something and the men's club team was there doing some recruiting for for  the club and so uh they asked a few of us and I was one of them to come check out practice do a  tryout whatever check it out just see if you're interested and I had never seen men's volleyball  to that level uh and just one foot in the door and seeing these guys flying around and hitting  the ball million miles an hour I was that was my hook I was like I wanna I don't I don't know how  to play this but I want to be a part I want to do that right I want to know how to do that yeah you  know they're getting engaged in hitting lines yeah when somebody goes up and hammers the ball you can  just hear you just don't you don't see that when most people obviously watch women's volleyball  it's all over the country everyone plays it every state has State sanctioning and um so when they  see somebody Thunderball into the rafters it's a it's you can hear the response yeah I always enjoy  that that's kind of the hook I think on the men's side it's just being able to bounce the ball right  there's a competition within themselves yeah the coaches are like don't do that don't hit it low  and part of me is like ah it's a nice sales pitch yeah yeah go ahead go do a little bounce off yeah  yeah that's cool well yeah uh just speaking about you know kind of going into the growth of boys  and men's volleyball in the U.S uh and you're the founder of the first point volleyball Foundation  um just kind of want to yeah could you we've talked about it before on our on our podcast but  for any new listeners here could you explain what the first point Foundation is and your role yeah  so I co-founded it with Wade Gerard and Wade and I go way back and uh his daughter been friends  for a long time his daughter played and and he comes from the fundraising development space for  non-profits and so he was at a tournament one time and he called me and he said hey I'm here  at this girls tournament there's thousands of people here and I just just what do you think  like why is men's volleyball not as big what what is that and and initially we're talking this is  this is uh probably spring of 2016. this is just before the Rio Olympics okay so it's been a while  now when we had that conversation and I said wait we've been talking about this for a long  time I don't know that I have all the answers here's a couple thoughts and he said I'm gonna  I'm gonna play around with this a little bit I'm gonna write a white paper on it and I'll send  it to you it's okay I didn't think much about it because this conversation starts all the time it  doesn't go anywhere right and so he sent a white papers if I remember it was six seven pages and  um I remember reading it and thinking gee this is really good considering Wade doesn't have a  background in men's volleyball this is really good so I called Wade and I said can I afford  that to Doug Beale so I forwarded to Doug and Doug called me back and said the same thing  he said this is really good what do you want to do about it so I call Wade and I said what  what would what would you want to do with this like where does this lead because we've talked  about this for a while what would you perceive as next steps for what a project might look like  in order to grow boys and men's volleyball so we start talking about that and having that  conversation have that conversation with usav and a lot of different stakeholders in in volleyball  and ultimately decided to found our own 501c3 Foundation and uh and off we went and so what  he originally did was do was conducted a study and so at the time no one knew who Wade was now I  think a lot of people in the sport know who wait the way it is he's done a tremendous job I mean  mind-blowingly phenomenal job for men's volleyball and I don't know that everybody even has a deep  appreciation for what he's done for the game but he did this study and came up with this conclusion  that yeah there's there's energy there's momentum there's there's people there's leadership there's  interest in doing this and I think you should do it so that led to the foundation being founded  um and then there's just been this journey over the last five years where we've put together a  tremendous board raised significant philanthropic dollars deployed that as we said we would in the  right places we've had just I think so much success more than I probably ever realized at  various different levels and for me to see that an intentional effort like this when it's hyper  focused and led as well as it's been led by Wade and the board that the difference that we've been  able to make in this period of time without any no one knowing who we are and there's no  track record when we ask somebody to support us financially when we do that at UCLA I can  give you free tickets I can give you you know we can go to events right we're saying hey this  is a sport that's impacted us can you help us support that for the next generation of boys and  men's volleyball players and people have been very generous and our board has been amazingly generous  um and and we've made I think an amazing impact I mean we've one of the best things that's happened  which actually wasn't part of the original strategic plan was high school