August 15, 2025 âą 49 mins
đ Three Rings, One Mindset: Olivia Foleyâs Path to Greatness at Juniata College
 Sheâs the setter who led Juniata College Womenâs Volleyball to not one⊠not two⊠but three straight NCAA Division III National Championships. After her senior year, she was crowned National Player of the Year and celebrated on national TV alongside some of the biggest names in college sports.
In this episode of Significant Coaching, Olivia Foley takes us inside the mental and physical grind it took to stay at the top, the role her coaches, teammates, and her mom and older sister played in shaping her into the leader she is today, and the lessons sheâll carry far beyond the court. Mature, honest, and passionate â this is a conversation that will inspire athletes, coaches, and anyone chasing excellence.
đ» Learn more about host Matt Rogersâ work with athletes, families, and coaches at coachmattrogers.com.
đ Be on the lookout for his upcoming book, The Volleyball Recruitâs Journal, arriving on Amazon in just a few weeks to help volleyball players take control of their recruiting journey.
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeartRadio, and all your favorite podcast platforms.
Did you like what you heard and want more?
New Podcasts every week. Remember to subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
As you can tell from the scores,from this past national
(00:02):
championship, that's the closestanybody has been to beating us.
And it was just because thatmental side really, like
physically we we're locked in,but mentally, it was just
grueling, Welcome back to TheSignificant Coaching Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
What you just heard was OliviaFoley describing the mental
toughness it took for her andher teammates to win.
Not one, not two, but threestraight NCAA division, three
national championships, and shedid it as the starting setter
and leader for Jutta Collegewomen's volleyball.
(00:43):
After her senior season, she wasnamed the NCAA Division III
National Player of the Year, andwas celebrated on national
television alongside stars likeYukon's, Paige, Becker's.
That's Rare Air, but what makesOlivia so special isn't just the
banners hanging in the gym orthe hardware in the trophy case,
it's who she's become in theprocess.
(01:06):
She's mature.
Honest and passionate.
But as you'll hear today, hertransformation didn't happen by
accident.
It's the product of anenvironment shaped by her
coaches, her teammates, thementors who have invested in
her, and the unwaveringinfluence of her mom, who has
been a constant source ofguidance and belief from the
very beginning, the lessonsOlivia has learned go far beyond
(01:28):
the court.
They've shaped her as a leader,a competitor, and as a person.
I came into this conversationwith high expectations, and
Olivia exceeded every single oneof them.
She is truly a special athlete,but more importantly, she is a
special human being.
If you'd like to learn moreabout my work with athletes,
families and coaches, visitcoach matt rogers.com and be on
(01:52):
the lookout in just a few weeks.
My new book, the VolleyballRecruits Journal, will be
available on Amazon to helpvolleyball players take control
of their recruiting journey.
Alright, let's get into it.
Here's my conversation with theincomparable Olivia Foley.
All right.
Olivia Foley, it is number one.
It's a great honor to have youon the show.
(02:13):
Uh, I've been following yourcareer and so impressed with
everything you've done.
How does it feel to be.
Just a, a student, an adult, aprofessional.
How does it feel, I know you'restill working on your master's,
but how does it feel that your,athletic career is over?
It really does not feel real.
I have a younger sibling that'sgoing into, uh, be a student
(02:36):
athlete in college and just withher workouts and whatnot, it was
just crazy to be like, wow, Iused to be in that position.
I was ready to go, go, go and beon the run, do workouts, get up
early, eat you know what youneed to eat, right?
And so be able to slow down andbe like, I am able.
To take, a break on my run, I'mable to walk instead of running
(02:57):
the whole time.
So,, it's been crazy, but it's,I'm still not out of that world
completely.
Does it, feel nice that yourbody doesn't hurt all the time?
Yes, it is very nice.
I don't have to go to rehab.
I don't need to ice.
I mean, I'll pop a few ibuprofenif you know, headache or, you
know, knees hurt.
But like I, I know that I'm notpushing my body to its fullest
(03:19):
extent.
So, yeah, I.
I'm, I'm in my fifties, so I wasa college athlete 30 years ago,
and I went to the doctor thismorning and they did, they
needle my shoulder and didelectric stim on me, and they
go, have you ever had this done?
I go, yeah, I was a collegebasketball player.
I, I wouldn't have survived aday, a week without electric
stim and stuff like that.
(03:40):
So I, I get it.
It's hard.
Mm-hmm.
When you look back on your fouryears.
How would you describe yourphysical and your mental growth
from your freshman year throughyour senior year?
Oh, exponentially.
I don't think I even knewexactly what I was.
Was gonna throw myself intogoing into college athletics,
(04:01):
especially during the pandemic,that was a whole nother layer of
problems, right?
But just the physical health, Ithink I really relied on that
going throughout high school andthen be able to get into
college.
But the mental health is where Ireally saw the huge growth.
Um, obviously I knew I could putup with all the practices, I
could put up with all of thelifts and conditioning, so one
(04:22):
on my body was able to withstandthat.
But the mental side of it.
Being able to choose yournutrition when nobody's there
doing it for you, or to get upand go to rehab when nobody's
gonna really push you to do it,but you have to make that
choice, uh, your own.
So that's where I saw the hugegrowth and being able to.
Build on that and be able tobecome mentally strong rather
(04:45):
than just relying on my physicalhealth was huge.
It was difficult.
It was the hardest thing I hadto do, but now it's so rewarding
being able to go into the realworld and be an actual adult.
Uh, and you just have all theseskills you never knew you were
capable of having until now,working with a team and whatnot.
Just, it's incredible.
I'm a whole different personcompared to who I was at 16, 17
(05:07):
years old.
It's amazing what thatexperience can do for the rest
of your life.
I don't think anybodyunderstands it if you haven't
gone through it.
Right?
Right.
Yes.
Yeah.
So let's, let's get intospecifics.
'cause I have a 16-year-olddaughter who's a volleyball
player and a golfer.
Um, I don't know if she's gonnaplay in college, but,, she's
(05:30):
learning how to have a workethic.
If you could go back in time andyou've got a, a younger sibling,
you just talked about this,going through this, what are
some of those things you wouldteach yourself to say, I gotta
get this started, I gotta dothis better now?
So I can make bigger leaps whenI get there.
Yeah, of course.
(05:51):
Uh, definitely to become amorning person, it's not, it's,
it's a challenge.
It definitely is.
But become that morning person,be able to get what you need to
get done during that time andthat alone time, and just that
sense of accountability, beingable to wake up on time, eat a
good breakfast rather thanskipping it, and then jumping
into your workout and be able toeat.
(06:13):
Do and feel your body exactlywhat it needs to be fueled with,
and then jumping right into yourworkout or lift or conditioning
or whatnot, um, but be able todo something.
Most days of the week, but alsogive yourself those rest days.
I wasn't able to really fullygrasp that of the rest days.
I was really in the mode of justdo everything every single day,
(06:36):
go on a run, go on a workout, soon, and being able to be like,
no, I think I've pushed myselfenough.
I think I deserved to, sleep inextra hour the next day, or
just.
Maybe have that dessert, you'vebeen withholding yourself for,
um, just a few days of focusingon your nutrition and health,
but be able to balance that.
I mean, you're still a kid atthe end of the day,, going into,
(06:59):
at your daughter's age and mysister's age.
Like, it's just, it's differentand you're, no, you don't need
to be an adult right away.
You have that balance, but alsobe able to, um, be able to
manage yourself.
Well, we talked about before weclick record, you're finishing
up your master's in publichealth.
Yeah.
And this is what you're gonna dofor a living.
You're, you're good.
You're gonna be training kidsand adults and teaching them how
(07:22):
to live a healthy lifestyle.
And there's, there's no betterrole model for that than you.
When you, when you look at thethings you learned once you got
to Juta, how long did it takeyou, were you like.
I've got the commitment, nowI've got my routines down.
I believe in this.
(07:42):
I am a morning person now.
What was that process like?
And when do you feel like youreally got there where you're
like, all right, I know what Ihave to do.
I'm gonna stick to this and I'mgonna keep, keep doing it the
right way.
Oh, it definitely took me a goodyear, year and a half.
Yeah.
Uh, the first year, of coursewas COVID, so the coaches really
weren't in play as much.
(08:03):
They weren't at the practices,they weren't at the lifts.
It was really thoseupperclassmen, the team captains
that were really holding usaccountable, and it made
yourself wanna be as accountableas they are.
So it took me that good firstyear to be able to realize that.
Nobody's gonna be here to holdmy hand.
I'm not gonna have, you know,say my parents there, or my
siblings or my high schoolcoaches being like, did you do
(08:27):
this?
Did you do that?
And instead, I had asked myselfthose questions.
So definitely a good year atleast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I talked to college coachesabout this all the time.
When we recruit a kid.
We, we, my mindset was always,if I can get them by midway
through their sophomore year toreally understand our processes
(08:50):
and procedures and how we liftand how we eat and how we study
and how we learn the playbookand, and where it's not.
I.
It's not mechanical, it's, it'sa part of them.
We've done something.
Right.
So you really hit on that.
You know that that midway markof the sophomore year is really
when those things start to getcomfortable.
(09:10):
Do you think.
You had the ability at 16 or 17to grasp some of that earlier,
or do you feel like you had togo through the process you did
to get to that point?
For me, individually, I think Ihad to go through it.
I think I had to learn withexperience.
And I think there are definitely16, 17 year olds that are way
(09:30):
more capable than I ever was atthat age.
Um, which is awesome.
I mean, they have the righttools, right.
Mechanics there.
Yeah.
But for me, individually, Ineeded to go through that and.
Thank goodness I did as early asI did, rather than in the
junior, senior year.
And it's amazing what you didwith your career, considering it
started in the heart of COVID,where you didn't have the
(09:51):
coaching, you didn't have, theday in and day out access.
And as a D three athlete, it'snot like it was a 12 month
thing.
It, you literally started withyour team on August 12th and you
were basically done November1st, and then you were on your
own for the rest of the time,you know?
Mm-hmm.
So that's, that's reallyimpressive.
I'm gonna, make you put yourpublic health hat on for a
(10:11):
little bit.
Okay.
Let's, talk nutrition.
What, do you think a good dietis?
For a student athlete?
What should they be eating inthe mornings?
We burn so much.
Calories as an athlete, 10 timesmore than the average person.
So what does that look like?
Are you a five meal person?
Are you a double snacker?
Are you big lunch and dinner?
(10:32):
What?
What's a good diet for, for a,for a great athlete?
Yeah, well I am a snacker, soI'm all about the snacks.
Say a fruit snack, a banana, anapple with peanut butter, which
is my go-to.
Absolutely.
But, uh, yeah.
But yeah, definitely have a goodbreakfast.
I really resort to like eggs,maybe some potatoes.
I'm a stucker for bacon, so Ihave to have that somewhere on
(10:55):
the plate.
Um, but I also love having justa nice.
Bowl fruit or a yogurt bowl.
Um, lunch, I could go kind of,uh, smaller in size.
I'm kind of a big dinner and bigbreakfast person with snacks
along the way.
Um, but also everything comes inmoderation.
