Coaches find training for things not in the statistics

Dec. 11—A coach can help a player know how to serve a volleyball where it's paper thin between the ball and the top of the net.

A skills camp can help a volleyball team know each other's location on the court and purpose during a volley.

But what helps a player know all of that and still emotionally process the end result of the match or season? Creston Panther volleyball coach Teresa Arkfeld said that help is available.

"When I was watching the state volleyball tournament, the announcers during the match would talk about the teams that had a mental health coach," she said. "At the state tournament, you could see those girls have been trained on their mental health."

Arkfeld said there were plenty of moments where she wondered how different individuals, or the team as a whole, would have processed specific moments or matches with mental-health training.

"This year, we had times where we came out strong, won the first set, then lose the second and the third. We can't even battle to win and lose three in a row," Arkfeld said. "We try and preach mental toughness, but it is the hardest thing in coaching."

Arkfeld has led the Panthers for three seasons. She previously coached the seventh-grade team.

Arkfeld said she knows what it's like from the bench as she also played during her youth. She knows what those girls are going through.

"I played volleyball. When you know it's game point, a tight match, and miss a serve, you can hear the fans' heavy sigh. You have student sections yelling the whole time. It's a student section, they cheer for their side, but you have to be ready for that."

Creston Panther volleyball competes during the season. Coach Teresa Arkfeld is interested in using a mental health coach for sports to benefit her program.

Creston finished the 2023 season with a 5-20 season. Arkfeld said she reminds her students of the uniqueness of the game of volleyball that can add to the intensity.

"I tell the girls, we play the only sport that has to play to a certain amount. Others play on time. You don't care how much you make, just make the most. Volleyball you have to make a certain amount (of points) and a point is scored every time the ball is played."

Creston junior Kylie Metheny said she also wonders how she and her team would respond in certain situations with some mental health help.

"The pressure is thinking how many people are watching and the expectations you have to fulfill; everything you want to accomplish for your team and yourself," she said. "I feel a lot more of it than some people may think."

Metheny said the teams knows there were wins Creston didn't finish the evening with.

"There are teams we know we can beat, but we hang our heads and feel it even more. We need someone to get us out of that hole," she said. "I'm not saying we will break all the records. We will break the mentality. We understand each other, we know more than just names, but we know how we think and how they can mentally handle things and how they can be talked to. We notice the tone of voice."

Lewis Central volleyball coach Mike Bond credits mental health help for his team. He's been coach for nine years. Lewis Central made its first state tournament in 2003. The Titans were one of the eight remaining teams in 2014 through 2017. In 2015 and 2017, Lewis Central played in the semifinals.

With 113 wins between 2018 and 2022, Lewis Central fell short of state with regional final losses in 2018 through 2021, and a regional semifinal loss in 2022.

"I wanted to find someone who could help us get over the hump. Girls performed a lot more relaxed," he said. Lewis Central returned to the 2023 state tournament.

"You work hard just to get kids close to .500. How do you motivate kids to want to perform rather than give up two-thirds into the season and think 'We're not going to get any better.'? A lot of it is on the coach," Bond said.

Lewis Central uses a psychiatrist, Dr. Larry Widman from Lincoln, Nebraska, who Bond said works with several other area high schools and colleges.

Widman said his work includes specific parts of the game and personality traits during competition.

"Composure, staying calm, cool and collected in big moments," he said. "How do they handle the pressure?"

Widman said he is well aware athletes have internal monologues with themselves.

"The self talk is how they talk to themselves and how they feel about themselves and their game." Other factors include how the game was lost and who to.

"Was it a rival? Did you blow a lead? That effects you mentally. Great teams learn through adversity," he said.

Widman used the example of Tony Bennett, who coaches men's basketball at the University of Virginia.

Virginia won the national championship in the 2018-2019 season. The previous season, Viriginia lost its first-round tournament game while seeded #1. The loss was to a #16 seed, a first in tournament history.

"Learn to use adversity," Widman said, referring to how Virginia responded the next season. Widman said adversity gets players and teams to places they would have not through any other way.

"I like the teams that lose. They learn," he said. "But there is a mentality of losing."

Widman said every sport played has a mental factor.

"Say Creston wants to make state in volleyball; it's tied at 13 in set 5. How much of that serving is mental and how much is physical? It's all mental. You serve 1,000 balls a year. The biggest ball you set is all mental. We train our mind so we can execute our mind. If it's 13-3, it's not a mental serve," he said. "Most free throws in basketball are pretty mental, depending upon the moment."

He said the goals of his work are for what the team wants. He said he doesn't have teams wanting to win state and national titles ever year. It could be as something as winning just five more games than the previous year.

Widman said today's athletes do have competition off the court, things older generations did not; social media.

"It's all tied into comparison and perfection you see on social media. Fake accounts say terrible things about teams. If you get too caught up, it can wear on. That was a factor we didn't have. It takes away joy from sport."

Widman said mental health coaching for sports is gaining momentum.

"People are recognizing the value of it; if you do a good job you can be recognized. It adds value to a team not just in performance but in their lives. That can make them better with their relationships. Stay calum under pressure, think through, stay present; your relationships are better."

Solon High School Activities Director Casey Hack said Solon started using a sports counselor in the spring from the University of Iowa. Players meet with the counselor monthly.

"The doctor met with the wrestling teams after school and just talked about what it's like competing and where their minds were at," Hack said. "For me observing, when you do something like this, it's worth it if kids can pull in one or two things out of it."

Hack said he hopes the sessions will have more impact on Solon students than just what happens on the court.

"We try to tie into it not just athletics, but skills kids can transform when they leave the building and create students who have different life skills."