Coaches Corner for August 20th: Chambray Burk, Boone Volleyball

With us on Coaches Corner, KWBG, we're going to talk some Boone volleyball today. Chambray Burke joins us as the Torridors had a chance to get a scrimmage earlier in the week. Green County scrimmage, I think a really beneficial one. And not that Green County wasn't, but I think this weekend, Johnston's going to be huge as well. And we'll talk more about that in a second. But Chambray, let's talk about offseason first before we talk about the scrimmages and what we've seen and then kind of look ahead to Carroll next week. But offseason work, what do you see from the girls? Did you feel like they got enough touches? Give me what your first offseason looked like. Yeah, first thanks for having me. I think any coach would agree that there's simply never enough touches, right? You always wish you had more time, more touches, those things. But man, one thing's clear with this team is that we and like these players, they love volleyball. And so coming into these pre-season things, then with their ball touches, they're just hungry for it. They are ready to push themselves. They're always ready for more. Getting them to end practice, that's the bigger challenge, because they're like, one more hitting line, one more rep. And I love that energy. And so this just fierceness, getting after it, being aggressive, willing to try new things, learn new plays. As a coach, it's a dream. What did you want to see? I know touches in court time are obviously one and two, but there's also other intricacies when we talk about high school volleyball. What did you want to see before they even stepped into the first couple of camps and then obviously the first practices? And did you see the girls kind of pick up a few of those things that you wanted to see them get done before you even saw them? Yeah, so I wanted them to have a clear picture of why volleyball. I wanted them to have the clear picture of what makes them a leader and how are they going to challenge themselves. And there is something right about volleyball, that mental toughness, because no matter what, every single serve, somebody's getting the point, somebody's not. And so what are you going to do? How are you going to step up and maintain that mental toughness and going through ball after ball, ready for that next one and hungry for it? And so one of those things that they knew that I was going to be asking and challenging them with was how are you going to demonstrate that leadership and how are you going to show up as that teammate, that player, if that's just ready for anything? Shambram, all about scrimmages. I think they're awesome at the beginning of the year. I think you just get tired of hitting the volleyball at the same girl all the time, because you know where you can hit it and you know where you can't hit it. So I was super excited to see that Green County was available for you earlier this week and that Johnston will be available on Saturday. I guess your first scrimmage, your first opportunity to get out there and finally hit it somebody else, what did you think of Green County? Give me some good things and give me some things that you wanted to work on immediately as soon as that night was over. Yeah, it was a great night of volleyball. The energy in the gym was contagious. I loved we would regroup after each team, kind of talk about some things that we wanted to adjust going into the next team. And that's the beauty of scrimmages, right? As you're able to make adjustments in that real time and get back after it and try new things. But they immediately were in that gym, locked in, watching the other teams, making notices and going, oh, let's try this, let's do this. And being really intentional with the playing. And so one of the things is varying up, is noticing like, hey, this type of play really got us. And so we've been really intentional with where we're putting the ball. We've also been really intentional after that scrimmage of, okay, how are we going to read that ball as fast as possible, make those adjustments and be ready to be aggressive and really put that ball in its place. Are you ahead in some categories that you're surprised about? And where do you have some work to, where's the opportunities to get better at? I mean, everywhere, right? Like we never want to sit on anything. We can always improve in every facet of the game. Our back row, they are just, I mean, they're a beast, right? Carson is doing a great job with that leadership in the back row and just moving, server sieves, we joke about, right? Every practice is all right. Guess what time for it, server sieves. And so they have been, I mean, the whole team, they are just so coachable and they are just so willing and ready and their love for it is just unmatched. And so being ready, our block, we have been working really hard and stepping up in the front row. They are just willing and ready and thinking of, I truly am a defensive player as well and taking ownership of, you know, not just transitioning for that attack, but really making sure the ball is where it needs to be transitioning back and then getting into position to finish out and execute that play. All right, Chambray, 63 girls out for Boone Volleyball. How in the heck do you start figuring out who's gonna play where and how they're gonna play where? And I know we've got a long season and I appreciate that where girls can move up and we might move a change here and somebody might be here for a while, but maybe I want them better here. But boy, how in the heck do you put something together this early in the season with that many girls together?

I could not do it without the team of coaches that we have. I mean, middle school through high school, this group of coaches, it's just phenomenal. There's no way the amount of after-hour practices. And when I say hours, I'm not exaggerating. I mean, Rachel Reich, Morgan Rooney, you have Jacqueline Tonsvick, Kelly Olson and my absolute sidekick, Arista Buckingham. I mean, we're just... The list goes on, there's more coaches, you know, Alan Ladoo and everyone else, Claire Sandvig. It's just they're so passionate about coaching in the future of this program. And so it's been a lot of sitting around after practice and just looking at the girls. And our goal for all of them is to put them in a position where they are going to get the most playing time, ball touches and challenging their skill set possible. And so so many drafts of things. And the girls know too that any change can happen, right? That we're going to make adjustments and we're gonna be ready for anything. But it's a lot of coordination and it's a lot of planning and there's no way I could have done it without the coaching staff that we have. All right, so I know we'll talk to you again here in a couple of weeks and we'll see you before this actually happens, but you are technically one week away from that first time to step out there and be the head coach. I mean, be the coach on the sideline turning in your, you know, your lineups and this and making subs and doing this and that. Are you ready for that moment, Chambray? I am so ready. It's just, you know, a bunch of gratitude for all of it, for everything. We're ready for the teams, for the play, for the atmosphere, for just going all out, giving everything, leaving it out on the court. I will truly be forever grateful for this group that I've got as my first year of head coach. So I'm ready for the season. All right, so I'm gonna back up just a little bit because Johnson Scrimmage, I said we talk about it, so we'll wrap up with that. Chambray, just kind of let folks know, how's the Johnson Scrimmage gonna work on Saturday? And just kind of, you know, there's gonna be some first timers that obviously come watch, you know, daughters, granddaughters, this and that, nieces and all that kind of thing. So just kind of tell folks how the Johnson Scrimmage is gonna work coming up on the 22nd. Yeah, it's a big morning. It starts right away at 9 a.m. Great phenomenal teams are gonna be there. So we're really excited and looking forward to that and challenging our rotations and all of those things. It's timed and so it's gonna be pretty quick volleyball. We, I believe, play five teams. And so it's pretty back to back with a couple of breaks in there. And so it's gonna be great for people to come in and just see the variety of what we do against different teams and how we make adjustments. We're not gonna be looking like our official lineup because we've got tennis in there. So we've got some of our girls that are off to Pella for tennis, but this is also gonna be a great way to challenge our players and see them in some different positions in that competitive setting. Shambray, as always, thank you so much for some time. Best of luck for Johnson, obviously, this weekend and then gets for real next week. And we'll talk to you here in a couple of weeks. Thank you so much. You bet. Shambray Burke again joining us. Boone Volleyball here on Coaches Corner.