After being an assistant coach, Brooke Watson is taking over as the volleyball coach at Wetumpka. She plans to focus less on the details of the sport and more on a values-based style. That means teaching her players discipline, accountability and sportsmanship but most importantly — being a good person.
Coming into the gym for summer workouts before the season starts this fall, Watson’s first priority was organization and bringing stability to the program.
“I know from playing sports,” Watson said. “The way the other team walked in and the way they warmed up (before a game), immediately I was intimidated or I was like, ‘We’ve got this; we’re going to win this game. They’re not taking this seriously.’”
According to Watson, the issue has never been athleticism or the girls themselves — simply that they have had to rely on themselves for coaching for a while. By coming in and changing a few small details, Watson hopes to improve team morale and make the squad look as good as it actually is.
“I see what they are capable of,” Watson said. “I’m trying to get them to see it too.”
This summer the varsity volleyball team has spent time attending camps, specifically one with the Auburn volleyball team. By watching the Auburn team practice, Watson was able to show them that how a team practices is just as important as how a team actually plays in a game.
“We have the athleticism,” Watson said. “If you would just put your mind to what you want to look like and how intimidating you want to be to someone. I’ve been trying to put that on them, how they hold themselves on the court, how their presence is being made, just walking into the room with your team.”
Watson connected that to the life lesson of having confidence in yourself walking into any room, it applies to almost every job out there. If you walk in with your insecurities showing, people are far more likely to doubt your ability or your right to be in that room.
The team itself is coming together, although that was hardly in question. Watson’s primary goal is to facilitate teamwork, accountability and discipline, but most importantly make sure the seniors can look back on their season with fondness from the memories they made.
