Kelly
Ricketts is someone who has never been afraid to work. Kelly played both
basketball and volleyball in high school. She was talented enough to start on a
varsity basketball team as a freshman. But it was not just talent which
separated Kelly from the average athlete, it was her work ethic. Sometimes a
multi-sport athlete uses one sport as “permission” not to do what is needed in
another sport. Kelly never cut corners in either sport. For basketball, she
never missed anything we did in the off-season.
But I
think the big deal about Kelly is that she has always understood it is about “the
process.” She never took days off at
practice- she was focused and worked every day. She accepted coaching, whether
it was criticism or encouragement- she made eye contact and let you know she
wanted to be coached. And Kelly did the “extras”, which separate athletes- she
pushed herself in the weight room 12 months per year.
Why do
I bring up her being into “the process?” "The process” is what coaching
is all about. To be successful, the coach, and then the team must recognize
they have to be willing to put in the grind. The old expression in sports- “everyone
wants to win, only a few are willing to prepare to win.” Kelly is a natural for
coaching because she is all about putting in the preparation to win.
I had a chance to do a Q/A with Kelly....
I had a chance to do a Q/A with Kelly....
Massey- I remember my
first-year teaching being up at 2am typing a test for the next day.
It seemed like the whole year was that way. You had taught awhile and coached
awhile, but last year you took a new teaching job and a new coaching job. How
demanding was it in terms of time for you? Was it more demanding than your
first-year teaching?
Kelly- It was, without a doubt, more demanding
than my first-year teaching. I think most teachers would agree that you don't
REALLY know something until you've taught it, so I was teaching a new
curriculum, getting my classroom ready and starting season at the same time.
Last year definitely showed me why you don't see many English teachers as head
coaches. Papers probably don't get graded quite as quickly as they should
during season.
Massey- You have been a head coach and then an assistant and now
a head coach again. From your perspective, what is the best part of being a
head coach and what is the worst part of being a head coach?
Kelly- The best part of being a head coach is
having the final say. When you have a vision in your head of what it will take
to be successful, you want things done that way. When you are a head coach, you
can make sure that things get done that way. The best part of being an
assistant coach is that you get to coach the girls and be involved, but the
pressure isn't all on your shoulders. Someone else is making the big decisions.
Massey- When it comes to
volleyball, Quincy is a big time program. I am guessing the players level of
commitment is pretty impressive. What are some examples of their commitment?
Kelly- It is very impressive, especially with
our current senior class. 7 of our varsity players played club throughout the
winter and spring when we could not have "contact days". Three of our
seniors traveled to St. Louis to play for Rockwood Thunder. This meant 4 hours
round trip for practices twice a week and tournaments around the country most
weekends. What is most impressive about this is that they never let that come
in the way of our progress as Quincy High School Volleyball. We scheduled open
gyms on nights that these girls didn't have practice and they were there to
grow as a high school team, as well. One of these girls' teams qualified for
nationals which meant that her club practices and tournaments continued through
June. Of our 14 contact days in June, she only missed one day with us. This
sometimes meant two practice sessions with us during the day, then driving to
St. Louis for an evening club practice.
Massey- How are you a
better coach than when you started at Knoxville?
Kelly- I could go on for days, ha. I think one
major thing would be seeing the big picture. As a head coach, you have to see
the program as a whole, starting with youth programs all the way up to the
varsity level. Along with this, at Knoxville and even last year, I easily got
caught up in where we were right then, when I should have been focusing more on
what steps we needed to take now to ensure we would be where we wanted to come
the end of October/beginning of November. I think my vision during games has
expanded, as well. Early on, I'd find myself getting caught up on a technique
correction or something small during a game whereas now I try to focus more one
the game and our system as a whole.
Massey- What have you
taken from playing basketball and applied it to your coaching in volleyball?
Kelly- There are so many things that I think
carry over in any athletic situation. Some of these things include athletic
movements and mechanics. Of course there are some coaching things regarding
game preparation and practice and game management. Probably most prevalent are
some of the life lessons that I learned and that I try to teach my girls daily:
things like responsibility, effective communication, role acceptance, always
giving your best effort and taking care of your teammates.
Massey- Growing up with three
brothers had to have had challenges. What did you learn from each of
them?
Kelly- Zach is so slow to judgement in any
situation. There have been many times I've gone to Zach for advice, and he's
directed me to Corinthians 13. The chapter is about how to love one another,
and I think Zach lives by this daily. One thing Ryan has taught me is that
there's not much laughter doesn't cure. Whenever I need a good laugh or someone
to put a situation in perspective for me, Ryan is the go-to person. Matt has
taught me that age doesn't always reflect wisdom. He's the youngest of all of
us, but sometimes I questions whether he's also the wisest. I think Matt has
watched plenty of trial and error in Zach, Ryan and my lives and has learned
from all of it. It has also been fun throughout my teaching and coaching career
to compare my students and athletes to Matt with them being the same age. I
think this has given me better insight in certain situations.