state sanctioning  so part of I think volleyball's issue one of the issues is it costs money to play Club volleyball  so there's a barrier of Entry of financial resources so how do you get through that  that's a something we needed to talk about so one of the ways is to have high schools sponsor it so  kids that are in all communities can play that and so Kenny Rogers is one of our board members  who really led the charge to build a high school advocacy group and now we've got representatives  from 50 states and and now we've added Six States just in the last couple of years I mean we've  I'd have to go back and look at the stats and we added five just this year Minnesota just a couple  weeks ago so they're either categorized now as an emerging sport or sanctioned fully or they're all  on different runways but um that to me is amazing think about how many boys are going to be exposed  to the game that don't have to pay to do that think about the economy that that's going to build  because there's a percentage of those boys that will pick so there's going to be new clubs there's  going to be new programs there's going to be new Talent there's I mean this is this is amazing  um I'm excited uh I think the high school group has been a a win as we're talking about wins I  think first point has been a tremendous win I think what we did at the Sie and  diversity initiatives we've added D1 programs we had a we had some goals that  we set out and we've already exceeded our goal at the JC level like JC's we  were talking about a top-down bottom-up approach right from the beginning meaning  if you look at what happened with beach volleyball they added Collegiate beach volleyball  scholarships that people could attain and it created an entire ecosystem clubs and players and  there didn't used to be anything as like a beach volleyball club now they're everywhere there's  what 80 something schools that are playing it so we knew that the top down worked as well and we  had that case study as an example we also knew that for boys we needed to expose more boys to  play in the game and how are we going to build if we're going to build more at the top you also have  to build up Talent at the bottom can we do it from the bottom up JC's are like right in the middle  yeah so it wasn't like a huge strategic initiative we've already exceeded our goal for 2028 I think  so I this is we've just been continuing to rack up wins with first point uh NAIA so I'm sure  most people don't know this but NAIA was at 36 schools their their Championship threshold so the  championship threshold the nc2a is 50. usav was very involved in getting 50 D3 schools and then in  the last seven eight years I actually don't know that when that was officially when they reached  50 and had their own Championship but they're over I think 120 now so once you get to a championship  threshold other athletic directors see that it's its own Standalone Championship there's  there's momentum to add so we knew that achieving Championship status was a worthwhile Endeavor  so we gave four twenty thousand dollar grants to four Nai schools you know where they're at today  67. wow without another dollar added wow so we seeded eighty thousand dollars from the board  and now NAIA is is churning out scholarships every year and that to me is like so we've won  at JC we've wanted Nai we've added d2s we've added D once there was a really impactful leader within  our sport who told me when we started this that you know this chance of this working we're real  low and if you got one D1 it would be the biggest home run for the sport ever well I think we've if  we added five so uh I I mean we've literally won so far at every single level and now people are  starting to hear a little bit about what we're doing we have a body of knowledge because we now  know what it's going to cost to potentially do X Y or Z we we know how to go through the process  of supporting States in their sanctioning efforts we we have resources there that we can share and  provide and so now I think we've I think we've probably done the hard part which is getting it  off the ground improving that we can do it so now it's how do we finish off our grants that  we have outstanding right now how what what's the plans that we're going to put in place for  how we're looking towards 2028 and that's going to be some of the Strategic conversations we're  going to be having tomorrow yeah that's cool how much of this is applied to you know what  you do on the Collegiate level at uh at UCLA you know I mean that's something you're there you  know uh involved immersed in the program from head to toe uh there's a lot of that you know  cross-references a lot of it just integrated in what you already do to you know help the game and  help first point right uh there's so the The Crossover with UCLA is is not direct meaning  first point for me is comes from two thoughts first and foremost wanting to give back to the  sport that's giving me everything you guys are interviewing me on a podcast why does anybody  care because the sport of volleyball right I'm a kid from Arcadia who didn't start playing until  the 10th grade and here I am in this position where I can give back I can make a difference  the sport has