I mean, you can follow a dietstrictly and that could be the
(11:15):
worst thing for you.
You need to be able to ventureout and be able to have that
dessert or have that extrasnack.
Or, you know what?
If you don't wanna have that bigbowl fruit and you.
Just wanna have, say morepotatoes, more eggs, or anything
like that, do it.
If you wanna have that one sodaa day or more, do it.
I mean, it's not gonna hurt you.
And eventually your body willlearn to understand how you need
(11:39):
to feel yourself in order to bethe best version of yourself,
whether it's an athlete or as anindividual.
But, and I'd say the biggesttakeaway would be just
everything in moderation.
I was a head college coach forso long.
You're recruiting so much that Ifound myself in gyms at night so
often that for many, many yearsit was a hot dog and a bag of
(12:00):
popcorn.
That was my dinner, you know,and right, and I, I got, I
started putting weight on, andabout three years ago I lost 30
pounds because I.
I got all that garbage outta mydiet and I really bought into
the fruit too.
I've always been a fruit eater,but now, man, I, I eat green
grapes and bananas and apples,like they're going on a stop.
(12:23):
'cause I'm an addictive eater.
I'm a, I can sit down and eat a,a pint of ice cream and a bag of
chips.
Mm-hmm.
Of fries and like nobody else.
So for me, when I'm craving, Igo to grapes and I go to apples
and, and I'm a big smoothieeater too, so I love a kale
smoothie with some fruit in it.
And so I love hearing all that.
(12:43):
Let's talk about the mentalside, because I know that's
really important to you.
Yeah.
Okay.
What did you learn as a 17,18-year-old about your value
system and your self-worth?
And, and talk a little bit abouthow your coaches helped you with
that.
Yeah, so at that age of comingright out of high school, 17, 18
(13:06):
years old, um, I saw my selfworth really in the form of an
athlete.
I didn't really, um, separatethe two in a sense.
I just saw as Olivia as anathlete, and that's how she's
going to, Go to school.
That's what, really drove hertowards the school and that's
how she has been throughout herlife.
I was a four sport athleteduring high school, so it was
(13:28):
just a big part of my identity.
Um, but going through that andthe coaches at Junior, they were
able to separate that within.
My mind of like, it's not thesame thing and we see you more
than just an athlete.
Um, and just as an individual asa whole.
So being able to realize thatand understand, you know, there
is more to myself than just thatone aspect, um, was huge for me.
(13:54):
So I think it's.
Great that there are 17, 16 yearolds that are able to, uh,
decipher that and able todistinguish that.
Uh, I'm an individual.
I play sports, whether it'svolleyball or golf or any other
sports out there.
Um, but I am way more than justmy sports and I, I'm a
well-rounded individual ratherthan just one aspect driven.
(14:17):
Yeah, you are.
And, and it shows.
Mm-hmm.
It, I, you know, I haven't dugdeep into your social media, but
I don't feel like you're a bigsocial media person.
Is that true?
That is very true.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love that.
Okay.
We let my daughter start acouple of things a couple years
ago, and I have a little bit ofregret that we did.
I, I wish we wouldn't have lether start some of these things.
(14:40):
Not that it's been a hindranceand her grades are great and
she's still a good kid, but Iworry about self-esteem that I
see on social media, especiallywith young girls.
I, I, that's, it's been soprevalent now that you have to
show skin and you have to act acertain way and you have to do
all that.
What do you see?
(15:01):
Is there some advice you give toyoung girls that you think they
need to understand about allthose things that they're
putting out into the world?
Oh yeah.
It, our first thing is we lookand we compare,, we don't look
and say, oh wow, you know,that's great that she's doing
this and that, but it's rather,why am I not doing.
What can I do to do that insteadof being like, I'm my own
(15:21):
individual and I'm not gonnalive her life.
She's not gonna live mine.
And that kind of leads into,athletics where there's a lot
of, uh, high school kids thatare really posting on their
Instagram or TikTok or any othersocial media platform.
Snapchat.
Oh, yes.
Everything.
I don't even have Snapchat, butI just, I feel like it's.
(15:43):
It's like the stock market on mydaughter's phone.
It's just a rolling scrollthat's always there.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
And really ultimately, at theend of the day, it is pointless,
but it just, it draws in thatcrowd, I mean, I have all the
social media platforms and itdrew me in and it's, you know,
kept me this long.
But just seeing what otherpeople post and how young girls
are comparing themselves andwhatnot, I mean, it's.
(16:05):
It's heartbreaking.
But then there's also aspect ofwhere there are 16, 17 year olds
that have that self-worth andthey're able to identify their
selves as more than just theirsports.
And they're able to see theseindividuals post and these same
girls as their age and they'reable to support.
So I think there's both cons andpros to social media, but when
(16:28):
the cons are there and thecomparing sets in it's, it could
be down a rabbit hole.
I've, listened to a number ofyour interviews and you kind of
watch from a distance and, andI'm so impressed with the fact
that you just, you don't seem tohave insecurities, so at least
they're not on the, on theforefront for you.
We all have insecurities.
We're all, we all want to makesure our hair looks nice and we,
(16:50):
we dress nice when we go out,especially when we're on camera.
You know, we wanna look good.
Where did that start for you?
And, and am I misreading it?
No, uh, I think I have, ofcourse, like I try and present
myself in a way where I don'thave as many insecurities as say
I am, you know, have inside.
Um, but I think it definitelystarted with my mom.
(17:12):
I mean her and then my oldersister as well.
Like, they were just like, I amwho I am, and either you like it
or you don't, and that's that,I'm not gonna change myself or.
Who you need me to be, you know?
So I think that's really whereit stemmed from and just family
members being able to beconfident within themselves and
yeah, that's that.
(17:34):
And I'm sure you have a lot offriends and you know a lot of
people that maybe didn't havethat growing up.
And this is me bagging as aparent for any type of
direction.
So, you know, what would youtell parents about how to
approach.
These years, especially with ateenage daughter, it's like I'm
trying to learn Latin and Greekat the same time.
(17:56):
Yeah.
So what advice do you give toparents about raising a female
student athlete and all thepressure that's on you and all
the pressure they're seeing onTV and on magazines, and
especially social media?
What advice do you give us?
Yeah, I would definitely say tryand get that phone out of their
(18:16):
hands.
I know it's, it's way harderthan it is, you know?
Yeah.
And of course, I mean, it's hardfor me to even put my phone
down, you know?
Me too.
And I'm able to realize thatit's, it's too much of our
lives.
Um, but just try, just try andget them out.
I think keeping them, say inlike a club environment with
athletics.
Being able with them to havelike friends in different
(18:37):
schools, different towns,different states, just so
they're able to venture out andmeet people through,, the old
fashioned way, rather thantexting them or DMing them on
Instagram, something like that.
Just get'em out of the house.
Be able to build thoseconnections with the team and.
The players and whatnot, um, butalso be able to go out and be
(19:00):
like, you know what?
We're gonna go and we're gonnago kayaking, or we're gonna go
play volleyball outside, ratherthan stay indoors in the gym.
Because, it's grueling,especially with volleyball, just
staying in the gym, playing,you're not.
Able to be exposed to sunlightor to any other individuals that
aren't in the gym.
So just get'em out of theirnormal environment, get'em out
(19:21):
of their comfort zone as much asyou can.
But also know that line of,especially with teenage girls,
they're gonna let you know whenenough's enough and so listen to
them.
Um, would also be the other partof that.
Yeah.
That's, that's the hard part forus parents is shut up.
Just shut up for a little bit,you know?
Right.
Listen more.
(19:41):
And, that's, that's the onething I've tried to get better
at, is just being quiet, givingher the space to find her voice
with me and, and, um, let herlead the conversation or, so
it's, it's hard.
It's really hard as a parent.
Yeah.
It's a tough balance.
It's, it is.
All right.
So.
(20:01):
Your, your future is gonna begreat.
I, I'm so excited that we'regetting somebody like you,
Olivia, that's going into theworld of public health and wants
to be a teacher, want, notnecessarily a teacher, but
you're gonna be a role model forthe rest of your life.
You're gonna be someone that'sgonna guide others.
So I'm excited about that.
What does that look like and howdid Giata help you become that
(20:26):
person you want to be?
Yeah.
Uh, the Juliana coaches, theywere able to recruit such a wide
variety of individuals, and notonly did they come with their
own, strengths, weaknesses, butthey also came with their own
like leadership style of like,are they a leader?
Are they not?
If they are a leader, what'stheir leadership style?
And if they.
(20:47):
Able to let someone else takethe reins, then what do they
need for like constructivecriticism or where's the balance
of, do you need to beconstructive or do you need to
be a little bit harsher in asense of just straight to the
point, more strict?
That was a big tool that wasable to gain from all of those
(21:07):
individuals that we had on theteam and be able to understand
like.
A look at someone's face ortheir demeanor, where is that
balance to just be like, okay,I'm gonna shut up right now.
Instead of just badgering them,nonstop.
Uh, just being able tounderstand that balance and
everybody's so different.
So being able to take thosecurve balls from everybody, you
don't know what you're gonna getevery day and you're not gonna
(21:29):
be your best self every day, andthat's just, that's just, you
know, reality.
So being able to understandthat, uh, I think is really
gonna help me with prevail myfuture.
I, I love that you went therebecause for me it was, it was
always so important for me tobuild a melting pot in my
program.
I wanted the team to lookdifferent.
(21:50):
I wanted them to be fromdifferent cultures.
I wanted small town kids.
I wanted city kids.
If we could get kids from othercountries, if we could get kids
from different economicbackgrounds, I just knew if we
get that group to work together,what we were gonna do was gonna
be amazing.
And, and I know coach does thatat Giata too.
(22:10):
When I watch you play, there's adifferent animal that shows up
on film than what I'm seeing.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
I see you bark.
I see you get real serious.
I see you not afraid to get intoyour, in your teammate's faces a
little bit and, and teach andcoach and bark and, and be that
leader.
Where did that come from?
(22:33):
I seriously have no idea.
I think just something, insideme was just like, there's a
switch and when you get on thecourt, like even in, I mean you
saw it mostly in games, but inpractice too.
Like it just, it went on andwhen.
The practice was over or thegame was over, it would turn
completely off.
Um, I think that was kind of thecore of my recruiting class, so
(22:57):
not particularly me, it was justhow the pieces fit together.
It was just like the perfectpuzzle.
I mean, there was three of us inthe graduate class at Juliana
and so being able to just liketrust each other that we were
like, when we are on the court,we.
Or someone else.
And if you say something, don'ttake that message personally,
(23:18):
because we just wanna win andwe'll do everything in our power
to do that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love it.
And you, you don't accomplishwhat you did as a group without
that mentality.
All right.
So let's go back, let's, let'stalk to these young women out
there that are listening to thisYes.
Who are afraid to say to ateammate, Hey, you're not
(23:39):
working hard enough.
We need more outta you.
We need you more explosive.
We need you to find that fire.
We need you to, we need you toget down and be more consistent.
I see that outta your team.
I see you pushing each other andthere's so many young girls in
club level that are afraid to dothat.
Afraid to push a teammate,afraid to ask more of that.
(24:03):
How do we get'em there?
