IBSports Volleyball Magazine July 2025

If you ever find yourself pedaling a Schwinn bike toward a gym in Nebraska, wondering if you can just waltz in and join the volleyball team—you might be channeling your inner Janice Kruger. But don’t be fooled by her humble Midwestern beginnings. This small-town girl turned collegiate volleyball athlete and national coaching icon, has built a career (and life) around creativity and a whole lot of heart. Janice grew up in a Nebraska town so small, you could probably fit the entire population—1,200 folks, give or take—into a single high school gym. When the public and Catholic schools combined, they managed to form a volleyball team, and Janice was off and running. Or more accurately, digging and spiking. “It might sound surprising, but I often walked a mile to school…

What do they say or do? I’m a 2X Olympian and Mental Toughness Coach and I bet they jump straight to SELF-JUDGEMENT. And it makes them play WORSE. What if we encouraged them to be rational instead of emotional? CURIOUS instead of FURIOUS. Mistakes bring information and when athletes are taught to get CURIOUS, mistakes become OPPORTUNITIES to... Solve problems. Fix errors. Identify skill gaps. Mistakes can actually help your athlete GROW. But here’s the rub: In your eyes, mistakes are BAD. Maybe you should close your eyes more often:) Maybe you should focus more on the process and let go of the outcome. Maybe YOU need to get MORE curious. That’s why I created BOSS OF YOUR THOUGHTS workshop. It is the foundation of mental toughness and EVERY athlete,…

Coaching a team with talent levels ranging from beginner to intermediate is both a challenge and an opportunity, much like the diverse body of Christ, where every teammate contributes in unique ways. As a coach, your first task is to meet each athlete where they are, understanding that 100% effort doesn’t mean uniform ability. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches us that every part of the body has a distinct role. It’s vital to recognize that each skill level on your team contributes to the overall strength, even if some fundamental skills need more attention than others. The journey of a beginner is as important as the progress of an advanced athlete. It’s about setting realistic, individual goals that reflect not only the abilities of each player but also their personal growth.…

At this point, most people who read this have no idea who Donald Rumsfeld was. Rumsfeld was a career executive within the federal government known for a comment made about 'known knowns' and 'known unknowns'. He was made fun of for this for decades, but the thing is--when you stop making fun of him, he's right. It's important for coaches AND athletes to recognize what you know and where you are lacking. So—how can we apply Rumsfeld’s idea to how we evolve as coaches and teachers? The goal is to work through these four stages—and that’s hard, and certainly not possible without making a load of mistakes along the way. Usually those mistakes are self-inflicted; getting past our own personal ego and hubris is always a challenge. There's probably an…