made a difference in my life not just because it's given me a profession but  obviously sport is a medium that teaches all of our kids Brooklyn and Haley and all the kids that  are listening to the parents that are listening all your kids it's it's life lessons through  the opportunity to compete and lose and respond and watch how it's done and what is Excellence  there's very few ways to teach children that and and sport is one of them and maybe the best one  so if we can give that opportunity to kids and I'm all in so I want to give back so that's number one  number two is as the national team coach we've talked for a long time about how how do I or we  make the job better for whoever comes after us to me that's that's really important I'm a USA guy I  won't do this forever and when I walk away I want to be able to to give a program to the  next guy that's far far better than it was for me and there's two different ways I think in terms  of talent that we can develop Talent one is you do a better job of training the talent that you  currently have okay so what does that look like from an ntdp conversation how does that look like  from a talent acquisition what ages how do we find it get into the gym train it and and ramp it up  at a younger age I think that's something not too young I don't want to get in that conversation but  um I think that is something that's really important number two is you want to expand  the talent base and so okay how do you do that well that's a larger harder conversation that  I think we talked about in concept for years and years and years and first point is really the most  meaningful way we've ever been able to do that so the National Team hat that I have is a first point  is a medium for us to go get more boys to play the game so that in Brisbane or wherever the Olympics  are after that there might be a kid that it's started playing in the state of Utah or Minnesota  or Delaware or these states that we've added recently and we're going to add more we're going  to get more and so we're just warming up and so I think once we get more and more there's going  to be a kid that's going to be coming from some place like that that's going to be on an Olympic  team in 2036 2040 you know and I'm going to be sitting at home watching on TV with all of you  and maybe you'll be doing the media Stephen maybe um I'll be sitting at home yeah and and  that's that's the that's the mission that's the goal yeah um really quick for we talked about all  your work that you've done you're doing with the first point foundation on the other side of it for  you know a mom who's listening in their home state or or a kid who's listening in their home state  how what are the first steps for them to if volleyball doesn't exist at the high school  level in that state what are the first steps for them do they can they reach out to you like  what uh how do they get started uh with that well I wasn't waving at you in the middle of  your question by the way I was Johnny Ox who just walked by a new head coach a little Chicago love  that a lot of people are waving I'm trying trying not to oh it works it's part of the immersion uh that's a great question I think you probably are reaching out to your local region you can  probably reach out to usav um I think there's there's resources online where you can find local  clinics and clubs and then what you probably could just go to a local clinic and that person that's  running a clinic will probably know about the local environment that will the local resources  that are there for for someone to go and play and I know more clubs even the one the clubs that have  nothing but women's programs are talking about adding men's teams I mean this conversation is  continuing to broaden and so I think there'll be more and more opportunities for boys that are in  regions that typically don't play volleyball to have a chance to go and play yeah yeah I'm excited  to just see the momentum continue and the the energy for boys volleyball because I think it's  it's definitely there and uh I it was interesting to hear you compare the beach women's beach and  and boys men's volleyball and the different approaches kind of starting with boys on the  opposite bottom up uh creating that need where colleges are like almost forced to like yeah  um start a program so well I mean that would be ideal right I mean if you go say for example  Minnesota they agreed to sanction it or put it as an emerging support last week so what if five  years from now there's ten thousand boys playing in that state yeah and Big Ten obviously we're  at four schools now with UCLA and SC migrating the Big Ten and Ohio State and Penn State like  all sudden you can start having some other bigger conversations yeah um the Collegiate landscape is  hard to predict right now but we do know that this is a great sport boys are loving playing it it's  going in the right direction it's fast growing sport in America for boys has been for a long time  I just think there's a lot of real positives we're going in the right right direction first  points made a big difference in that too and I'm proud of that yeah uh really quick one and check  on time for you I've we just want to talk about UCLA when we get that in