Winning is Everything...or is it?

I was asked to help out at the college state volleyball tournament this past weekend. Eight teams competed for the title of state champion and the right to move on to the regional tournament. So you'd think that winning would be everything. However, more than one team gets to move on to the regional tournamnet. This has always confused me and to tell you the truth, I'm still not totally clear. There are two regions in Minnesota--the north and the south. Because of MN's strength in past tournaments we get two representatives to the National tournament. How to qualify for the region tourney depends on if you're in the north or the south because they each have their own way. And what it comes down to is that some teams playing in the state tourney can still qualify and move on to the regional even if they didn't win. So winning isn't everything. For example, Central Lakes College came in 6th out of 8 and will still be going to the Regional tournament. No wonder I'm so confused!!!!

It was interesting to watch the different dynamics of the teams and coaches that played in this type of atmosphere. Some teams came in with the mindset of winning the title and that anything less than that was a failure. Winning is everthing. Other teams came in knowing they had already qualified for regionals so this tournament didn't really matter and so it appeared they played half-heartedly. Winning isn't everything. Other teams cared more for beating their rivals than their bracket stadings. Winning is sometimes everything. Some teams rose to the challenges presented to them while others caved under pressure. Some teams went out and had fun and commoraderie while playing and other teams were stoic and serious and barely talked to each other. It was all very interesting to watch.

I also noticed different coaching styles. There were coaches that would yell and scream at the players. There were coaches that would not say anything until there was a time out. Some used positive reinforcement and others only pointed out mistakes. There were coaches that yelled at the officials and ones that would shake hands with them after the match.One coach when his team was losing glared at his players and then refused to talk to them even during the time out. This particular coach was also quite rude to several of us who were working the tournament. When I made some comment to Jane Peterson, the CLC coach, she replied that "he is a really nice guy". I wouldn't have guessed that from his behavior on the court.

The whole weekend was a great case study in behavior, teamwork, motivation, and cetainly interpersonal communication which begs the question...is winning everything?