Massey- My brother coached volleyball. I know very little of the
sport, but I watched his matches for 35 years (so an expert in my own mind). I
could not have told you why it was happening in a game but when I tried to
figure out if his team was good or really good, I looked at three things. Did
they make unforced errors, could they defend or did the ball hit the floor a
lot, and could they put the ball away. Of those three, it seemed to me his best
teams defended. What do you feel is the most important?
Kelly- I would have to agree. We have some
excellent attackers this year, and nothing is more frustrating than when you're
swinging away and swinging away and sending over a smart tip and the ball just
keeps getting returned. If a team is able to defend well, eventually their
opponent's offense is likely to break down or make an unforced error
themselves.
Massey- Speaking of family observing your games. With your mom,
your dad, and your brothers. After a tough game, who are you most likely to
call?
Kelly- Ha... I would probably call mom and dad
first for some encouragement to move on and get back to work the next day.
Next, I would call Ryan to lighten me up a little bit (UNLESS it's bad enough I
know he'll make fun of me for it, which also happens). Then, I would probably
call Matt. Being a current athlete himself, I often look to him for a player's
perspective or ideas that his coaches use that I can apply to volleyball.
Massey- We need more females going into coaching and staying in
coaching. What advice would you give to a young female thinking about coaching?
Kelly- My advice to young females thinking
about coaching would be to realize that coaching is a career. I found myself in
a situation that I think a lot of females going into coaching might. Being an
athlete my whole life, I associated my success on the court with my identity to
a certain extent: it was as though my success or our team's success on the
court somehow defined who I was as a person. Over the past few years, and
occasionally now, although I'm getting better about it, I've found myself so
frustrated after a bad practice or a bad game that I couldn't separate myself
from that. I'm sure there have been, and probably still are, times when I've
just been miserable to be around because of volleyball. I've had to get myself
to a point where I realize that this is a career, and just like it wouldn't be
healthy for a businessman to bring work frustrations home, I don't think it's
healthy for a coach to bring coaching frustrations home. I think some of that
passion is necessary to be successful, and certainly coaching is a career where
you have to be successful or you won't make it a lot of places, but in my
opinion, I think finding that work/life balance would make it easier for more
females to enter and stay in the coaching field.
Massey- You got married this summer. Why Ireland? Did your
brothers embarrass you?
Kelly- Mark and I wanted to do something that
would fit us and be special for us and our families. Both of us love to travel.
I studied and worked in Ireland for a summer and Mark studied abroad in New
Zealand, so those were our two finalists. We decided on Ireland because with
the flight being half as long as a flight to New Zealand, it was more realistic
to make it work for our families. Beyond this, Mark and I both have some Irish
ancestry. A very distant cousin of Mark's dad who lives in Ireland actually
attended the wedding.
On my brothers embarrassing me... Ryan brought
a handheld camcorder with him and took it EVERYWHERE we went, from the time
they left mom and dad’s house in Galesburg to the time they returned. He would
pull it out every 30 minutes or so and get video updates. Shortly after we got
home Matt edited it and turned it into a "professional" feature film.
Quite comical. And something we'll cherish for many, many years, I'm sure.
Massey- You taught at GHS and now at QHS. What is the most
impressive thing about QHS?
Kelly- The
most impressive thing about QHS is the leadership. Our superintendent makes it
into every classroom in the district twice a semester. He often will jump in
and try to help a student with a question or learn something new himself. He
always asks teachers face to face what we need. He has probably been at 75% of
our volleyball games including pre-season scrimmages. And he does that for
every sport and activity at every level.
The most impressive thing about GHS is the
diversity of the staff and their attempt to relate to each student. I think
Galesburg does a good job of finding role models for students from every
demographic.
Massey- For those of us in Galesburg, sometimes we have trouble
getting through the whole Quincy thing. What are the pleasant surprises you
have found about the city of Quincy?
Kelly- There's really quite a bit to do.
Because bigger cities are farther away (an hour and 45 minutes to Springfield
or 2 hours to St. Louis), there is more shopping, entertainment, eating, etc.
right in Quincy. TJ Maxx is definitely a plus (even though a miss Target
terribly). The music scene is pretty strong, also. Any given weekend you have
your choice of live music -- and it's pretty good live music.
Massey- When Galesburg people go to Quincy for a game (any
sport), and they are getting there early and want to go out for a nice meal-
what is your recommendation?
Kelly- Definitely the Abbey on Spring and
18th. I'd say it's a mix between Sully's and The Iron Spike.
In December of 2010, I did a Q/A with Kelly's mom- Cindy Ricketts. We talked about Cindy's experiences as an athlete, and being a mother of four athletes. So I guess now I just have 4 Ricketts to go. I can't wait!! The following is the Q/A with Cindy Ricketts....
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