too but yeah you don't  need to run a run up to a session or anything no okay uh yeah really quick before we end here just  wanted to kind of talk about UCLA a little bit um what's you know what's the excitement level for  you uh to enter entering into this uh season it's really high yeah um I like our team yeah I don't  know exactly where we're going to end up I think there's some really really great teams out there  obviously Hawaii's won a couple championships in a row and they return I think just about everybody  so I think it's there's some great teams out there I think we're significantly better than we  were last year the practices in our gym are very very high level part of it is because now we have  we have two really really good Setters in our gym right now if you think about last year miles was  setting for miles per day obviously I'm sure you've talked about it a lot yeah he's doing  some things he's doing something so last year was his first year setting and now we have him with a  lot of confidence who's had some experience and now we've added Andrew Rowan who I think  is maybe the top young setting Prospect in our NTD pipeline okay yeah and so the the quality of  setting on both sides of our court right now is outstanding we've gotten significantly stronger  more experienced in a lot of different areas there was a number of guys that were in the  national team gym this last summer so there's no question we're in a better place this fall  than we were a year ago so that's what you want right I mean you want to keep moving things in  the right direction and so I don't know that that automatically means we're gonna have more wins it  does mean we're doing some some good things and put ourselves an opportunity to win there's a lot  there's so many good teams out there yeah you look at some of these fall tournaments in you look at  the teams there's just so many boys that play the game now and there's not enough places for  them to go play that just the there's there's no easy night now there's just back in the you know  15 20 years ago there's probably some nights when you knew you were going to go out there and win in  three and you could probably play your second team and I just don't know what match that is this sure  so it's going to be a challenge just more Super teams now I I feel like no question yeah yeah  what do you what do you enjoy most about uh coaching at UCLA at the program here  uh it's it's a pretty different job so if you're talking about just the ages the difference between  an 18 and 22 year old is pretty significant the learning curve both from how you understand and  play the game but also from a physical development perspective you're on this huge ramp of a learning  curve it's really steep once you get to 22 I mean obviously you're seeing some of our  players on the national team continue on that path TJ DeFalco is a perfect example like his  ability to continue to physically develop and to develop his game has been tremendous over the last  couple years very impressive um so we know that that can continue but it's really dynamic between  18 and 22. the national team you get them and they're a little bit more physically developed  and a couple years after that they're they're kind of where they're at and the learning curve starts  to slow down and then you get to the latter 20s and early 30s where some of our guys are  and now it's just about how do we make them feel good what is the strength conditioning program  because you're probably not changing a whole lot of the way they play the game so how can we make  sure that when they go out there they're feeling like they're a Peak Performance so getting back  to your question about UCLA you're in this really Dynamic time frame and that's really exciting for  me and I I think we can make a real difference with these young men they're leaving home so  there's a lot of personal development along with the physical and volleyball development so  that's fun for me I think it's impactful I want to make an impact so that's a way for me to do that  um and it's home I played at UCLA and was in the dorms with Eric like we were talking about so  I think for me to be home and be with uh I mean all the all the other coaches I'm in a suite with  Stein Metzger and you know Adam Wright's right next to me and uh Celie just hung him up but you  know these are teammates that I'm really close with so it's not really nice to go to work when  you're working with your former teammates yeah and so the environment is fantastic I love UCLA  it's an incredible institution academically and athletically and I like being around that level  of Excellence it makes me better and so it's it's always been an enriching part of my life and I  love being there to this day yeah well good luck in the UCLA season and uh looking forward to to  seeing you uh in USA again this summer and uh hopefully I'll be in Anaheim uh for for those  matches I'm looking forward to that as well if not I will be watching for sure okay you gotta  come out yeah come on out well maybe we'll make the drive do another road trip hopefully less snow  though road trip you're gonna have to worry about getting snowed in that's right that's homecoming  too you know I'm going to raise