How do we get'em to accept that?
That's how you get to be greatwhen you can.
You can be honest.
Right.
I think we established it rightoff the gi.
I mean, uh, the coaches atJuliana, they let us be a team
led team, essentially.
I mean, the coaches were there,of course.
I mean, they're the coaches, butlike we, we were the ones that
brought people in.
(24:23):
If we didn't think that therewas a.
A drill going, right?
If it was up to our standard,there were individuals on our
team that were like, we're gonnabring it in, hold the balls,
bring it in, guys.
This is not up to our standardand we are gonna hold every
single person accountable.
And then we would disperse andwe would just do it.
I think it was just a decisionthat everyone had to make within
(24:44):
themselves.
Um, our gym, we didn't playnormal volleyball.
We were playing things off thewall, playing things off of ball
carts, basketball hoops, and wewere like.
The play is not over until theball hits the ground.
Love it.
Essentially it can hiteverything but the ground.
Yeah.
We're playing it off.
Faces, shoulders, I mean, justcraziness.
(25:05):
So being able to push ourselvespast, like the actual rules of
volleyball.
It came.
Almost easier to play within theboundaries of the game of
volleyball.
We were like, if you're notgonna get the ball this time,
you're gonna make the divingplay.
You're gonna have the besteffort you can, but next play,
you're gonna get one inchcloser.
(25:25):
If you're not gonna get it,you're gonna get closer.
Yeah.
Essentially.
And being able to give thatCriticism of like specifically,
I remember one example wherethere was a, a girl she ran
after a ball, she, she ran aftershe gave an effort and we came
into a huddle and I said, Iappreciate your effort.
I really do, but I think thatyou can get that ball.
You know what I mean?
(25:45):
It was just like giving beliefand support into the girls
around you was just, it washuge, especially for like a huge
team of young women, you know?
What about that teammate that'snot ready to accept it yet?
The criticism, the, thecoaching, the barking.
What if mm-hmm.
That's, that's the kid that weneed to get, that's the kid that
we need to turn over to the, theright side.
(26:07):
How do we get right?
How do we have the confidence tokeep pushing her to say, we need
more out of you.
And she's fighting you.
She's fighting that.
We would, there would always bethose individuals on your team.
Of course that would say wouldbe more.
Challenging in a sense ofthey're gonna gain your face.
They're the ones that get inyour face.
So we would have thoseindividuals choose those young
(26:29):
freshmen or underclassmen, likethe ones that you're describing,
and we would be like, that'syour big sister.
You're gonna take her and you'regonna try and get her into this.
You're gonna try and morph heralmost into understanding that
the criticism is beneficial.
Yeah.
Uh, we would give her that timeto be able to adjust because
nobody.
(26:49):
Not everybody's going to getthat experience in high school.
Someone might get a coach that'sjust gonna hold their hand
across the whole time and, giveonly positive reinforcements
rather than giving the, also theconstructive criticism that they
need.
So being able to understand thatthey might need time to adjust
to that.
Once that time, that honeymoonphase almost is over.
(27:11):
It's back to business becauseessentially at the end of the
day, I mean, college athleticswe're there to not only like
meet new people and buildchemistry, but the coaches, they
wanna win.
The school wants to see sportssucceed, of course.
So being able to understand thatbalance of that girl might not
be ready.
But we'll give her time to be.
And then if she's still notready, we will try and give her
(27:33):
the support and the criticismthat she needs.
But sometimes it might bebeneficial to split your ways of
between the program and betweenthe team.
Uh, sometimes it's just not theright fit.
And of course, this transferportal has opened up Windows for
individuals.
There's people that have come toJuta, people that have left Juta
and have found perfect fits forthem.
So understanding that it mightnot be a good fit at the end of
(27:55):
the day, and that's okay too.
Understand that there's so manysolutions that can come out of
it rather than just continuouslybarking at that one individual.
I love it.
I love it.
It's a great mindset.
We have to treat everybody theway they need to be treated to
help them figure out their ownpath.
Let, let's, let's go back to themental health side of that.
Kind of the flip side of,, not,not the kid that's got the ego
(28:17):
that we need to kind of get himto understand this is a team
first, but let's talk about thatkid that's dealing with things
that maybe we don't understand.
There's abuse, there's, there'sa sadness, there's a depression,
there's stuff going at home,stuff going on in relationships,
stuff going on with substances.
Uh, maybe it's L-G-B-T-Q-Q stuffthat they're dealing with and
(28:40):
not sure how to express that orthe fear of that.
How do you be a leader for the,those kids?
Yeah.
I think there's certain peopleon a team that are able to.
They're more equipped almost todeal with that and how there
will be certain people, whetherit's an upperclassmen or a team
(29:01):
captain, or if it's not, if it'ssomeone in the same grade as an
individual that's dealing withsome sort of trauma like that,
that those individuals will bondwith who they choose.
And so being able to really.
Hone in on those relationshipsand don't force something, don't
force that upperclassmen, don'tforce that team captain onto an
(29:23):
individual that is reallystruggling, but rather let them
find their way and provide theperfect fit rather than the
ideal fit, I guess is what Iwould wanna say, um, to that.
Yeah.
So how did, how did coach handlethat in terms of giving you guys
the license?
(29:44):
To be open-minded openminded to,to, to think about other people,
to think ab, to have thathumility and think about others.
Before you thought aboutyourself, what, what are some of
the things co your coachingstaff did to help you get there
to, to feel comfortable beingthose type of teammates?
We had a continuous amount ofmeetings about this.
We would just talk and talk andtalk about it and, sometimes the
(30:07):
meetings would get very.
Annoying in the sense, or justboring of like, we've heard this
a million times, but she wouldchange it up in the sense of,
we're gonna talk to this as ateam.
Don't think of us as coaches.
Say what you want.
Go freely, and there'll be no,like, of course there's no
punishment when we're talkingabout issues within the team and
trying to build our chemistryand whatnot.
(30:28):
But also, they would schedule ameeting and they would leave.
They would just let the team go.
Whether it was a just a.
Kind of a barking meeting whereeveryone's just going at one
another or whether it's moreconstructive of being like, I
think that this would be betterfor you.
Or if, I think if you wouldchange your attitude in this
manner, I think it would notonly help you but the team.
(30:51):
So being able to get yourselfout of your head.
I think with those meetings, Imean, that's what coaches at
Genea did great.
And being able to understandthat yes, the coaches are there.
They are in charge, of course.
Also, if you need them to fixsomething, they would always
schedule personal meetings withus and like a check-in of some
(31:12):
sort.
And one of their last questionswas, what do you need from us?
Like, of course they need stufffrom us.
They needs to play better, needbetter attitude, so on and so
forth.
But what could they do betterfor us?
Whether that was, I need you toapproach me in this way.
Or this manner, if I needcriticism or if I give you a
(31:32):
certain look or if I tell youlike, just not today, they're
able to understand.
Okay, thank you for telling meyour boundaries and establish,
those and being able to back offwhen things are tough.
It just speaks volumes to whatyou guys accomplished on the
scoreboard to where that allstarted.
It, really does.
(31:53):
For the last 10, 15 years.
I'd always tell my teams and,and the individuals, when we do
individual meetings, your job isto kind of figure out what kind
of relationship you have withme.
It's gonna be different thanTom, it's gonna be different
than Susie.
It's gonna be different thanDarrell.
What was your relationship withCoach?
The first two years compared tothe second two years.
(32:15):
And what role did you play ingetting it to the relationship
you wanted it to be?
Because you can see on the floorhow much confidence you have
that your coaching staff hasfaith in you.
So I, I'm interested in where,where you turn the corner there
to get to that point, to havethe relationship you wanted to
have.
Yeah, I think the first fewyears it was distant, you know,
(32:36):
especially that COVID year, theywere never really around because
they couldn't be.
Yeah.
Um, so it was just kind of likea, oh hey coach and, get out the
gym and really wasn't, wewouldn't really divulge in any.
Conversations until like halfwaythrough sophomore year or even
into junior year.
And it, I thought ofconversations with your coach as
(32:58):
just, sports, but they saw it aslike, how are your classes, how
are you feeling today?
I knew you were sick last week.
Like it was just about yourather than a player.
And rather like, oh, hey, you'rehitting percentage isn't up, or
We need a location on that set alittle bit better.
It just, it really grew fromthere.
So it was really me beingwilling to actually talk more to
(33:20):
my coaches rather than, uh, justsee them as individuals there to
help me get better ac orathletically, but they were
there just to make me better asa person.
So that's where my mindsetswitched.
And then all of a sudden,relationships grew, connections
were made, so on and so forth.
And that's really where itstarted.
And of course, I'm the same ageas coach's son, so we were able
(33:44):
to kind of go through like therecruiting of, what colleges.
Are you looking at?
Why are you looking at'em?
What are you looking for in acollege?
Um, so, you know, my parents andherself, they were able to kind
of connect on that level.
So it just, it did start fromthe beginning, but myself, it
didn't start till probably aboutsophomore and junior year.
(34:04):
How much of it was fear of yourcoach?
Uh, probably 80%.
I, I don't need you to talk somuch about Coach Pavlik'cause I
know she's a, she's fiery andshe, she gets after it.
Yes.
But I was like that too.
And I think it took my players acouple of years to understand
(34:26):
who I am on the court.
Is different who I am when wewalk just like you are.
Yeah.
You know?
When did you start to figurethat out?
That there was more to coach pthan, than, what you saw in
practice every day.
Well, I think some, sometimes Ijust like forgot that she also
was a college athlete.
Not only just in general, but atJuliana.
(34:46):
Like, she knew everything, thetraditions, the culture itself,
you know, values.
Yeah.
And so just being able torealize that she's not just.
Like some coach, like she was aplayer.
She was not only a center, youknow, same position as I am.
Yeah.
And it was just, it was justperfect being able to connect
with her on so many levels.
And I was able to get outta myhead about this fear.
(35:07):
Like she's not like, yes, she'sthe coach, we should be fearful
to a certain degree.
Right.
But also like.
I kind of saw of like a motherfigure in a sense, a second mom,
away from home and so on and soforth.
So just like she, like, she'sgreat.
She's a great coach, but she wasalso a great player.
Like it's just, I have so muchto learn from her, and I did,
(35:28):
and it was perfect.
That's great.
You know, and I, I was like thisas a kid.
I don't know if I ever got pastthe fact that my coaches were my
coaches and I don't know if Iever accepted, they're a human
being.
They're a parent, they're aformer athlete.
Mm-hmm.
They've been through everythingI'm going through.
Everything.
They're making me do that.
I hate somebody.
Made them do.
(35:49):
Exactly.
Yes.
So now they're just doing thecycle over again.
It's just, and they, theyrealize at a certain point that
they could handle it.
It was a good thing.
They're trying to get me there.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's great.
It's, it's just a couple ofhuman beings trying to get, you
know, with some similar goalsand we have to share those
(36:09):
things.
Right.
Um.
You tipped on recruiting alittle bit.
We're gonna get into recruitinghere in a little bit.
Yep.
So, I, I've got so manyquestions I wanna get into from
where you, where you just went,but I'm gonna hold onto'em.
