“Peppering” with Lloy Ball
If you haven’t heard the name Lloy Ball, you must be new to volleyball. Or possibly, too young to have watched the 2008 Olympics. Whether you’ve heard of him or not, you need to get to know him. Ball and Team Pineapple put on a juniors clinic at Brighton Acres in Oshkosh, WI to kick things off for the weekend festivities and tournaments of the famous Waupaca Boatride Tournament. (More on this amazing event coming up!)
I was a bit nervous to interview a 4-time Olympian, setter of the American Men’s National Team for 15 years, and member of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. I was nervous because besides being a total volleyball nerd, I also had my six year old daughter with me, since we were making this stop for the interview on the tail end of our little vacation and on our way back home. She had been sitting in the car for a couple hours and was getting antsy and NOW I had to tell her to be quiet and patient, neither of which are her strengths, while Mom (5’3″) talked to the very tall man. (Ball is 6’8”.)
I knew Ball would be getting ready to put on a clinic, and I certainly didn’t want to get in the way or have my VERY energetic and outgoing kiddo get on his nerves. After I introduced my daughter and myself, Ball proceeded to strike up a conversation with my daughter and learned that she was 6 1/2 and wants to be a Rockstar when she grows up. His demeanor eased my nerves, and in those first 3 minutes, I learned that Ball was a patient, down-to-earth guy, even though he has had a tremendous amount of success having won gold at the 2007 NORCECA Championships, 2008 Beijing Olympics, and 2008 World League.
Ball grew up in Woodburn, Indiana and played volleyball at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne
(IPFW) for his father, Arnie Ball. Ball’s play drew national attention right away in 1991 and continued through his senior year in 1994. He represented the U.S. Men’s Volleyball in international play, Team USA in 4 Olympics, and played professionally in Europe. Now, Ball lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Indiana and runs Team Pineapple with his dad, Arnie Ball, and terrific staff. Another fun fact – Ball competed in the grass triples tournament with his friends and son that was held 2 days later.
Thursday, July 12th at Brighton Acres in Oshkosh, WI
What advice would you have for those going through the recruiting process?
Obviously, a big part of high school and club volleyball right now is trying to help these young student athletes figure out that difficult task of where to go to college – if they have that God given ability, so right now we’re usually starting right around 13 or 14 in building up video resumes for the kids, as well as educating the parents so that it doesn’t have to be a stressful process. I think they (parents) get so worried about where their kids are going to go, how they’re going to go, how much money they’re going to get, instead of the biggest part, which is developing your kid’s ability. In the end, I’ve never seen a kid that has ability not get a scholarship somewhere, so it’s going to happen. Our job as coaches, mentors, and parents is to help find the best fit for our kids. It may not be Texas or it may not be Penn State. It may be a smaller school where it has the educational part that they want to study, has the class size they feel comfortable in, or has the distance, either far or close to home, that they’re looking for. We talk about wanting to be in warm weather or cold weather, playing for a male or female? We have all these questionnaires that help narrow down the possibilities, so hopefully the choice made in the end is the right choice, instead of just making a choice based on a school’s name and reputation.
When do you believe a player should begin to specialize?
We allow specialization at 14, not before. For one, I think it hinders the ability that, as bodies change and abilities change, if you’ve already been pigeonholed as a DS, a setter, or an attacker at 11 and 12, it’s really hard to change that. I also think most coaches look for more well-rounded players. So if you only know how to block and hit middle and don’t know how to set a second ball or how to dig a ball in left back, and someone else does, a coach is going to tend to the need of that ball. So we really try to teach the all-around game, kind of more European style of volleyball, up until the age of 14.
How important do you think it is to be an all-around player?
Yeah, I think it’s easier in the men’s game because we don’t have the amount of substitutions, we don’t have the amount of scholarships, so most men have to be more well-rounded. For now, because you can have 14 on a roster for girls, you can have 3 DS’s and a libero and all those kind of things that I think hurt the all-around skills of most girls, but having said that, like I said previously, I think most coaches would prefer a player that can do everything. And if I’m a girl, I think I would be upset that if I get taken out as a backdrop outside for someone to pass every time, when middle comes out every time for the libero, I’d want to play as many rotations as I can. But if you don’t develop those backrow skills, then you won’t have that opportunity.
Who has made the biggest impact in your life?
My dad, Arnie Ball. He coached me in college and coached 40-some years in volleyball. Not only as a father figure and a friend, but no one has more passion, knowledge, and expertise, in my opinion, than him. So playing for him and becoming even closer as we’ve gotten older, as he’s a grandfather and I’m a father, those kind of things, I always ask him what I should do, and the answer is always right.
What do you think the best thing your dad did for you as a developing player?
I would say, hold me accountable. I think it’s the one thing we suffer in society today as teachers, coaches, and parents is that we don’t hold these young people accountable. I think they want that. They learn to take advantage of the system; but with my dad, if I was starting something, I was finishing it. If I was showing up, it’s got to be 100%, and there were consequences if that didn’t happen. It didn’t make him a mean person, or it didn’t make him a strict person. It just made him a person that was teaching his son, hopefully one day, how to be a father, how to be a leader, how to be a mentor. And I think his being what we called “old school” with me just basically taught me how to be responsible.
How important do you think it is for young players to be cross-training court, grass, and sand?
I think it’s great. We recommend Will Robbins, who’s here with us. He runs a sports club in Fort Wayne, who’s technically one of our rivals, but because he offers beach and we don’t, we send our kids down there because I think it’s a great secondary tool. You’re still working on your individual skills, but you’re also gaining more muscle, quick twitch, having to play in the sand, and using different communication skills. Going back, if you’re only a setter for indoor and you have to play doubles, you have to learn how to pass, attack the ball, which leads to better blocking and serving. It makes our players more well-rounded, and the more of those kind of players we have, the better we are. And I think it helps with the burn out factor, which is obviously happening. Kids play high school, then club; it’s 9 months of volleyball. So even though it’s technically the same, we all know it is a different discipline. It just allows them to have a little bit of a break from the monotony of one thing over and over again.
Thanks for your time, Lloy!