oh yeah yeah so yeah okay I would love any chance to get to go  back up all right well you're there for sure yeah but yeah really quick if you want to ask about a  former guest we had on the Pod oh yes podcast two uh one of your middle blockers uh Daniel Matheny  Danny Matheny we had him and did you he's just amazing yeah we had him uh on a little earlier one  of our early episodes in the podcast great great guy yeah smart yeah oh yeah yeah just a great hit  on his shoulders and you know he loves the game of volleyball just want to ask how is he doing how  is it like you know coaching I haven't talked to him since he's gone overseas yeah um well I'm sure  he's loving it Danny's going to be one of these guys that's going to embrace the experience I  think he's gonna you can go overseas you have some choices and he's going to be a guy that's going to  get out and about and learn the language and uh he his mom is from Spain so he's got a European  background and so I think he's going to be very very comfortable in Europe I think he's going to  find a home there I know he was he had the option to come back and go to grad school but I think he  was he was ready to go experience Europe I think that's something that he's been pulled to do  um Danny really provided I think quite a bit of leadership for us  particularly During the period of George Floyd and the social justice  um conversation that was going on in Earnest we had six men of color on our team during  that period of time which is probably the most and I would imagine the history of the sport  and so Danny I think provided quite a bit of leadership and perspective and  Poise and I I think he he was a real I had a lot of conversations with Danny during that time and  and I've always appreciated his his patience and Grace and understanding and Leadership for  the team so I'm I'm excited that he's had the opportunity that he has to go continue playing  overseas I know it's something that he'd always wanted to do yeah I mean especially during that  time frame you talk about um you know in addition to you know being on our podcast and and all that  all that all that stuff too you know there were some more serious conversations being had you  know in the diversity equity and inclusion situation not only with USA volleyball but  within like the uslpc and she was asking you know if you can sit in on certain conversations being  had and uh you know he spoke up and needed and you know gave his uh you know Collegiate  athlete experience towards that and his you know opinion and you know you know values and mindset  towards a lot of that too and it was very well received too so you know it's good to hear that  those conversations kept you know happening and you know we're present you know during his time  there too so just you know I really really commend him for that you know yeah it's really really  really admirable for him to you know be able to expect to step up and speak into that life yeah  right that's right that's right yeah thanks Sean this has been great anything else uh that you'd  like to share or talk about but I just want to know how to get one of these t-shirts oh yeah  we'll send you a volleyball show we'll send you one do we have any on on hand right now oh my  gosh you should be handing them out here you're at the ABCA convention yes yeah we only had a budget  for a very limited amount of them no I know we're starting to get we're starting to get in there we  got a marketing lead now so so we're good no I I appreciate the conversation these are always  fun for me and happy to do it anytime so thanks for doing what you're doing for the sport yeah no  thank you and and I'm sure we'll see you around you bet we'll let you get back to networking and  yeah catching up with uh old friends that's right yeah all right thanks John thanks guys thank you man I really hope we can make this USA volleyball staff Retreat happen in the mountains I just want  to know whether that's Colorado or California I don't care but uh I'd love to snowboard snowboard  side by side with John sprawl that'd be sweet I thought I could show you up too oh probably yeah  yeah I uh I won't take the job of leading he's not nuditive he's true if we're in California I  don't know the mountain anyway so I won't be the guy I mean they're not Colorado you know never  been to either or but yeah no that'd be a lot of fun if we could if we could make that happen fun  to see uh you know those people uh our national team coaches and even some of our colleague staff  outside of that performance open program uh uh in um in Colorado Springs that you guys are through  their mood over yeah it's fun to see super chill yeah I loved it like I think I don't know if I'm  about to speak over you I'll tell you but it's good to see like you know our our co-workers and  friends and colleagues in that different light yeah it doesn't that's exactly volleyball the  whole time yeah you know like how what what what gets you going you know snowboarding or you know  playing music if you're mad pot schweight you know yeah and the sofa Killers or you know John  spiral and you know going snowboarding and stuff and you know transitioning into those habits that  um you know that you can't necessarily do