Let's, let's talk about winningchampionships.
Let's talk about, let's talkabout going undefeated, right?
(36:32):
Mm-hmm.
You went undefeated this year,right?
Yes.
The two years.
Yep.
I mean, you haven't lost thegame since what you were six,
seven, so she feels Yeah.
It's so hard.
Okay.
I, get off the phone withcoaches all the time and I just
got off the phone with a Hall ofFame baseball coach, and they lo
they, I think they went like 58and one.
(36:53):
Mm-hmm.
And I gave him the date thatthey lost that one game.
And I go, tell me about thatdate.
And he goes, he goes like.
Was that our only loss?
And I go, yeah.
I go, how important was thatloss to winning the
championship?
And he said Everything.
We needed to realize that wewere infallible.
We needed to realize you guyshaven't had that in two years.
Nobody's beat you.
Right?
(37:14):
What does that feel like wheneverybody's bringing their A
game, their A plus game to you?
What does that feel like everyday?
It felt terrible.
Honestly, like it just, thepressure and just the noises
just became louder and moreheavy to carry on your
shoulders.
(37:35):
Um, so as the days went on, we,we kind of, as a team, we just
collectively were like, we hearthe voices, but you know what,
we're gonna tell'em to shut up.
Like, whether it was parents orother Julietta fans or just
people on campus, like just inyour ear always about these
streaks and keep it alive, don'tlose it.
And it was just like, I loveyou, but.
(37:58):
Please shut up.
I don't wanna hear about it.
I really don't like, right.
I'm only focused on, say thispractice, if it was a random
Wednesday, like, I'm focused onthis practice, I'm not even
thinking about the game comethis weekend.
So I think that as a team, wewere just like, oh.
We're gonna do this forourselves.
We're not doing it for thestreak, we're not doing it for
all those, voices and, uh,family members and just friends
(38:19):
that were just like, oh, I can'twait to see it live or hope you
don't lose.
It was just like, people aregonna either hope to see us win
or they're gonna hope to see uslose.
We just wanna hope to see usgrow.
Like as long as we get closer,we had certain goals that we
would set, whether it was we'regonna side out with this
percentage, or we're not gonnamiss this many serves, or we're
(38:40):
trying to ace them as much as wecan.
Just, we had certain standardsand boundaries that we were able
to establish in goals, but aslong as we kept it within the
team, that's where we really sawthe most growth.
So it was, it was really toughto play throughout that.
Like it was just, you wouldthink about it and sophomore
year was just way more fun, wewould say just because there we
(39:03):
were no buddies, we were theunderdogs, you know?
Yeah.
Everyone's rooting for theunderdog.
So we had all this support, butonce you're there at the top,
it's grueling, it's just like,please put on my earmuffs.
I don't want to hear anythingmore about these dumb streaks.
Um, we're not doing it for that,so why does it matter now?
Yeah.
And that's why you'll, wheneveryou see a national championship,
(39:26):
oftentimes you'll see the, anenergy after the win where it's
almost like they're kind ofraising the middle finger as
they're walking off the court.
Exactly.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Because we did this.
You all were against us.
You all made this so muchharder.
So I, for years, I would sendout communication guidelines to
(39:50):
my parents.
When I was a high school coachand a college coach, I would
just say, this is how you talkto me.
This is when you don't talk tome.
And I would, and I would put inthere your son or daughter.
I.
It's gonna be a part ofsomething that you may not
understand whether you are anathlete or not.
You don't understand whatthey're going through.
They have this separate family,so when they're not talking to
(40:12):
you about certain things or theykind of shut down when you want
to talk about certain things,you need to understand that
that's okay.
They need that because they'redealing with something with 18
other people that nobody elseunderstands what they're going
through.
And you have to be okay withthat.
You have to be able to say, allright, I know your boundary.
(40:34):
I gotta step away.
That's not my team, that is notmy family.
That, that you're a part of.
Right.
Right.
Right.
No ex It's mostly that mentalgame, for us, I mean, we could,
we proved to ourself, we provedto the entire country that
physically we can be anybody.
And we did.
You did.
Yes, we, we were like machines,but it was after the game, or it
(40:57):
was even during the sets, intimeouts.
It was just, you could reallysee that mental piece.
Like either fall apart or reallycome together.
As you can tell from like thegames, the scores, you know,
from this past nationalchampionship, that's the closest
anybody has been to beating us.
Yeah.
And it was just because thatmental side really, like
physically we we're there, we'relocked in, but mentally, like it
(41:20):
was just grueling, playing thesame teams over and over again.
And it was like, it's, it get,it's just really tough to beat a
team, three, four times in yourwhole career.
So all that was coming to theend right there at the last
national championship.
And we proved to ourselves andproved to all of those
individuals that were justhating on us and waiting for our
(41:40):
downfall.
Uh, just say, there you go.
There's the day middle finger,and we did it, and we're gonna
walk out with our third.
And you'll never see us again.
I watched the Teamy beat thechampionship more than anybody
else that you played all year.
I, I probably watched him playlive three times, on TV three
times.
And I watched him play and I waslike, I don't think anybody's
(42:02):
gonna come close to beating thisteam.
And, and the fact that, what'dthey take a set from you?
Yep.
And it was the first set anybodyhad taken from you in a while,
right?
Yes.
Yeah.
That streak too.
And that was snapped and thatwas broken.
Oh my goodness.
That, that's what's amazing tome because it's when you're on
that type of streak, when you'reon a set winning streak the way
you were mm-hmm.
(42:22):
You hadn't, you guys hadn'tgiven up, nobody had gotten to
25 on you.
Right.
Long, long time.
Mm-hmm.
So the fact that you lost a setin that championship game and,
and had the resilience to comeback and do what you did the
next two sets, that's what wasimpressive for me.
Yeah.
What was that conversation likein the huddle after losing,
(42:43):
because it was set two.
Uh, the last game?
Yeah, we lost set three andfour.
Okay.
So what was that like in thehuddle?
What were those conversationslike?
I'm intrigued.
Yeah.
Well, okay, so after set two, wego and we have a little break.
Yeah.
The two teams do, we have likethe five minute break in between
and we were like, we're justgonna, we're just gonna fricking
(43:04):
finish'em.
We're done.
Like we we're done messingaround, we're just gonna do it.
And all of a sudden, they comeback stronger than ever, kudos
to them.
It was fantastic.
But after that, like theconversations and the huddles
and the timeouts, it was justlike, guys, we know we can do
this.
Why are we letting them take itfrom us?
Like we obviously worked so hardfor everything that we were,
(43:28):
rewarded for up until thatpoint.
And we were like, we've neverlet anybody take anything from
us.
We've never been able to justlie down and have things given
to us, so why are we doing itnow?
And it was just almost like thisanger.
But not like directed anger.
It was anger.
Like, we wanna win and we're sofocused and we fueled on our
anger.
(43:49):
And that's how we eventuallypushed through.
You know, in the timeouts wewere like, we would always come
together and most times, youknow, you come in a huddle and
you put your hand flat.
Everybody was putting a fist in.
I think we just wanted to punchsomething.
I think we were just, we wereready to go swing it for, you
know, the walls.
And that's that.
We came out ahead.
I think it really went back, youknow, all the way back into 2022
(44:13):
when we won the first nationalchampionship and we beat them
out of anger because they werethe last team to beat us.
And we were like, we're nevergonna do that again.
They will never beat us.
And we kind of forgot aboutthat.
You know, people can beat us.
People are, they're a great,great teams, great individuals
around the country, and theyhave the great capabilities of
doing it, but.
(44:35):
When we get angry, there's justa switch that goes on and we hit
a different level of volleyballon that.
I don't know, I didn't knowexist truthfully.
Um, but yeah, it was really justfuel by anger.
And for the most part, I love itand I, I could talk to you all
day about this, but we're gonna,we're gonna stop here and we're
gonna get into your, yourrecruiting segment here, but,
oh, yeah, but I, I want to talkabout this'cause this is such a
(44:56):
big deal.
This is what the average highschool athlete doesn't
understand.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
I just watched this great movie,um, about the woman that swam
the English.
Yeah.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yes.
She played Ray in the Star Warsmovie.
Yeah.
I can't remember her, her name,but she's just awesome.
(45:19):
I just love her as an actressand this movie was great and
it's that mentality that, thatyou have as an athlete.
You have to overcome.
I've, I've, I've swam, I justswam 20 miles.
I just won 39 games in a row,and I'm exhausted.
I got, I got nothing left, butI'm gonna find a little bit
(45:41):
more.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not gonna quit here.
Right, right.
Can we teach that?
No.
I don't think you can.
I think individually it cannotbe taught collectively.
I think it can be learned.
I think once you have certainmindsets and certain attitudes,
(46:04):
you know, mesh together, I thinkthat's where it came from.
I think that's where it sproutedfrom.
But individually, I don't thinkit can be taught.
'cause we're not talking aboutgolf here.
We're not talking aboutswimming.
We're not talking about track.
This is a team sport you'replaying.
Mm-hmm.
So collectively is the key wordthere that you used.
Yes.
You know.
You know you've got it.
(46:24):
But if you didn't have 6, 7, 8other girls that had it on that
team, do you get there?
No, because, you know, you comeout with that anger almost, and
if it was just one or two peoplewith that same anger, it would
just be like, oh, I cannot playwith Olivia.
I, I can't do it.
She's mean, or she comes offtoo, too much.
(46:45):
She's too much for me.
She's, you know, raising mystress levels.
But when you have, you know,four or five people and you're
able to reign in that angerrather than directing it towards
one individual, but you'retrying to bring it together
collectively as a team.
Direct it towards the other teamthat you're playing.
Yeah.
And you're like, we're gonna doit, you know, against them.
It's kind of like siblingsteaming up and you're like,
(47:07):
we're gonna do it against momand dad.
You know?
So that's kind of where it stemsfrom.
But I think if you have theright chemistry and collectivist
and nothing's ever gonna stopyou.
Ownership, right.
It can't be one person taking onthat ownership.
Mm-hmm.
It's gotta be, it starts with asmall group and then it grows.
And then those ones that haven'tbeen a part of it yet are like.
(47:28):
I'm tired of being last in everysprint.
I'm tired of, I'm tired of notgetting on the floor.
You have to get to that pointwhere you say, I'm sick of this.
I'm going to be up there.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna start beingthe pusher instead of the
tanker.
Exactly.
Yes.
Yeah.
I love it.
Olivia Foley, you are fantastic.
I'm so impressed with you.
Uh, I can't wait.
We're gonna talk recruitinghere, so anybody that wants to
(47:49):
come back on Monday, and we'regonna talk about Olivia's
recruiting journey, but thankyou for doing this.
Thank you.
That's a wrap on another greatepisode of significant Coaching.
Huge thanks to Olivia Foley fora transparent, thoughtful look
at her championship journey.
From three straight nationalchampionships at Jutta to being
(48:10):
named NCAA Division three,national Player of the Year, and
most importantly, the personshe's become through it all.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, there's more
waiting foryou@coachmattrogers.com.
