Isla’s Volleyball Season has come to an end

Isla’s team finished 6th in BC for all volleyball club teams under the age of 12. They did amazing this year, and she improved so much. I had the pleasure of being an assistant coach for the team. My elementary school buddy from Jamieson was the head coach. It was such a joy being with this team, developing them, and seeing them progress through the season. We ended up developing a slogan for the team… Heart over Height. This came about, because every team we would play had girls that were much taller than our girls. The plight of being Asian, but with that said, it never inhibited our girls. They were more skilled, quicker, more agile, and ultimately had more heart that many of these teams. They would compete, but not only be competitive with these teams, but beat many of them. In our initial tournament of the year, the girls ended up finishing 3rd in the region (lower mainland), beating teams that had paid coaches, former national volleyball players now turned coaches, and players that are taller than I am! It was amazing see our girls beat these teams despite our height deficiency. Hence, Heart Over Height!

Case in point:

One of the coolest things about the team were the parents and how supportive all of them were of the team. I’ve coached a lot of teams, and this was definitely the most supportive group of parents I’ve ever had. It makes it so much more enjoyable when the parents are A+!

Flashback to Isla at the tryouts in November 2023… it was pretty bad to say the least. She couldn’t set, couldn’t bump, couldn’t hit. Here is some footage of her at tryouts. Yikes I was proud of her though. She went in, not knowing what to expect, with over 80 other girls trying out, and having to compete against them. Isla ended up making the team (partially because I was coaching) but credit to her… she put in the work. We worked with her for over a month prior to her first practice, by then, she had improved quite a bit. (She’s in the gray coloured hoodie below)

One of the coaches measured the jumping height at the beginning of the season:

Here we are at regionals with our 3rd place finish!

Photo Gallery of the team:

One of her teammates made this year end video encompassing moments from their 2024 season. They became so close and had such a bond with one another. No egos, no hissy fits, no arguing… just friends and teammates. I loved coaching them. You’ll get an idea of their closeness and comradery after watching this montage that was made by her teammate, Alayah.