now because of fatherhood but you still have those  um Tendencies and those things that keep you cool calm and Collective and prepared and yeah  you know just down to earth did I go on a rant there no not too much that was exactly what I  was gonna say just fun to see you know outside of the volleyball environment you know the work  environment just to see people and and what they what they're interested in I think that's awesome  and I think something our fans appreciate too they don't you know probably didn't know that Jon  was an Avid Reader nope um hopefully he can get back to that that hobby that interest here soon  really cool to hear him you know talking about being a dad and what he loves about being a dad  um you know one of the uh and also just being here at ABCA just uh you could see the excitement that  he had just being here we saw him last night too um already mixing it up mingling with you know  all the other coaches that are here you talked a little bit about that too yeah you know meeting uh  reuniting with yeah those friends and colleagues and you know old College roommates that you know  you know you haven't really seen in years and you don't really take the time to talk to anymore you  know a lot of the conversations that we have with our you know players are on open Nationals  how they get together every year and this is like their thing that's their thing they can do  and it's their reunion it's a big reason yeah same thing final four same thing this is that  time for you to take to really reunite with your peers and colleagues and friends yeah you know  Old Times Past Times New Times every type of time in between yeah yeah the volleyball Community uh  sometimes seems like a small world because you just know it kind of is know so many people  have so many connections even if you don't know someone directly you you know coached with their  assistant coach or something like that and um I'm excited you know it's only day one here at ABCA  but I'm excited just kind of witness that and meet people too that I haven't met before yeah  um I loved hearing John talk about you know just the growth of boys and men's volleyball  um and his involvement being the co-founder of the first point volleyball Foundation  um and just all the work that they're doing it's you know it was exciting sitting here  listening and listening to him talk about you hear the passion yeah behind it and the drive  and and the love behind it too you know it takes a village it sounded like it you know it's it's  it's got so many moving parts so many um levels to it and he's already talking about like goals  that they've hit for 2028 and you know we haven't even finished 2022 yet which is insane and it's so  great to hear and you know they keep leveling up from now I'm like how can they continue to keep  doing what they're doing for you know the growth of the game of boys volleyball yeah you know kid  from Arcadia right right from Arcadia not that far Long Beach is not that far from arcade that might  be the that might be the title of the episode that was kind of a cool tagline that was cool  kid from Arcadia I love that no and he kind of we kind of touched on it a little bit just  um you know first point Foundation USA volleyball came together to give a million dollar Grant in  2019 to uh the um hope I get it right Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference sayak  excuse me um that is correct the uh a grant to them so they could uh start six programs uh at  their member schools and shout out to the Central State Motors inaugural season uh back in April of  my birthday month uh that that aside uh shout out to them and you know just and head coach  Ray Lewis who we've had on the podcast is also here yeah yeah he's here in Omaha yeah no he led  the program to their first to the inaugural championship for that conference so I think  that's that's really cool and you know John talked a little bit about that but just uh  you know the approach that they've had too which uh you know just getting more high schools to  to sanction boys volleyball and I think that's the the start of the domino effect yeah I think  Colorado is actually one of those uh you know really sanctioned sports for boys volleyball  yeah so I've heard yeah um amazing to you know get involved in coaching on that side of things  on the boys side of things on the high school side of things in Colorado but just amazing you  know like you know I'm from I'm from a city like a state like California where it's been  around and there's so much available to us yet it's still not as accessible as we were talking  about there and then you talk about you know places like Delaware and I think you mentioned  Minnesota for one of them who are you know just getting started and you know I I really love when  he talked about and said like you know there's going to be a future national team player coming  from one of these newly sanctioned States for the game of boys volleyball and you know the fact that  he's gonna you know be on his couch kicking up his feet and watching that and witnessing that and you  know being a testament to that is it's amazing you know I I don't think there'll be words for  that yeah he'll probably find words that's with a you