Past episodes, articles, andresources for athletes, families
and coaches, and keep your eyesopen in the next few weeks for
(48:31):
my new book, the VolleyballRecruits Journal, arriving on
Amazon to help volleyballplayers take control of the
recruiting journey week by week.
And don't miss part two withOlivia coming Monday, August
18th on significant recruiting,where we dive into her
recruiting process, what shelearned, and her best advice for
young recruits, parents andcollege coaches.
(48:54):
Until next time, keep leadingwith significance and we'll see
you back here soon.
As you can tell from the scores,from this past national
(00:02):
championship, that's the closestanybody has been to beating us.
And it was just because thatmental side really, like
physically we we're locked in,but mentally, it was just
grueling, Welcome back to TheSignificant Coaching Podcast.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
What you just heard was OliviaFoley describing the mental
toughness it took for her andher teammates to win.
Not one, not two, but threestraight NCAA division, three
national championships, and shedid it as the starting setter
and leader for Jutta Collegewomen's volleyball.
(00:43):
After her senior season, she wasnamed the NCAA Division III
National Player of the Year, andwas celebrated on national
television alongside stars likeYukon's, Paige, Becker's.
That's Rare Air, but what makesOlivia so special isn't just the
banners hanging in the gym orthe hardware in the trophy case,
it's who she's become in theprocess.
(01:06):
She's mature.
Honest and passionate.
But as you'll hear today, hertransformation didn't happen by
accident.
It's the product of anenvironment shaped by her
coaches, her teammates, thementors who have invested in
her, and the unwaveringinfluence of her mom, who has
been a constant source ofguidance and belief from the
very beginning, the lessonsOlivia has learned go far beyond
(01:28):
the court.
They've shaped her as a leader,a competitor, and as a person.
I came into this conversationwith high expectations, and
Olivia exceeded every single oneof them.
She is truly a special athlete,but more importantly, she is a
special human being.
If you'd like to learn moreabout my work with athletes,
families and coaches, visitcoach matt rogers.com and be on
(01:52):
the lookout in just a few weeks.
My new book, the VolleyballRecruits Journal, will be
available on Amazon to helpvolleyball players take control
of their recruiting journey.
Alright, let's get into it.
Here's my conversation with theincomparable Olivia Foley.
All right.
Olivia Foley, it is number one.
It's a great honor to have youon the show.
(02:13):
Uh, I've been following yourcareer and so impressed with
everything you've done.
How does it feel to be.
Just a, a student, an adult, aprofessional.
How does it feel, I know you'restill working on your master's,
but how does it feel that your,athletic career is over?
It really does not feel real.
I have a younger sibling that'sgoing into, uh, be a student
(02:36):
athlete in college and just withher workouts and whatnot, it was
just crazy to be like, wow, Iused to be in that position.
I was ready to go, go, go and beon the run, do workouts, get up
early, eat you know what youneed to eat, right?
And so be able to slow down andbe like, I am able.
To take, a break on my run, I'mable to walk instead of running
(02:57):
the whole time.
So,, it's been crazy, but it's,I'm still not out of that world
completely.
Does it, feel nice that yourbody doesn't hurt all the time?
Yes, it is very nice.
I don't have to go to rehab.
I don't need to ice.
I mean, I'll pop a few ibuprofenif you know, headache or, you
know, knees hurt.
But like I, I know that I'm notpushing my body to its fullest
(03:19):
extent.
So, yeah, I.
I'm, I'm in my fifties, so I wasa college athlete 30 years ago,
and I went to the doctor thismorning and they did, they
needle my shoulder and didelectric stim on me, and they
go, have you ever had this done?
I go, yeah, I was a collegebasketball player.
I, I wouldn't have survived aday, a week without electric
stim and stuff like that.
(03:40):
So I, I get it.
It's hard.
Mm-hmm.
When you look back on your fouryears.
How would you describe yourphysical and your mental growth
from your freshman year throughyour senior year?
Oh, exponentially.
I don't think I even knewexactly what I was.
Was gonna throw myself intogoing into college athletics,
(04:01):
especially during the pandemic,that was a whole nother layer of
problems, right?
But just the physical health, Ithink I really relied on that
going throughout high school andthen be able to get into
college.
But the mental health is where Ireally saw the huge growth.
Um, obviously I knew I could putup with all the practices, I
could put up with all of thelifts and conditioning, so one
(04:22):
on my body was able to withstandthat.
But the mental side of it.
Being able to choose yournutrition when nobody's there
doing it for you, or to get upand go to rehab when nobody's
gonna really push you to do it,but you have to make that
choice, uh, your own.
So that's where I saw the hugegrowth and being able to.
Build on that and be able tobecome mentally strong rather
(04:45):
than just relying on my physicalhealth was huge.
It was difficult.
It was the hardest thing I hadto do, but now it's so rewarding
being able to go into the realworld and be an actual adult.
Uh, and you just have all theseskills you never knew you were
capable of having until now,working with a team and whatnot.
Just, it's incredible.
I'm a whole different personcompared to who I was at 16, 17
(05:07):
years old.
It's amazing what thatexperience can do for the rest
of your life.
I don't think anybodyunderstands it if you haven't
gone through it.
Right?
Right.
Yes.
Yeah.
So let's, let's get intospecifics.
'cause I have a 16-year-olddaughter who's a volleyball
player and a golfer.
Um, I don't know if she's gonnaplay in college, but,, she's
(05:30):
learning how to have a workethic.
If you could go back in time andyou've got a, a younger sibling,
you just talked about this,going through this, what are
some of those things you wouldteach yourself to say, I gotta
get this started, I gotta dothis better now?
So I can make bigger leaps whenI get there.
Yeah, of course.
(05:51):
Uh, definitely to become amorning person, it's not, it's,
it's a challenge.
It definitely is.
But become that morning person,be able to get what you need to
get done during that time andthat alone time, and just that
sense of accountability, beingable to wake up on time, eat a
good breakfast rather thanskipping it, and then jumping
into your workout and be able toeat.
(06:13):
Do and feel your body exactlywhat it needs to be fueled with,
and then jumping right into yourworkout or lift or conditioning
or whatnot, um, but be able todo something.
Most days of the week, but alsogive yourself those rest days.
I wasn't able to really fullygrasp that of the rest days.
I was really in the mode of justdo everything every single day,
(06:36):
go on a run, go on a workout, soon, and being able to be like,
no, I think I've pushed myselfenough.
I think I deserved to, sleep inextra hour the next day, or
just.
Maybe have that dessert, you'vebeen withholding yourself for,
um, just a few days of focusingon your nutrition and health,
but be able to balance that.
I mean, you're still a kid atthe end of the day,, going into,
(06:59):
at your daughter's age and mysister's age.
Like, it's just, it's differentand you're, no, you don't need
to be an adult right away.
You have that balance, but alsobe able to, um, be able to
manage yourself.
Well, we talked about before weclick record, you're finishing
up your master's in publichealth.
Yeah.
And this is what you're gonna dofor a living.
You're, you're good.
You're gonna be training kidsand adults and teaching them how
(07:22):
to live a healthy lifestyle.
And there's, there's no betterrole model for that than you.
When you, when you look at thethings you learned once you got
to Juta, how long did it takeyou, were you like.
I've got the commitment, nowI've got my routines down.
I believe in this.
(07:42):
I am a morning person now.
What was that process like?
And when do you feel like youreally got there where you're
like, all right, I know what Ihave to do.
I'm gonna stick to this and I'mgonna keep, keep doing it the
right way.
Oh, it definitely took me a goodyear, year and a half.
Yeah.
Uh, the first year, of coursewas COVID, so the coaches really
weren't in play as much.
(08:03):
They weren't at the practices,they weren't at the lifts.
It was really thoseupperclassmen, the team captains
that were really holding usaccountable, and it made
yourself wanna be as accountableas they are.
So it took me that good firstyear to be able to realize that.
Nobody's gonna be here to holdmy hand.
I'm not gonna have, you know,say my parents there, or my
siblings or my high schoolcoaches being like, did you do
(08:27):
this?
Did you do that?
And instead, I had asked myselfthose questions.
So definitely a good year atleast.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I talked to college coachesabout this all the time.
When we recruit a kid.
We, we, my mindset was always,if I can get them by midway
through their sophomore year toreally understand our processes
(08:50):
and procedures and how we liftand how we eat and how we study
and how we learn the playbookand, and where it's not.
I.
It's not mechanical, it's, it'sa part of them.
We've done something.
Right.
So you really hit on that.
You know that that midway markof the sophomore year is really
when those things start to getcomfortable.
(09:10):
Do you think.
You had the ability at 16 or 17to grasp some of that earlier,
or do you feel like you had togo through the process you did
to get to that point?
For me, individually, I think Ihad to go through it.
I think I had to learn withexperience.
And I think there are definitely16, 17 year olds that are way
(09:30):
more capable than I ever was atthat age.
Um, which is awesome.
I mean, they have the righttools, right.
Mechanics there.
Yeah.
But for me, individually, Ineeded to go through that and.
Thank goodness I did as early asI did, rather than in the
junior, senior year.
And it's amazing what you didwith your career, considering it
started in the heart of COVID,where you didn't have the
(09:51):
coaching, you didn't have, theday in and day out access.
And as a D three athlete, it'snot like it was a 12 month
thing.
It, you literally started withyour team on August 12th and you
were basically done November1st, and then you were on your
own for the rest of the time,you know?
Mm-hmm.
So that's, that's reallyimpressive.
I'm gonna, make you put yourpublic health hat on for a
(10:11):
little bit.
Okay.
Let's, talk nutrition.
What, do you think a good dietis?
For a student athlete?
What should they be eating inthe mornings?
We burn so much.
Calories as an athlete, 10 timesmore than the average person.
So what does that look like?
Are you a five meal person?
Are you a double snacker?
Are you big lunch and dinner?
(10:32):
What?
What's a good diet for, for a,for a great athlete?
Yeah, well I am a snacker, soI'm all about the snacks.
Say a fruit snack, a banana, anapple with peanut butter, which
is my go-to.
Absolutely.
But, uh, yeah.
But yeah, definitely have a goodbreakfast.
I really resort to like eggs,maybe some potatoes.
I'm a stucker for bacon, so Ihave to have that somewhere on
(10:55):
the plate.
Um, but I also love having justa nice.
Bowl fruit or a yogurt bowl.
Um, lunch, I could go kind of,uh, smaller in size.
I'm kind of a big dinner and bigbreakfast person with snacks
along the way.
Um, but also everything comes inmoderation.
I mean, you can follow a dietstrictly and that could be the
(11:15):
worst thing for you.
You need to be able to ventureout and be able to have that
dessert or have that extrasnack.
Or, you know what?
If you don't wanna have that bigbowl fruit and you.
Just wanna have, say morepotatoes, more eggs, or anything
like that, do it.
If you wanna have that one sodaa day or more, do it.
I mean, it's not gonna hurt you.
And eventually your body willlearn to understand how you need
(11:39):
to feel yourself in order to bethe best version of yourself,
whether it's an athlete or as anindividual.
But, and I'd say the biggesttakeaway would be just
everything in moderation.
I was a head college coach forso long.
You're recruiting so much that Ifound myself in gyms at night so
often that for many, many yearsit was a hot dog and a bag of
(12:00):
popcorn.
