Executive Director: Small moments can make a lasting impact on athletes young and old
Friday, October 22nd, 2021
By Jennifer Armson-Dyer
Badger Region Executive Director
For many, volleyball is a hobby or an extracurricular activity, in whatever role you participate. You go to the practice or event, and then you go home when it’s done.
For me, it’s woven into every aspect of my life, and has been since before I was born. It’s embedded in everything I do because of my background, and it’s in the fabric of my life because of where I am now. Because of this, when I have idle time like driving or flying, my thoughts begin to wander to questions like: “how can I make a bigger impact?” or “how can I share what I know and what I’ve learned to help others?” I’m going to attempt to do that now, to show how small moments can have a huge impact.
I grew up in Portage, Wis., just north of Madison, where my mom Joann was the high school coach for 39 years. I didn’t know anything other than playing in a gym, riding in a ball cart, shagging during hitting lines, creating forts under the bleachers. My mom (and dad, the concession stand master) were always in the building in some form or fashion, as were various other people when you’re in a school setting. When I got old enough, mom would send me on errands, and she would always say “be extra nice to the school secretaries and janitors, they know everyone and have keys to everything.”
That lesson has stuck with me throughout my life because it is so unerringly true. They can be the difference between a smooth clinic that coaches remember for the learning moments contained within, or a rough event where we were locked out of rooms and didn’t have the necessary equipment to make a positive environment that they would want to come back to. There are certain people that you come across in any profession that just make your life easier, and without a doubt, in volleyball, the secretaries and janitors are two groups of people who make the world go ‘round, and the impact they have on anyone in an administrative role certainly shouldn’t go unnoticed. If you’re an athlete reading this, take this information and start using it. Thank your school or facility janitor, the administrative assistant who generally just hears from you when you need something. It won’t go unnoticed.
Another impactful moment came for me in college. I played volleyball at Northwestern University, and we had a new coach when I came in as a freshman. The transition was rough and we all had to learn how to operate together. After one particularly difficult practice, our coach sat us down for a “talk.” These weren’t exactly fun conversations, for anyone who has been on the receiving end, but one thing he said still stands out to me today. He pointed at our assistant coach and said “[she] is married. She is taking time away from her new husband to be here with you because she believes in you, and you’re wasting her time.” I’m not sure I understood that at the level I do now, but it stuck in my brain at the time and has made an impact.
We only get so much time. A few hours of practice a day, a certain number of matches a season, a finite number of bus rides or plane trips, hotel stays and team bonding moments. Going further, a limited number of years that we can play, or coach, or be involved because of different aspects of life. Ask yourself, are you living those moments to their fullest? Are you going to practice every day with the mindset of improvement and learning, or are you carrying what happened in school or with a relationship in with you and wasting time? Are you enjoying your team and focusing on the positive, or are you nitpicking the negative? Are you appreciating what people are giving up so that you can do what you love? If you’re a player, have you thanked your adults for the sacrifices they make? If you’re an adult, are you taking the time to simply enjoy the process and the joy instead of worrying about playing time, recruiting, stats, scores, etc.?
I’m not sure I could tell you a single match score from my entire 10 year playing career, with the exception of when we beat Penn State in five my senior year (sorry Coach Rose, love you). But I remember the Easter egg hunt in the Indy hotel when I was there for MEQ. I remember my senior year in high school, going to California for our season-ending tournament and Coach Skinner (who is now at Kentucky) having EXTRA fun slamming volleyballs into our platforms during the modified pit drill. I remember the bus ride and the Thanksgiving dinner at Denny’s somewhere in Ohio while in college because of travel delays. There’s a saying posted in my office that says “we don’t remember days, we remember moments.” Make sure that you’re not wasting time — including your own — and make those memories.
In addition to being the Executive Director and Commissioner of Badger Region, I’m also a volunteer on the Board of Directors for the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. The Hall is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving, honoring and promoting the game of volleyball at every level, at the birthplace of the sport in Holyoke, Mass., and around the world. Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Massachusetts to attend the 2021 induction ceremony, where nine greats of the sport from around the world were honored, and many more were in attendance to witness the prestigious event.
One such great was Karch Kiraly, a previous IVHF inductee, who found himself suddenly available to attend and purchased an overnight, red-eye flight from Southern California to New England. That’s the first lesson in this: if something is important to you, you’ll find a way to make it happen.
During the ceremony, Karch was in the audience, listening to all of the moving speeches from the inductees. When Brazilian men’s legend Giovane Gavio went up to start his speech, he apologized for going off-script to start, saying to Karch: “When I met you today here, I was so happy. You were always my inspiration. My first competition, my first tournament, with the Brazilian National team was here in the USA in 1989 in Los Angeles, your last game with USA. After that, I don’t know how many hours I spent watching your games on my computer. To try to learn, to see how I could do anything like you to improve my game. I am here today, and you have a little part of this.” Wow. I still get chills.
When one of the most dominant players in the world shares how one match at the start of his career changed the path of his game and his life, that’s a moving moment. That’s the definition of impact.
So all of these little stories, what’s the significance? Why are they important? Stepping back, they’re moments in time that have had a profound impact on the course of a life. Some you may not know at the time, but they will lodge somewhere in your head and come back later. Some will be so profound that they make you take a step back and reevaluate your current course.
Whatever the moment, take it. Absorb it. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we need to appreciate the small and the large, the significant or insignificant. I never thought I would miss sitting in a hotel lobby talking to colleagues, but I realized how much I did when I was at national meetings a few weeks ago.
But also think about what you’re putting out into the world. How are you providing impactful moments? This doesn’t just have to be for adults. People of all ages have the ability to teach someone else something. Be mindful of those around you, pass along positivity and grace and an infectious attitude, and maybe one day you’ll see how that small, maybe even unknown to you, moment has changed the course of someone else’s life.
Contact Jen by emailing jarmsondyer@badgerarchive4.0ed61ed.netsolhost.com.