know as much of a cool comedy collected guys  you know God is but uh like wow like that like that full circle who's already talking about yeah  and it hasn't even happened yet yeah such cool conversation I'm excited uh we could talk about  it for forever we could have a whole separate podcast and talk about not just our reactions  from this but uh we'll let John speak for himself and that was just a great conversation but uh just  wanted to mention you know we talked about it in the podcast in the conversation with John but  uh Anaheim see if we can find the dates for that I can't remember the dates for for the leg of b  l that the for the Men's National Team in in Anaheim but um tickets aren't on sale yet but  when they go on sale check it out like like John said bring a friend to bring two friends bring two  friends have your friend that you're bringing bring a friend um but uh who who may not have  ever seen you know men's volleyball to that level this is the top team top men's team uh for USA  we're getting the we're getting the uh dates here July 4th through the 9th in Anaheim California so  uh be ready time summertime be ready stay tuned to USA volleyball social media  um we'll have those uh ticket links out um and bring a friend bring you know this is the op  this we this doesn't happen this is so rare to have the top USA men's team the team a lot of  them were at the Olympics uh that you'll be able to watch so um just an exciting opportunity and  let's just fill it up let's fill up the crowd let's fill up the stand so let's give the  let's give these let's make let's give them that home special feeling yeah you know wow  we're literally at our home yeah so fill up crap the crowds fill up overseas let's do it here in  the states I think that would be awesome I think I'll be in Chicago working girls Internationals  during that time but I will be watching I'll yell extra loud for you yeah but yeah let's do it like  you know it's just I I I know we we talked about it in in the in the interview I don't know why I'm  studying right now I'm so excited but it's just day one we're getting assigned remember just my  first time seeing the Men's National Team you know being a new volleyball player in 2013 I'm  like wow like I think the thing that got me hooked was blocking I'm like oh my gosh this  guy just roofed this guy he's like Nick is over the neck just pressing over and I'm like I need to  do that and you know I ended up like leading the league in in blocks as like my as a middle first  year playing like for myself that was your hook oh that was the hook no that was it and I made like  first team on morally you talking about CIF and stuff I'm like bringing back all those memories  and you watched uh you watched the men's team got to meet Taylor sander Michael Christensen and look  at you now you're here with USA volleyball and uh touche yeah we've had them on the podcast too full  circle full circle yeah watch the national team watch the best level of volleyball in the world  you will not regret it yeah for sure yeah just so I wanted to thank John again for taking the time  out of his very busy schedule here at ABCA to sit down and talk with us for about an hour and  um just a great conversation he's such a cool guy hope you get the chance to eat today hope  you worked uh uh meals into his schedule um but excited to talk to John thank you again I hope  everybody enjoyed that conversation um we have a lot of events coming up Clarence that uh I'm sure  that you'll you'll be able to fill us in on when those what registration's open and when those oh  yeah registration opens for a lot of our national qualifiers happening we're getting the to the tail  end of our Salt Lake City 18's girls qualifier um if you haven't registered for that registration is  open until December 27th oh just before the new year and we also have registration open for our  boys Junior Nationals the 2023 boys International Championship being held in Salt Lake City Utah  um in early July so registration is open for that also we have our 2023 girls 18s International uh  Championship registration opened um is also open and that is happening in Columbus Ohio at the end  of April so go ahead and register your teams for that I know we got a few bid tournaments  and and qualifiers coming up so you know good luck to all teams competing and hope to see  you guys there for sure we have our uh producer Curtis Ward with the message here I can't see it I don't have great eyes Curtis oh yeah yeah um I'm crying because I could not do that I have 20 20 Vision I don't know what's  happening and it to Clarence here in his clearance read that note from our producer Curtis for us  Curtis just wanted us to remind you all that we will also be having our interview with Tom Amisha  oh yes yeah this Friday at 1 15th century time in the podcast center right here in Omaha Nebraska  at the ABCA convention yeah make a note that we need bigger cue cards make a note for that in our  marketing budget for next year I'm so embarrassing myself that I struggled like that thank you Curtis  appreciate it what we need is uh once we have you know more of a studio setup maybe we'll have uh  don't forget that or even in this environment we could have you on a mic