Building teamwork, promoting positivity, striving for success

SEELEY LAKE – With her focus on team cohesion, communication and her competitive spirit, the Lady Blackhawks new head volleyball coach Pattie Crum looks forward to a great season. She feels the 17 girls out for the team this year have the athletic ability and motivation to make it to the State tournament, something that hasn't been done in nearly 25 years.

Crum was a middle hitter on her high school volleyball team. While she has never coached volleyball, when approached by SSHS Athletic Director Shawn Holmes and last year's Head Coach Shelby Holmes to fill the head coach position, she agreed to apply.

"I want to be a head coach because there is a need in the community and there is no reason why I can't help and I can't motivate them," Crum said. "I was super nervous but I now know this is what I should have done a long time ago. I really enjoy the whole experience. I enjoy the special time that we get together as a team and the competition aspect of it. My intention is to get these girls as honed as possible and win everything."

She feels her life experiences raising six children, her military background and her degree in psychology will help her know how to motivate the team.

"I'm super excited to work with these girls. They are super motivated, extremely athletic and very coachable," Crum said. "They come to me for advice, they want to know how they can become better athletes and improve as a team. They want to be a force to be reckoned with."

Crum said she also has a lot of support from other coaches including her husband Jay who is the Blackhawk's head football coach, several friends who coach volleyball at the college level, and returning Lady Blackhawks Assistant Coach Alyssa Harris. Crum said she gets most of her advice for technical skills from Harris.

"I couldn't do this without her," Crum said. "Coach Harris is extremely well organized."

Harris planned the first week of practices. Crum appreciated the consistency that brought and she felt it helped meet the girls' expectations from last year. It also showed her how practices were run in the past.

"I've just taken that and elaborated on it," Crum said.

Crum said she stresses the team is like a family and they should treat each other like sisters. She feels teambuilding is very important for positive outcomes.

"I preach optimism, I preach visualization and I preach success," Crum said. "If you are not positive, you are not going to have those things."

One of the team-building activities she did with them was to have each of them write a single adjective describing their first impression for every one of their teammates and coaches. Then she compiled them and put them in a letter and gave it to them.

"Then they can see what people see in them," Crum said. "Not only is it good for your self-worth and self-esteem, it is also a good reminder that is this how [you are portrayed]."

Crum said while every letter was positive, not every one got the same results. She encouraged the girls that if this is not how they want to be portrayed, they can work on themselves. If it is how they want others to see them, then they should continue being who they are and not doubt themselves.

"That is a powerful message for the girls and they really liked it," Crum said. "In order to keep it positive as a team we need to know that everyone loves us, we like each other and this is what I think about you. This keeps it all positive, cohesive and it gives us the natural trajectory to grow and be positive."

While she made very few changes to practices initially, Crum said now that they are competing, she tweaks the practices to focus on areas that need improvement after reviewing the game tapes. Technical skills including digging and blocking at the net along with endurance were weak points she noticed at their Aug. 28 tournament in Drummond.

"I took some advice from professional coaches and we tweaked our practices starting [Monday]," Crum said. "Hopefully we will go to the next level by working on endurance, blocking and digging."

Crum said her main goals are to help the girls improve and have fun. She also wants them to enjoy playing, learn and grow as students and athletes, and be good community members.

"How they represent themselves in public, reflects on us as a school, our team and our community," Crum said. "There is a lot of things that go into being an athlete and we are working on improving."

Crum said Charlo is the team to beat within their District. They took second place to them in the Drummond Tournament.

"They showed us what is possible in a high school team," Crum said. "They took it up a notch so we are working on improving our game."

The team selected seniors Sariah Maughan and Trista Wendel as this year's captains. Crum said they have stepped into the leadership role on the team. They act as the "big sisters" and help encourage their teammates, resolve conflicts when necessary and promote cohesion. They then reach out to Crum and Harris to problem solve if needed. They also do a lot of research for Crum to help the team improve.

"I think they are going to flourish. They are very good leaders for the team, very positive and it is nice for the younger girls to see the openness."

Rowan McClure is the third senior with Maughan and Wendel. Crum said they are on fire compared to their stats from last year. The Lady Blackhawks other starters include juniors Dani Sexton and Ava Thornsberry and freshman Aubrey Matthew.

"They are a force to be reckoned with," Crum said. "They are a very strong cohesive team, with great communication and they are constantly asking me what they can do to improve which makes me want to be a better coach."

Crum added, "I really feel like every experience in my life culminated to this result. I have my own classroom, I'm teaching [second grade] and then [coaching at the high school level]. I feel like this is where I'm suppose to be," Crum said. "I'm a very community oriented, kid oriented person. There was a need, I'm here and I'm ready for the challenge."