Coaching Is Communicating

It is the stuff that is passed down from generation to generation - the voices, which either whisper or shout in emulation of the coach who got players to play hard. Coaches as different as John Wooden and Bobby Knight. Last October, after Andover High volleyball's lackluster Game One in the 2007 sub-state final against archrival Circle, Sue Coffman took her girls off the court and marched them out of the gymnasium. "We went out in the hallway and had a little conversation," said Coffman. The message was that state-caliber teams don't choose when to show up. "I told them, this isn't what we are about and this isn't why we came here - to let them take it away from us. "They went out and responded well and played two great games to win that sub-state." An interested observer in all of this was Bill Coffman, the coach's husband. Currently an assistant on the Wichita East football staff, Bill has been in the coaching profession for more than 30 years. After years of observation, he says Sue's ability to coach the team up has been one of her finest assets as a prep volleyball coach. "She isn't afraid to challenge girls," Bill says. "I think that is an advantage she has over many coaches, especially male coaches. "Sometimes male coaches that are coaching women are afraid to challenge females. She is not afraid to do that and gets them motivated by knowing what is going to push their buttons." With this style, Coffman has shown coaching prowess. Entering her 18th season at Andover High, she has compiled a 335-209 record and won two state championships in 2001 and 2004. In 23 years of coaching overall, Coffman is 419-239. Senior hitter Haley Dotson, who was a key figure in Andover's comeback win over Circle last fall, knows the gift her coach possesses. "Ms. Coffman is really good with her timeout talks," says Dotson. "She talked to us between games [against Circle] and we ended up coming back and winning. She really gets you motivated and gets you to want to play hard for her." Andover placed fourth at state last fall behind all-state hitter Melanie Delimont who walked on at Kansas State, but the 2008 squad is shaping up to be another special group. This fall's senior class has a long history together. "There are six of us girls that played club volleyball together and grew to be best friends," says Sabra Clark, an all-state senior setter. Clark, Dotson and senior hitter Rebecca Dinsmore have played varsity since they were freshmen. "We had a losing record our freshman year, were around .500 as sophomores, and last year we took fourth at state. We should be pretty good." But pretty good just might not be good enough. Expectations are high and Coffman sees no limit to what this group can accomplish. "With the same group of girls [back from last year], our goal is go [to state] and win it," says Coffman. "Whether we can or not depends a lot on how well we play together. Almost all of these kids have been playing club ball and doing a lot in the off-season, so they take it pretty serious." While an active off-season is key to the success of Andover volleyball, Coffman has also staked the reputation of the program on stressing fundamentals in practice, an area her husband sees as a difference maker. "For a long time she has been a tremendous person for teaching young people how to hit," he says. "Basic fundamentals of the game are one of her strong points." Dotson and Clark went through her camps and learned early on the value of fundamentals and team play as middle school players. Two more seniors, Dinsmore and Erin Frazier, have also put in their time for a chance at a state title. And a group of juniors also will be counted on to contribute - Kylie Cooper, Marissa Germann and Abby Hamilton. Cooper and Dinsmore will be nearly impossible to get by blocking at the net. All seven of these players have at least three years of varsity experience. With Coffman leading the program for nearly two decades, the continuity in the Andover program is difficult to match in the state. Coffman has stayed around because she wanted her family to have some stability and she felt the Andover school system was the right fit for her three children. The right fit is something that she puts a lot of stock in. "I think if you look at every successful program that you will find that every coach does things differently," says Coffman. "Some of it boils down to team chemistry and getting kids to believe that they can win. "Part of the benefit of the program having success is that the kids know that they are going to be successful and you already have that hurdle cleared. That gives you a boost that all teams don't have." Sometimes a spouse can be your worst critic, but how can you argue with Sue's numbers? Bill Coffman knows his wife has built a special program that may have other coaches mumbling to themselves about how she gets them to play that hard. In the end, it comes down to having the special gift of communication and compassion. "She has a great ability to take girls that are all different personalities and bring them together to mold them into a team," he says. "She gets them to care about the team and to put the team first."