and a headphones too  so you could talk to us but hey guys just find me to cut us off really quick uh another note too uh  ABCA is going on but also the NCAA championships too very exciting so excited for that man last  round was incredible mine was busted at the start during selection Sunday but we're not going to  talk about Nebraska come on no uh very exciting uh last round matches couple of five Setters  um really exciting to see we got uh who do we got we got Texas San Diego Louisville and Pittsburgh  Pittsburgh yeah um so we'll be able to if you're listening to this uh Wednesday December 14th uh  the semifinals tomorrow uh Thursday December 15th correct what happened so and I believe that's on  ESPN yeah it'll be on ESPN both are on ESPN plus you will also have access to the wrap around okay  um which is basically the NFL Red Zone version oh that's right yeah um the national championship  so it'll take you game to game a special moment a special moment very very you know  high level moment with the high level moment and then we have the national championship  match on Saturday December 17th yeah so we'll be curious to see who ends up in that because  as of right now it's anyone's game so I'm done making predictions excited I'm not good at it  I've never seen this in person so I'm excited to be able to watch just the energy I'm so excited  yeah we get to we will be working uh we'll be working a lot of media relation type things  during there but we'll take moments to enjoy it though for sure I might cry I'm gonna cry  yeah it's gonna be a lot of fun but um yeah if you're if you're listening to this uh when this  comes out definitely check those matches out help the it helps the game of volleyball grow  um and just reach new listeners and uh uh I said that wrong just watch volleyball  watch volleyball when it's available to you I think you kind of interested I mushed our uh our outros here but yeah just this is an opportunity to watch High Level Volleyball  and um you know if you're a parent at home too uh show your kids watch with your kids you know maybe  that will spark a love for volleyball for them even if you're not a volleyball person yourself  they might be and you know that just helps the the game of volleyball grow and and more opportunities  later on like we talked about in our conversation with John you know this is how you introduce  volleyball to a young person a young athlete is just get them to watch it and they'll fall in love  they'll find their hook absolutely yeah and not only you know with us just talking about trying  to grow the game of volleyball we're also trying to grow this podcast within the USA volleyball  show you know giving you know illustrious coaches the platform or players and that platform to just  really talk about the game that they love and then some you know you always want to know the  player you know off the court uh just as much as we want to get to know that player on the court  too right but yeah you know same thing applies to this podcast if you guys have something you want  to hear us talk about if you're here at avca come find us and talk to us about certain things and  you know we will do our best it literally gets you on the show and get what you want talked  about here you can email us too at the usavshow at usav.org but you know we're here to listen to  you guys we're here to provide that platform for all of you who we can consider friend of the Pod  who you know download our episodes and listen to us every other Wednesday and listen to hello all  the time like you know it really means a lot to us and you know the fact that we were we  were even able to come here and represent the podcast while we're presenting USC Volleyball  of course you know and do our thing here it's it's something I'm gonna remember for the rest  of my life and be very very very thankful for and you know moments like these you don't want  to take for granted so again get out there watch volleyball get out there download this podcast  it's just it's it's it's it's for you guys just to help grow the game and you know very thankful we  get to you know be a part of this thing here too but enough of that rant again I couldn't  have said it better myself I've been ranting I couldn't say it better for myself very thankful  to be here this is awesome yeah remember when you have your episodes drop in every other Wednesday I  believe we'll have a few special episodes um you know while we're here at the ABCA convention in  Final Four national championship match along with oh I just blanked out right there but along with  um some social media hits I don't know why I couldn't think of that one right there  a lot of great content will come out of this great content okay and I am done take it away  and that is it for this episode you're listening to the USA volleyball show the official podcast uh  USA volleyball this has been the USA volleyball show with Clarence Hughes and Stephen Munson  produced by Curtis Ward our content producer is Lara Fawcett our marketing lead is Bree Jaycox  if you enjoyed this podcast be sure to rate and review and if you haven't already please subscribe  to the USA volleyball show on Apple podcasts Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts