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Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Grill
Western Arkansas, AR
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Photo(s) By: William Moore
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Siloam Spring’s Rose Cheek has won four state volleyball titles in a row. This season marks her 28th year at Siloam and her quest for a Lady Panther fifth consecutive state title.
VYPE: Winning four state titles in a row, has that changed your philosophy or routine in any way. And, do you feel pressure now?
Cheek: I haven’t changed my philosophy or coaching, but I do feel the pressure but mostly for the kids. They put pressure on themselves because they don’t want to be the team to break the stretch. After the 2005 state championship, that’s when they really started to put the pressure on themselves. We just take one game at a time. We don’t look at the end because we won’t get there if we don’t take care of the front end.
VYPE: What do you think is the key to your success?
Cheek: One thing has been coach JoEllen Wright at the junior high level. She has the girls prepared when they come to the high school. Also, the team is extremely close, and we have fun. I also give club ball a lot of credit, and it’s made coaching a lot easier. I’m not one who is a master at the game. Certainly, I want to win and expect that, but I don’t have the knowledge like the college girls who played college ball.
VYPE: Was there a point when you realized your team had the talent, luck or whatever it took to win a state title?
Cheek: I think that first year, we said wow that group of girls could do it. We didn’t necessarily have the talent volleyball-wise but we had talent athletic-wise. We were able to build a good support group and have been fortunate to do that. Coaching high school kids you never know what they’ll do.
VYPE: How did you get involved in volleyball?
CHEEK: Right out of college (30 years ago) I went to a country school in Moseley, OK. There, I coached football, softball, baseball, basketball and track. In two years, I did it all. That was an experience. I loved football and was dating a guy who played at OU. He helped me as did my brother. But, I was working with 3rd up to 8th graders, and I wanted to downsize (number of sports and students). Then came the opening at Siloam, and I applied and got the job. I didn’t know much about volleyball, then. I knew you hit the ball back and forth. I told the girls I didn’t know that much, and that they would have to show me. The kids taught me, and we put together a team and won the conference tournament. Our conference was Bentonville, Harrison, Mountain Home, Valley Springs and us. We were the fourth seed and won the tournament and went to state that first year.
VYPE: How has the game of volleyball changed?
CHEEK: I think one thing is its not so nitpicky like it used to be. They aren’t calling every little thing. Another big thing is rally scoring. It puts the pressure on to get the serve in. Also for us, and it started with Karen Moore, who is the volleyball coach at Shiloh Christian, is its cool to play volleyball. We hit a spot where it wasn’t cool to play volleyball. She was an all-around athlete, and now we are fortunate that our school encourages the kids to do it all. We encourage the volleyball girls to play basketball, and we are also getting the good basketball girls and athletes.
VYPE: What do you teach at school and do you coach other sports?
CHEEK: I teach all the health classes and coach the sprint relays. I like track because it separates the men from the boys, and you can find out a lot about a kid. In 2005, our boys 4x100 relay set the conference meet record. Alma had a good track program and sprinters and runners. Morrilton had incredible athletes. I told our guys we would have to have perfect handoffs to have a chance. We had perfect handoffs, and the guys were so excited. It was fun to see the boys get excited. I see the girls, but boys don’t get excited like that too much.
VYPE: What do you do in your spare time?
Cheek: I live on the river and hang out on the riverbank. I like gardening and working in my flowers and vegetable garden. Anything outdoorsy, I like to do. I did raise horses but lost them in my divorce.
VYPE: What is your coaching philosophy or style and has in changed in the last 28 years?
Cheek: One thing I do is I take care of my seniors if I can. My philosophy is if you put time into the program then I’ll take care of you. I never got into this to hurt the kids. It is anguish to see them hurt. I also don’t do well with laziness. I have very little tolerance for that especially since I grew up on a farm. Hard work is what I have always known. People who won’t put out or work hard, I just don’t do well with that. I want intensity and for the kids to get after it. My other thing is if I have a bad day or things aren’t going well, I don’t take it out on the girls. That first year we won state, my kids never knew I was going through a divorce. I never let it show during the season. Of course, they knew after the season. I come in with a consistent attitude. When I enter the gym, it’s volleyball time and time to put the personal stuff aside. If they come in after a fight with their boyfriend, you can’t expect them to put that aside if you don’t do the same. I put a big smile on my face and don’t take out my frustrations on them.
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