Volleyball 2003 Preseason Journal Part 14: Sean Kelley

The final chapter of a first-hand account of 2003 fall practice

Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Will Ream and Sean Kelley big
Managers Will Ream and Sean Kelley with
a young friend

August 20, 2003

When preseason began for the fall 2003 volleyball season I was not sure what to expect. Being the newest member of the Alabama team and most certainly the lowest ranking individual associated with this group can be a bit intimidating. Luckily, I was given the privilege of working with a superior who is extremely knowledgeable in the realm of volleyball, Head Manager Will Ream. I was not sure how the coaches and other athletic staff would react to me; and more importantly I was not sure how the team would accept me as their new manager. I have known the volleyball girls for quite sometime now, however they had never really seen me in a working position. In fact I do not think they had ever seen me work...at all. With all of this on my mind I went in to preseason hoping for the best.

Preseason is a time for hard work and evaluation. That is exactly what these last few weeks have been. The schedule that the players and coaches must follow is grueling. Everyday the team would show up for an early morning session which would generally last for three to four hours. During this time the girls would work mainly on their fundamentals and positional skills while the managers did everything in their power to facilitate the practice environment. At this time the coaches were able to make individual assessments and suggestions as to how the players could improve and develop to help the team as a whole. The morning sessions were followed by a short break and we would resume practice in the afternoon. Afternoons were generally filled with team oriented activities, giving the coaches a chance to evaluate the girl's ability to play with one another. I was shocked at how well all of the players were able to immediately mesh with one another, even the new freshman who had basically been baptized under fire. It seemed to me that all of the girls, both young and old, were able to feed off of one another's playing ability very well.

The amount of team improvement which has occurred over the last few weeks has been amazing. Most of this improvement has been isolated to the freshman girls, but there has also been a large amount in the older girls. Abbi, Sarah, Crystal, Katie, and Rachael our newest players, have really stepped up to the challenge of competing on a college level. This was extremely evident in our inter-squad scrimmage. Our returning players have also improved greatly just from this past year. Returning players like Erin Heffner, Erin Price, and Kory Tull will defiantly help to aid in the development of this year's team. Our coaches have also been amazing. They have put an extremely large
amount of focus on the girls as a whole and are working hard to turn them into a family.

The paradox of my position, being an outsider on the inside, gives me the opportunity to see the amount of effort, dedication, and loyalty with which these girls must play with. Players like Julie Farley, and Kelley Potter certainly exemplifies this type of hustle. Although I am not a member of the team, being the assistant manager has allowed me to see how the team works on the inside. I have never in my life been so impressed with such hard work in such a short period of time. These girls who are simply young adults, like myself, give more to their coaches, teammates and themselves than any group of people I have ever been given the chance to work with.

Roll Tide!

Sean Kelley

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Volleyball 2003 Preseason Journal Part 14: Sean Kelley

The final chapter of a first-hand account of 2003 fall practice

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