That was my dinner, you know,and right, and I, I got, I
started putting weight on, andabout three years ago I lost 30
pounds because I.
I got all that garbage outta mydiet and I really bought into
the fruit too.
I've always been a fruit eater,but now, man, I, I eat green
grapes and bananas and apples,like they're going on a stop.
(12:23):
'cause I'm an addictive eater.
I'm a, I can sit down and eat a,a pint of ice cream and a bag of
chips.
Mm-hmm.
Of fries and like nobody else.
So for me, when I'm craving, Igo to grapes and I go to apples
and, and I'm a big smoothieeater too, so I love a kale
smoothie with some fruit in it.
And so I love hearing all that.
(12:43):
Let's talk about the mentalside, because I know that's
really important to you.
Yeah.
Okay.
What did you learn as a 17,18-year-old about your value
system and your self-worth?
And, and talk a little bit abouthow your coaches helped you with
that.
Yeah, so at that age of comingright out of high school, 17, 18
(13:06):
years old, um, I saw my selfworth really in the form of an
athlete.
I didn't really, um, separatethe two in a sense.
I just saw as Olivia as anathlete, and that's how she's
going to, Go to school.
That's what, really drove hertowards the school and that's
how she has been throughout herlife.
I was a four sport athleteduring high school, so it was
(13:28):
just a big part of my identity.
Um, but going through that andthe coaches at Junior, they were
able to separate that within.
My mind of like, it's not thesame thing and we see you more
than just an athlete.
Um, and just as an individual asa whole.
So being able to realize thatand understand, you know, there
is more to myself than just thatone aspect, um, was huge for me.
(13:54):
So I think it's.
Great that there are 17, 16 yearolds that are able to, uh,
decipher that and able todistinguish that.
Uh, I'm an individual.
I play sports, whether it'svolleyball or golf or any other
sports out there.
Um, but I am way more than justmy sports and I, I'm a
well-rounded individual ratherthan just one aspect driven.
(14:17):
Yeah, you are.
And, and it shows.
Mm-hmm.
It, I, you know, I haven't dugdeep into your social media, but
I don't feel like you're a bigsocial media person.
Is that true?
That is very true.
Yeah.
Okay.
I love that.
Okay.
We let my daughter start acouple of things a couple years
ago, and I have a little bit ofregret that we did.
I, I wish we wouldn't have lether start some of these things.
(14:40):
Not that it's been a hindranceand her grades are great and
she's still a good kid, but Iworry about self-esteem that I
see on social media, especiallywith young girls.
I, I, that's, it's been soprevalent now that you have to
show skin and you have to act acertain way and you have to do
all that.
What do you see?
(15:01):
Is there some advice you give toyoung girls that you think they
need to understand about allthose things that they're
putting out into the world?
Oh yeah.
It, our first thing is we lookand we compare,, we don't look
and say, oh wow, you know,that's great that she's doing
this and that, but it's rather,why am I not doing.
What can I do to do that insteadof being like, I'm my own
(15:21):
individual and I'm not gonnalive her life.
She's not gonna live mine.
And that kind of leads into,athletics where there's a lot
of, uh, high school kids thatare really posting on their
Instagram or TikTok or any othersocial media platform.
Snapchat.
Oh, yes.
Everything.
I don't even have Snapchat, butI just, I feel like it's.
(15:43):
It's like the stock market on mydaughter's phone.
It's just a rolling scrollthat's always there.
You know what I mean?
Yes.
And really ultimately, at theend of the day, it is pointless,
but it just, it draws in thatcrowd, I mean, I have all the
social media platforms and itdrew me in and it's, you know,
kept me this long.
But just seeing what otherpeople post and how young girls
are comparing themselves andwhatnot, I mean, it's.
(16:05):
It's heartbreaking.
But then there's also aspect ofwhere there are 16, 17 year olds
that have that self-worth andthey're able to identify their
selves as more than just theirsports.
And they're able to see theseindividuals post and these same
girls as their age and they'reable to support.
So I think there's both cons andpros to social media, but when
(16:28):
the cons are there and thecomparing sets in it's, it could
be down a rabbit hole.
I've, listened to a number ofyour interviews and you kind of
watch from a distance and, andI'm so impressed with the fact
that you just, you don't seem tohave insecurities, so at least
they're not on the, on theforefront for you.
We all have insecurities.
We're all, we all want to makesure our hair looks nice and we,
(16:50):
we dress nice when we go out,especially when we're on camera.
You know, we wanna look good.
Where did that start for you?
And, and am I misreading it?
No, uh, I think I have, ofcourse, like I try and present
myself in a way where I don'thave as many insecurities as say
I am, you know, have inside.
Um, but I think it definitelystarted with my mom.
(17:12):
I mean her and then my oldersister as well.
Like, they were just like, I amwho I am, and either you like it
or you don't, and that's that,I'm not gonna change myself or.
Who you need me to be, you know?
So I think that's really whereit stemmed from and just family
members being able to beconfident within themselves and
yeah, that's that.
(17:34):
And I'm sure you have a lot offriends and you know a lot of
people that maybe didn't havethat growing up.
And this is me bagging as aparent for any type of
direction.
So, you know, what would youtell parents about how to
approach.
These years, especially with ateenage daughter, it's like I'm
trying to learn Latin and Greekat the same time.
(17:56):
Yeah.
So what advice do you give toparents about raising a female
student athlete and all thepressure that's on you and all
the pressure they're seeing onTV and on magazines, and
especially social media?
What advice do you give us?
Yeah, I would definitely say tryand get that phone out of their
(18:16):
hands.
I know it's, it's way harderthan it is, you know?
Yeah.
And of course, I mean, it's hardfor me to even put my phone
down, you know?
Me too.
And I'm able to realize thatit's, it's too much of our
lives.
Um, but just try, just try andget them out.
I think keeping them, say inlike a club environment with
athletics.
Being able with them to havelike friends in different
(18:37):
schools, different towns,different states, just so
they're able to venture out andmeet people through,, the old
fashioned way, rather thantexting them or DMing them on
Instagram, something like that.
Just get'em out of the house.
Be able to build thoseconnections with the team and.
The players and whatnot, um, butalso be able to go out and be
(19:00):
like, you know what?
We're gonna go and we're gonnago kayaking, or we're gonna go
play volleyball outside, ratherthan stay indoors in the gym.
Because, it's grueling,especially with volleyball, just
staying in the gym, playing,you're not.
Able to be exposed to sunlightor to any other individuals that
aren't in the gym.
So just get'em out of theirnormal environment, get'em out
(19:21):
of their comfort zone as much asyou can.
But also know that line of,especially with teenage girls,
they're gonna let you know whenenough's enough and so listen to
them.
Um, would also be the other partof that.
Yeah.
That's, that's the hard part forus parents is shut up.
Just shut up for a little bit,you know?
Right.
Listen more.
(19:41):
And, that's, that's the onething I've tried to get better
at, is just being quiet, givingher the space to find her voice
with me and, and, um, let herlead the conversation or, so
it's, it's hard.
It's really hard as a parent.
Yeah.
It's a tough balance.
It's, it is.
All right.
So.
(20:01):
Your, your future is gonna begreat.
I, I'm so excited that we'regetting somebody like you,
Olivia, that's going into theworld of public health and wants
to be a teacher, want, notnecessarily a teacher, but
you're gonna be a role model forthe rest of your life.
You're gonna be someone that'sgonna guide others.
So I'm excited about that.
What does that look like and howdid Giata help you become that
(20:26):
person you want to be?
Yeah.
Uh, the Juliana coaches, theywere able to recruit such a wide
variety of individuals, and notonly did they come with their
own, strengths, weaknesses, butthey also came with their own
like leadership style of like,are they a leader?
Are they not?
If they are a leader, what'stheir leadership style?
And if they.
(20:47):
Able to let someone else takethe reins, then what do they
need for like constructivecriticism or where's the balance
of, do you need to beconstructive or do you need to
be a little bit harsher in asense of just straight to the
point, more strict?
That was a big tool that wasable to gain from all of those
(21:07):
individuals that we had on theteam and be able to understand
like.
A look at someone's face ortheir demeanor, where is that
balance to just be like, okay,I'm gonna shut up right now.
Instead of just badgering them,nonstop.
Uh, just being able tounderstand that balance and
everybody's so different.
So being able to take thosecurve balls from everybody, you
don't know what you're gonna getevery day and you're not gonna
(21:29):
be your best self every day, andthat's just, that's just, you
know, reality.
So being able to understandthat, uh, I think is really
gonna help me with prevail myfuture.
I, I love that you went therebecause for me it was, it was
always so important for me tobuild a melting pot in my
program.
I wanted the team to lookdifferent.
(21:50):
I wanted them to be fromdifferent cultures.
I wanted small town kids.
I wanted city kids.
If we could get kids from othercountries, if we could get kids
from different economicbackgrounds, I just knew if we
get that group to work together,what we were gonna do was gonna
be amazing.
And, and I know coach does thatat Giata too.
(22:10):
When I watch you play, there's adifferent animal that shows up
on film than what I'm seeing.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
I see you bark.
I see you get real serious.
I see you not afraid to get intoyour, in your teammate's faces a
little bit and, and teach andcoach and bark and, and be that
leader.
Where did that come from?
(22:33):
I seriously have no idea.
I think just something, insideme was just like, there's a
switch and when you get on thecourt, like even in, I mean you
saw it mostly in games, but inpractice too.
Like it just, it went on andwhen.
The practice was over or thegame was over, it would turn
completely off.
Um, I think that was kind of thecore of my recruiting class, so
(22:57):
not particularly me, it was justhow the pieces fit together.
It was just like the perfectpuzzle.
I mean, there was three of us inthe graduate class at Juliana
and so being able to just liketrust each other that we were
like, when we are on the court,we.
Or someone else.
And if you say something, don'ttake that message personally,
(23:18):
because we just wanna win andwe'll do everything in our power
to do that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love it.
And you, you don't accomplishwhat you did as a group without
that mentality.
All right.
So let's go back, let's, let'stalk to these young women out
there that are listening to thisYes.
Who are afraid to say to ateammate, Hey, you're not
(23:39):
working hard enough.
We need more outta you.
We need you more explosive.
We need you to find that fire.
We need you to, we need you toget down and be more consistent.
I see that outta your team.
I see you pushing each other andthere's so many young girls in
club level that are afraid to dothat.
Afraid to push a teammate,afraid to ask more of that.
(24:03):
How do we get'em there?
How do we get'em to accept that?
That's how you get to be greatwhen you can.
You can be honest.
Right.
I think we established it rightoff the gi.
I mean, uh, the coaches atJuliana, they let us be a team
led team, essentially.
I mean, the coaches were there,of course.
I mean, they're the coaches, butlike we, we were the ones that
brought people in.
(24:23):
If we didn't think that therewas a.
A drill going, right?
If it was up to our standard,there were individuals on our
team that were like, we're gonnabring it in, hold the balls,
bring it in, guys.
This is not up to our standardand we are gonna hold every
single person accountable.
And then we would disperse andwe would just do it.
