Right-Side Back Row Spiking
The Mark of the Stars
Kaushik Chatterjee
Is there any way to know who will become a future star? Any indicators found in youth which signify that they could be the next big thing? It may seem remarkable, but there are certain traits that set these teens aside. Lee Maes has noticed these traits after years of working with Team USA’s youth squads. In his blog, ‘Lee Maes: Five Traits Future Stars Exhibit at 13’ (written by Charlie Snyder), he details these traits and his own experience with some of the players.
Maes coaches one of the Select A1 squads at the 2018 USA Volleyball High-Performance Championships and has worked for some of the best college programs in America. Over the years, Lee Maes has seen some incredible young talents: Jordan Larson; Megan Hodge; Alix Klineman; Alisha Glass. These four all turned out to be stars, Larson, Hodge, and Glass winning olympic medals; Klineman is a 2020 olympic hopeful alongside her partner April Ross. Maes describes how these renowned athletes were like at 13.
He describes Glass as a: “sponge”who had the physical talent required, but her “thirst for learning helped her become a refined, skilled player.” Klineman was a “tall, lanky string-bean but with great coordination and athleticism”. She had a well-rounded skill set and an impressive understanding of the sport. Klineman also had superb defensive abilities and could block half the net by herself. Hodge passed the ‘eye test’, being tall, athletic, and coordinated. She was a quiet player and preferred to let “her play do all the talking”. She had a good jump and a strong arm but could play with finesse as well. Larson was “a toothpick at 13-years-old”, but had an incredibly powerful swing. “Jordan had a naturally fast arm swing. When you looked at her, you wondered how does an athlete with that frame hit the ball so hard!” No one can definitively predict who will become a star, but Lee Maes knows the traits.
Curiosity, persistence, intelligence, kindness athleticism. These are the five traits that are inherent in all of the best players. These are the traits Maes have found after years of dedicated coaching. Maes has had various coaching positions, but his most influential has been with the High Performance (HP) group. Heath Hoke, USAV Director of High Performance, has praised Maes mentoring, saying he “consistently brings a level of excellence and professionalism to our HP athletes, elevating their game and success. His impact on HP can be tracked to the many players that have benefitted from his training.” He continues his work for HP, ensuring young players enjoy and continue to pursue volleyball. Maes says the learning is multi-directional: “Throughout the years, the chance to coach with our USA national team and high-performance programs has provided me insight and immersion to elite training methods. That experience and environment me an opportunity to continue my own development; plus, I get to surround myself with coaches and athletes who share the same passion I have for learning and competing.” Lee Maes is an excellent coach, who has highlighted the key traits found in future stars. You can read the full article here, at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Volleyball/Features/2018/July/26/Lee-Maes-Traits-for-Future-Stars.
Related posts
