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Belvidere High School volleyball was strong. As a freshman, playing on the JV team, I got to see just how good the varsity team was and couldn't wait to be part of it. I was part of a pretty strong freshman class - or maybe simply a pretty tall one?? We had our 6'3" Kori-la, 6' something Lynnie and Bruyn who was 5'9" or 5'1o"? Throw in me and Jodie-la setting and some talented back row diggers (Ang/Amy/Pavlak) and we were GOOD. Volleyball was much fun!
Coach Freidel plucked me out of tryouts when I was a sophomore and said something to me that I remember TO THIS DAY. She said, "I want you to be my setter this year but I need you to promise me that you'll behave and stay out of trouble." She had a senior that year that probably should've been the starter, but she wanted to take me as a youngster and build me for three years. I committed to her that I would stay out of trouble and made varsity my sophomore year.
For the next three years, our core group plus the classes around us dominated the Big-10 along with Hononegah High School. Coach Freidel was the driving force. She was everything from tough guy to pushover, from professor to playground monitor, from coach to mom. Coach Freidel knew how to get the most from us! The things I remember most about her coaching were:
- Preparation was key.
I remember the printouts she would come to practice with....hand drawn scenarios, all kinds of offensive and defensive plays. We had a playbook in 1986! She drilled us and worked us both physically and mentally and made sure that we understood not only WHAT to do, but WHY we were doing it. - Reviewing our performance was important.
We were fortunate to have someone who would film our games and we often spent time in the next practice watching and being critiqued. We heard not only what was done incorrectly, but what was done correctly. We learned and we improved. - Always do the best you can.
There were several teams in our conference that we could beat with both eyes closed. However, Coachiela (what we really called her) was never satisfied with just a win. It was important that we didn't play down to our competition, that we didn't slack up because we were clearly better. Good life lesson, eh? - Nothing worth having is easy to achieve.
We worked HARD. Two-a-days in the summer before school started, running the track and all that awful conditioning was just the beginning. We practiced hard every day after school....in fact there were drills that would sometimes bring tears. But we did them. We did them for ourselves, for Coachiela and for our teammates. - Be respectful.
Our team was never allowed to showboat, never allowed to humiliate another team. We were taught early and often that we should respect the other girls....that they worked hard too.
All that said....here's how Coachiela had the BIGGEST impact on ME. She cared about me. Coachiela knew that I had a wild streak, she knew that rebellion was something I thrived on, but she also knew that deep down I was dealing with a lot of things that I don't think I even knew I was dealing with at the time. She became more than a coach to me and the others....she was a friend. She would stay after practice to chat, she'd check in with our teachers and she'd just keep all of us under her wing like any protective mother would.
I've been fortunate to stay in touch with Coachiela.....my respect for her only grows as I spend more time with her exploring our careers, our parenting philosophies and the universe in general. Of all the adults I encountered in my high school years, there is no question that Coach Freidel had the biggest (and best) impact of any of them. For that I thank her!
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