I think it was just a decisionthat everyone had to make within
(24:44):
themselves.
Um, our gym, we didn't playnormal volleyball.
We were playing things off thewall, playing things off of ball
carts, basketball hoops, and wewere like.
The play is not over until theball hits the ground.
Love it.
Essentially it can hiteverything but the ground.
Yeah.
We're playing it off.
Faces, shoulders, I mean, justcraziness.
(25:05):
So being able to push ourselvespast, like the actual rules of
volleyball.
It came.
Almost easier to play within theboundaries of the game of
volleyball.
We were like, if you're notgonna get the ball this time,
you're gonna make the divingplay.
You're gonna have the besteffort you can, but next play,
you're gonna get one inchcloser.
(25:25):
If you're not gonna get it,you're gonna get closer.
Yeah.
Essentially.
And being able to give thatCriticism of like specifically,
I remember one example wherethere was a, a girl she ran
after a ball, she, she ran aftershe gave an effort and we came
into a huddle and I said, Iappreciate your effort.
I really do, but I think thatyou can get that ball.
You know what I mean?
(25:45):
It was just like giving beliefand support into the girls
around you was just, it washuge, especially for like a huge
team of young women, you know?
What about that teammate that'snot ready to accept it yet?
The criticism, the, thecoaching, the barking.
What if mm-hmm.
That's, that's the kid that weneed to get, that's the kid that
we need to turn over to the, theright side.
(26:07):
How do we get right?
How do we have the confidence tokeep pushing her to say, we need
more out of you.
And she's fighting you.
She's fighting that.
We would, there would always bethose individuals on your team.
Of course that would say wouldbe more.
Challenging in a sense ofthey're gonna gain your face.
They're the ones that get inyour face.
So we would have thoseindividuals choose those young
(26:29):
freshmen or underclassmen, likethe ones that you're describing,
and we would be like, that'syour big sister.
You're gonna take her and you'regonna try and get her into this.
You're gonna try and morph heralmost into understanding that
the criticism is beneficial.
Yeah.
Uh, we would give her that timeto be able to adjust because
nobody.
(26:49):
Not everybody's going to getthat experience in high school.
Someone might get a coach that'sjust gonna hold their hand
across the whole time and, giveonly positive reinforcements
rather than giving the, also theconstructive criticism that they
need.
So being able to understand thatthey might need time to adjust
to that.
Once that time, that honeymoonphase almost is over.
(27:11):
It's back to business becauseessentially at the end of the
day, I mean, college athleticswe're there to not only like
meet new people and buildchemistry, but the coaches, they
wanna win.
The school wants to see sportssucceed, of course.
So being able to understand thatbalance of that girl might not
be ready.
But we'll give her time to be.
And then if she's still notready, we will try and give her
(27:33):
the support and the criticismthat she needs.
But sometimes it might bebeneficial to split your ways of
between the program and betweenthe team.
Uh, sometimes it's just not theright fit.
And of course, this transferportal has opened up Windows for
individuals.
There's people that have come toJuta, people that have left Juta
and have found perfect fits forthem.
So understanding that it mightnot be a good fit at the end of
(27:55):
the day, and that's okay too.
Understand that there's so manysolutions that can come out of
it rather than just continuouslybarking at that one individual.
I love it.
I love it.
It's a great mindset.
We have to treat everybody theway they need to be treated to
help them figure out their ownpath.
Let, let's, let's go back to themental health side of that.
Kind of the flip side of,, not,not the kid that's got the ego
(28:17):
that we need to kind of get himto understand this is a team
first, but let's talk about thatkid that's dealing with things
that maybe we don't understand.
There's abuse, there's, there'sa sadness, there's a depression,
there's stuff going at home,stuff going on in relationships,
stuff going on with substances.
Uh, maybe it's L-G-B-T-Q-Q stuffthat they're dealing with and
(28:40):
not sure how to express that orthe fear of that.
How do you be a leader for the,those kids?
Yeah.
I think there's certain peopleon a team that are able to.
They're more equipped almost todeal with that and how there
will be certain people, whetherit's an upperclassmen or a team
(29:01):
captain, or if it's not, if it'ssomeone in the same grade as an
individual that's dealing withsome sort of trauma like that,
that those individuals will bondwith who they choose.
And so being able to really.
Hone in on those relationshipsand don't force something, don't
force that upperclassmen, don'tforce that team captain onto an
(29:23):
individual that is reallystruggling, but rather let them
find their way and provide theperfect fit rather than the
ideal fit, I guess is what Iwould wanna say, um, to that.
Yeah.
So how did, how did coach handlethat in terms of giving you guys
the license?
(29:44):
To be open-minded openminded to,to, to think about other people,
to think ab, to have thathumility and think about others.
Before you thought aboutyourself, what, what are some of
the things co your coachingstaff did to help you get there
to, to feel comfortable beingthose type of teammates?
We had a continuous amount ofmeetings about this.
We would just talk and talk andtalk about it and, sometimes the
(30:07):
meetings would get very.
Annoying in the sense, or justboring of like, we've heard this
a million times, but she wouldchange it up in the sense of,
we're gonna talk to this as ateam.
Don't think of us as coaches.
Say what you want.
Go freely, and there'll be no,like, of course there's no
punishment when we're talkingabout issues within the team and
trying to build our chemistryand whatnot.
(30:28):
But also, they would schedule ameeting and they would leave.
They would just let the team go.
Whether it was a just a.
Kind of a barking meeting whereeveryone's just going at one
another or whether it's moreconstructive of being like, I
think that this would be betterfor you.
Or if, I think if you wouldchange your attitude in this
manner, I think it would notonly help you but the team.
(30:51):
So being able to get yourselfout of your head.
I think with those meetings, Imean, that's what coaches at
Genea did great.
And being able to understandthat yes, the coaches are there.
They are in charge, of course.
Also, if you need them to fixsomething, they would always
schedule personal meetings withus and like a check-in of some
(31:12):
sort.
And one of their last questionswas, what do you need from us?
Like, of course they need stufffrom us.
They needs to play better, needbetter attitude, so on and so
forth.
But what could they do betterfor us?
Whether that was, I need you toapproach me in this way.
Or this manner, if I needcriticism or if I give you a
(31:32):
certain look or if I tell youlike, just not today, they're
able to understand.
Okay, thank you for telling meyour boundaries and establish,
those and being able to back offwhen things are tough.
It just speaks volumes to whatyou guys accomplished on the
scoreboard to where that allstarted.
It, really does.
(31:53):
For the last 10, 15 years.
I'd always tell my teams and,and the individuals, when we do
individual meetings, your job isto kind of figure out what kind
of relationship you have withme.
It's gonna be different thanTom, it's gonna be different
than Susie.
It's gonna be different thanDarrell.
What was your relationship withCoach?
The first two years compared tothe second two years.
(32:15):
And what role did you play ingetting it to the relationship
you wanted it to be?
Because you can see on the floorhow much confidence you have
that your coaching staff hasfaith in you.
So I, I'm interested in where,where you turn the corner there
to get to that point, to havethe relationship you wanted to
have.
Yeah, I think the first fewyears it was distant, you know,
(32:36):
especially that COVID year, theywere never really around because
they couldn't be.
Yeah.
Um, so it was just kind of likea, oh hey coach and, get out the
gym and really wasn't, wewouldn't really divulge in any.
Conversations until like halfwaythrough sophomore year or even
into junior year.
And it, I thought ofconversations with your coach as
(32:58):
just, sports, but they saw it aslike, how are your classes, how
are you feeling today?
I knew you were sick last week.
Like it was just about yourather than a player.
And rather like, oh, hey, you'rehitting percentage isn't up, or
We need a location on that set alittle bit better.
It just, it really grew fromthere.
So it was really me beingwilling to actually talk more to
(33:20):
my coaches rather than, uh, justsee them as individuals there to
help me get better ac orathletically, but they were
there just to make me better asa person.
So that's where my mindsetswitched.
And then all of a sudden,relationships grew, connections
were made, so on and so forth.
And that's really where itstarted.
And of course, I'm the same ageas coach's son, so we were able
(33:44):
to kind of go through like therecruiting of, what colleges.
Are you looking at?
Why are you looking at'em?
What are you looking for in acollege?
Um, so, you know, my parents andherself, they were able to kind
of connect on that level.
So it just, it did start fromthe beginning, but myself, it
didn't start till probably aboutsophomore and junior year.
(34:04):
How much of it was fear of yourcoach?
Uh, probably 80%.
I, I don't need you to talk somuch about Coach Pavlik'cause I
know she's a, she's fiery andshe, she gets after it.
Yes.
But I was like that too.
And I think it took my players acouple of years to understand
(34:26):
who I am on the court.
Is different who I am when wewalk just like you are.
Yeah.
You know?
When did you start to figurethat out?
That there was more to coach pthan, than, what you saw in
practice every day.
Well, I think some, sometimes Ijust like forgot that she also
was a college athlete.
Not only just in general, but atJuliana.
(34:46):
Like, she knew everything, thetraditions, the culture itself,
you know, values.
Yeah.
And so just being able torealize that she's not just.
Like some coach, like she was aplayer.
She was not only a center, youknow, same position as I am.
Yeah.
And it was just, it was justperfect being able to connect
with her on so many levels.
And I was able to get outta myhead about this fear.
(35:07):
Like she's not like, yes, she'sthe coach, we should be fearful
to a certain degree.
Right.
But also like.
I kind of saw of like a motherfigure in a sense, a second mom,
away from home and so on and soforth.
So just like she, like, she'sgreat.
She's a great coach, but she wasalso a great player.
Like it's just, I have so muchto learn from her, and I did,
(35:28):
and it was perfect.
That's great.
You know, and I, I was like thisas a kid.
I don't know if I ever got pastthe fact that my coaches were my
coaches and I don't know if Iever accepted, they're a human
being.
They're a parent, they're aformer athlete.
Mm-hmm.
They've been through everythingI'm going through.
Everything.
They're making me do that.
I hate somebody.
Made them do.
(35:49):
Exactly.
Yes.
So now they're just doing thecycle over again.
It's just, and they, theyrealize at a certain point that
they could handle it.
It was a good thing.
They're trying to get me there.
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's great.
It's, it's just a couple ofhuman beings trying to get, you
know, with some similar goalsand we have to share those
(36:09):
things.
Right.
Um.
You tipped on recruiting alittle bit.
We're gonna get into recruitinghere in a little bit.
Yep.
So, I, I've got so manyquestions I wanna get into from
where you, where you just went,but I'm gonna hold onto'em.
Let's, let's talk about winningchampionships.
Let's talk about, let's talkabout going undefeated, right?
(36:32):
Mm-hmm.
You went undefeated this year,right?
Yes.
The two years.
Yep.
I mean, you haven't lost thegame since what you were six,
seven, so she feels Yeah.
It's so hard.
Okay.
I, get off the phone withcoaches all the time and I just
got off the phone with a Hall ofFame baseball coach, and they lo
they, I think they went like 58and one.
(36:53):
Mm-hmm.
And I gave him the date thatthey lost that one game.
And I go, tell me about thatdate.
And he goes, he goes like.
Was that our only loss?
And I go, yeah.
I go, how important was thatloss to winning the
championship?
And he said Everything.
We needed to realize that wewere infallible.
We needed to realize you guyshaven't had that in two years.
Nobody's beat you.
Right?
(37:14):
What does that feel like wheneverybody's bringing their A
game, their A plus game to you?
What does that feel like everyday?
It felt terrible.
Honestly, like it just, thepressure and just the noises
just became louder and moreheavy to carry on your
shoulders.
(37:35):
Um, so as the days went on, we,we kind of, as a team, we just
collectively were like, we hearthe voices, but you know what,
we're gonna tell'em to shut up.
Like, whether it was parents orother Julietta fans or just
people on campus, like just inyour ear always about these
streaks and keep it alive, don'tlose it.
And it was just like, I loveyou, but.
(37:58):
Please shut up.
I don't wanna hear about it.
I really don't like, right.
I'm only focused on, say thispractice, if it was a random
Wednesday, like, I'm focused onthis practice, I'm not even
thinking about the game comethis weekend.
So I think that as a team, wewere just like, oh.
We're gonna do this forourselves.
We're not doing it for thestreak, we're not doing it for
all those, voices and, uh,family members and just friends
(38:19):
that were just like, oh, I can'twait to see it live or hope you
don't lose.
It was just like, people aregonna either hope to see us win
or they're gonna hope to see uslose.
We just wanna hope to see usgrow.
Like as long as we get closer,we had certain goals that we
would set, whether it was we'regonna side out with this
percentage, or we're not gonnamiss this many serves, or we're
(38:40):
trying to ace them as much as wecan.
Just, we had certain standardsand boundaries that we were able
to establish in goals, but aslong as we kept it within the
team, that's where we really sawthe most growth.
So it was, it was really toughto play throughout that.
Like it was just, you wouldthink about it and sophomore
year was just way more fun, wewould say just because there we
(39:03):
were no buddies, we were theunderdogs, you know?
Yeah.
Everyone's rooting for theunderdog.
So we had all this support, butonce you're there at the top,
it's grueling, it's just like,please put on my earmuffs.
I don't want to hear anythingmore about these dumb streaks.
Um, we're not doing it for that,so why does it matter now?
Yeah.
And that's why you'll, wheneveryou see a national championship,
(39:26):
oftentimes you'll see the, anenergy after the win where it's
almost like they're kind ofraising the middle finger as
they're walking off the court.
Exactly.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Because we did this.
You all were against us.
You all made this so muchharder.
So I, for years, I would sendout communication guidelines to
(39:50):
my parents.
When I was a high school coachand a college coach, I would
just say, this is how you talkto me.
This is when you don't talk tome.
And I would, and I would put inthere your son or daughter.
I.
It's gonna be a part ofsomething that you may not
understand whether you are anathlete or not.
You don't understand whatthey're going through.
They have this separate family,so when they're not talking to
(40:12):
you about certain things or theykind of shut down when you want
to talk about certain things,you need to understand that
that's okay.
They need that because they'redealing with something with 18
other people that nobody elseunderstands what they're going
through.
And you have to be okay withthat.
You have to be able to say, allright, I know your boundary.
(40:34):
I gotta step away.
That's not my team, that is notmy family.
That, that you're a part of.
Right.
Right.
Right.
No ex It's mostly that mentalgame, for us, I mean, we could,
we proved to ourself, we provedto the entire country that
physically we can be anybody.
And we did.
You did.
Yes, we, we were like machines,but it was after the game, or it
(40:57):
was even during the sets, intimeouts.
It was just, you could reallysee that mental piece.
Like either fall apart or reallycome together.
As you can tell from like thegames, the scores, you know,
from this past nationalchampionship, that's the closest
anybody has been to beating us.
Yeah.
And it was just because thatmental side really, like
physically we we're there, we'relocked in, but mentally, like it
(41:20):
was just grueling, playing thesame teams over and over again.
And it was like, it's, it get,it's just really tough to beat a
team, three, four times in yourwhole career.
So all that was coming to theend right there at the last
national championship.
And we proved to ourselves andproved to all of those
individuals that were justhating on us and waiting for our
(41:40):
downfall.
Uh, just say, there you go.
There's the day middle finger,and we did it, and we're gonna
walk out with our third.
And you'll never see us again.
I watched the Teamy beat thechampionship more than anybody
else that you played all year.
I, I probably watched him playlive three times, on TV three
times.
And I watched him play and I waslike, I don't think anybody's
(42:02):
gonna come close to beating thisteam.
And, and the fact that, what'dthey take a set from you?
Yep.
And it was the first set anybodyhad taken from you in a while,
right?
Yes.
Yeah.
That streak too.
And that was snapped and thatwas broken.
Oh my goodness.
That, that's what's amazing tome because it's when you're on
that type of streak, when you'reon a set winning streak the way
you were mm-hmm.
(42:22):
You hadn't, you guys hadn'tgiven up, nobody had gotten to
25 on you.
Right.
Long, long time.
Mm-hmm.
So the fact that you lost a setin that championship game and,
and had the resilience to comeback and do what you did the
next two sets, that's what wasimpressive for me.
Yeah.
What was that conversation likein the huddle after losing,
(42:43):
because it was set two.
Uh, the last game?
Yeah, we lost set three andfour.
Okay.
So what was that like in thehuddle?
What were those conversationslike?
I'm intrigued.
Yeah.
Well, okay, so after set two, wego and we have a little break.
Yeah.
The two teams do, we have likethe five minute break in between
and we were like, we're justgonna, we're just gonna fricking
(43:04):
finish'em.
We're done.
Like we we're done messingaround, we're just gonna do it.
And all of a sudden, they comeback stronger than ever, kudos
to them.
It was fantastic.
But after that, like theconversations and the huddles
and the timeouts, it was justlike, guys, we know we can do
this.
Why are we letting them take itfrom us?
Like we obviously worked so hardfor everything that we were,
(43:28):
rewarded for up until thatpoint.
And we were like, we've neverlet anybody take anything from
us.
We've never been able to justlie down and have things given
to us, so why are we doing itnow?
And it was just almost like thisanger.
But not like directed anger.
It was anger.
Like, we wanna win and we're sofocused and we fueled on our
anger.
(43:49):
And that's how we eventuallypushed through.
You know, in the timeouts wewere like, we would always come
together and most times, youknow, you come in a huddle and
you put your hand flat.
Everybody was putting a fist in.
I think we just wanted to punchsomething.
I think we were just, we wereready to go swing it for, you
know, the walls.
And that's that.
We came out ahead.
I think it really went back, youknow, all the way back into 2022
(44:13):
when we won the first nationalchampionship and we beat them
out of anger because they werethe last team to beat us.
And we were like, we're nevergonna do that again.
They will never beat us.
And we kind of forgot aboutthat.
You know, people can beat us.
People are, they're a great,great teams, great individuals
around the country, and theyhave the great capabilities of
doing it, but.
(44:35):
When we get angry, there's justa switch that goes on and we hit
a different level of volleyballon that.
I don't know, I didn't knowexist truthfully.
Um, but yeah, it was really justfuel by anger.
And for the most part, I love itand I, I could talk to you all
day about this, but we're gonna,we're gonna stop here and we're
gonna get into your, yourrecruiting segment here, but,
oh, yeah, but I, I want to talkabout this'cause this is such a
(44:56):
big deal.
This is what the average highschool athlete doesn't
understand.
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
I just watched this great movie,um, about the woman that swam
the English.
Yeah.
You know what I'm talking about?
Yes.
She played Ray in the Star Warsmovie.
Yeah.
I can't remember her, her name,but she's just awesome.
(45:19):
I just love her as an actressand this movie was great and
it's that mentality that, thatyou have as an athlete.
You have to overcome.
I've, I've, I've swam, I justswam 20 miles.
I just won 39 games in a row,and I'm exhausted.
I got, I got nothing left, butI'm gonna find a little bit
(45:41):
more.
Mm-hmm.
I'm not gonna quit here.
Right, right.
Can we teach that?
No.
I don't think you can.
I think individually it cannotbe taught collectively.
I think it can be learned.
I think once you have certainmindsets and certain attitudes,
(46:04):
you know, mesh together, I thinkthat's where it came from.
I think that's where it sproutedfrom.
But individually, I don't thinkit can be taught.
'cause we're not talking aboutgolf here.
We're not talking aboutswimming.
We're not talking about track.
This is a team sport you'replaying.
Mm-hmm.
So collectively is the key wordthere that you used.
Yes.
You know.
You know you've got it.
(46:24):
But if you didn't have 6, 7, 8other girls that had it on that
team, do you get there?
No, because, you know, you comeout with that anger almost, and
if it was just one or two peoplewith that same anger, it would
just be like, oh, I cannot playwith Olivia.
I, I can't do it.
She's mean, or she comes offtoo, too much.
(46:45):
She's too much for me.
She's, you know, raising mystress levels.
But when you have, you know,four or five people and you're
able to reign in that angerrather than directing it towards
one individual, but you'retrying to bring it together
collectively as a team.
Direct it towards the other teamthat you're playing.
Yeah.
And you're like, we're gonna doit, you know, against them.
It's kind of like siblingsteaming up and you're like,
(47:07):
we're gonna do it against momand dad.
You know?
So that's kind of where it stemsfrom.
But I think if you have theright chemistry and collectivist
and nothing's ever gonna stopyou.
Ownership, right.
It can't be one person taking onthat ownership.
Mm-hmm.
It's gotta be, it starts with asmall group and then it grows.
And then those ones that haven'tbeen a part of it yet are like.
(47:28):
I'm tired of being last in everysprint.
I'm tired of, I'm tired of notgetting on the floor.
You have to get to that pointwhere you say, I'm sick of this.
I'm going to be up there.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna start beingthe pusher instead of the
tanker.
Exactly.
Yes.
Yeah.
I love it.
Olivia Foley, you are fantastic.
I'm so impressed with you.
Uh, I can't wait.
We're gonna talk recruitinghere, so anybody that wants to
(47:49):
come back on Monday, and we'regonna talk about Olivia's
recruiting journey, but thankyou for doing this.
Thank you.
That's a wrap on another greatepisode of significant Coaching.
Huge thanks to Olivia Foley fora transparent, thoughtful look
at her championship journey.
From three straight nationalchampionships at Jutta to being
(48:10):
named NCAA Division three,national Player of the Year, and
most importantly, the personshe's become through it all.
If you enjoyed thisconversation, there's more
waiting foryou@coachmattrogers.com.
Past episodes, articles, andresources for athletes, families
and coaches, and keep your eyesopen in the next few weeks for
(48:31):
my new book, the VolleyballRecruits Journal, arriving on
Amazon to help volleyballplayers take control of the
recruiting journey week by week.
And don't miss part two withOlivia coming Monday, August
18th on significant recruiting,where we dive into her
recruiting process, what shelearned, and her best advice for
young recruits, parents andcollege coaches.
(48:54):
Until next time, keep leadingwith significance and we'll see
you back here soon.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
Iâm Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and Iâm so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood youâre able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and lifeâs ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them weâve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I donât take it for granted â click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I canât wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.