thanks for the idea suzy...might just have to make a plan for that.

town

p.s. any other input

I like the idea of having a team meeting at the start of every thursday practice...if u dont mind the guys being in there, id like to see if we can get all them in there too. 2 minds are better than one when it comes to things like that so maybe we can all help eachother. that is unless you guys have like the meetings with phil then we will stay out and do our own thing.

I understand about schedules. we are all grownups and have to support ourselves so alot of us have jobs ontop of everything else. I was hoping to avoid most of it by having our gatherings at night, but yes i understand that some things wont be possible to avoid.

as well as the meetings. we were talking about having the workouts at night to try to get everyone out and active. I would like them to be mandatory if at all possible. Again I understand people have plans...but i dont want people to ditch out because they dont wanna get out and possible run a little. Im not talking like marathon run. Im talking like making ur body travel a mile in any way means around the track. hopefully people will get into. I think great physical strength and stamina can greatly help your game in the long run when it comes to bowling the long blocks that we bowl for college bowling.

I think the best thing in your post was the last thing. I know for sure my list is like 20 deep so i know it will be EASY to figure out 5 things for me to work on for sure...haha. thanks for the input...tell me what you think about my reply...and anyone else



town

I really like some of the ideas you guys brought up like the goals, meetings and work outs. I think they could really help and I'm all for them.

these are all great responses and i thank everyone for being so supportive. I was hoping to get input from some of the players that havent said anything yet...Dole, Farish, Dean, (wick is a tard and doesnt post but he said he is all for it and has more ideas) and some of the girls that im possibly leaving out.

Town

come on town. we all know randy's innovative speeches are priceless if you can understand him and acknowledge the double fisted beer drinking contest come on now...lol

i like your ideas you have, kinda intersting to me. you are right two minds are better than one, but only if the two minds are knowing and open to the same thing. I think yall are on the right track for sure just remember its all about fun. fun comes with winning and all will go well.. good luck

-- Edited by stuwie at 06:04, 2007-07-30

I'm sure we wont mind the guys being in our meetings on thursdays just as long as we can keep them on track and to the point. The more people we have in there, the more opportunity we have to learn from each other or learn something new.

Working out is a good idea, its just finding the time. Maybe find out the hours in the gym and try and set up shifts. Maybe like a morning shift and a night shift or something: make it known to everyone so we can get the most people in there working together trying to stay motivated.

I already talked to a few, but I fully plan on having another back to school party/bbq- it might be a good way to get everyone, new and old to come and just hang out to get to know each other before the season. Everyone let me know the best day and we'll set the date!

Well i think it is awesome how we are taking steps to grow as a program. I think we have alot of people with the right motivation and would be awesome to work on this through out the year.

The team meetings sound like a good idea whether it be a thursday night or any other night of the week. I know wichita does this right after the tournament to look at stats and other things the coaches noticed that needed to be worked on.

Randy has mentioned to me acouple of times that he has tried to get workout time just for us in the gym but the school just kinda blows it off. I think it would be amazing to get everybody atleast running alittle bit so those tournaments everybody stays up and has energy when some of the other teams may be running out. I know me and colt have decided to join a gym because last year the one on campus was closed for a decent part of the year cause they never clean it and people were getting staff infections and most of the equipment is broken.

Jason i'm game for more BBQ aslong as we don't do it in the rain anymore lol. But team building days would be good espically at the beginning maybe after one of the first days at tryouts we could cook out or something so we aren't looking around the whole time wondering who people are since it sounds like we will have alot of new faces this year.

One thing i mentioned something to Randy about and i think i mentioned it to Jen was starting something like a Mentor program for the new people and even for some of the people that are on C team that want to learn. Just a thought for everybody to think about.

The only other thing i want to work on for this year is GRADES!!!!. We need to keep the whole team together for the whole year. If you are having trouble in class we need to work as a team and help each other out and not say you are doing fine then when grades are out and u got a D or failed the class.

That's my .02

Donahue wrote:

---

The weekly team builder is a good idea- for the girls the idea has been discussed that on thursdays instead of starting as soon as league is over- to start like around 9:45 or 10:00pm in the nursury and use it as a classroom session to talk about whatever it may be: past tournaments, bowling equipment, lane surfaces, the breakdown of a lane, etc. It may be redundant or some people but I believe if you can teach it you will learn yourself.

Going out weekly could be tough for some, my time is always crunched with school, work and bowling... but thats just me- I'm a nerd.

Some sort of physical activity is a good idea, but trying to get everyone to do it together will be the tough part. Are you thinking this be mandatory too??

I had the idea of after tryouts, that everyone get together and write down the top 5 things that they want to work on. We'll put it in a file folder or something and track everyones progression find ways to help each other achieve their goals. By the end of the season see how many goals we can hit and what we can do to keep moving forward.

---

I agree with Jen on it being hard to find time to doing things together. Everything is a great idea and I hope some how it can work. But with working out and doing group stuff I will find it hard for some of us education majors. A lot of our classes are offered at night time and I have class on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Monday nights I have  W & L and Thursday nights I bowl. For working out I know a few of us work for the YMCA and I work out every morning after work if people would want to do that. But we could make two different times people could do a group work out one in the morning and one in the evening. If anyone would want a join a gym the YMCA is only $34.50 a month... I know LU is free, but it is not always open due to sport teams using it.

I am looking foward to the new year and I want to build a strong girls and guys team bonding. I also would like to see some kind of practice sheets of drills that we can work on during practice.

Hope everyone is having a great summer and can't wait to meet all our new people.

I know last year we had the rule of mandatory three practices a week, with one of those being a thursday night practice- for the girls anyway... I'm pretty sure i can count on one hand those who actually followed it. Me personally I would like to enforce this rule of three mandatory practices a week. I know a few of us had talked about this already and maybe coming up with a penalty of some sort if you dont complete your three practices a week, whether it be shooting ten pins all night or it be that you dont start the next tournament- just something in order for everyone to actually get in the bowling alley and bowl. For those I saw practicing it made a tremendous difference- and just think if everyone had that same motivation?

We shouldn't have to sit back and SEE who wants to be on the team. It should be everyone putting in the same amount of effort in every aspect- They have all of us on scholarship for a reason, why not show them we are grateful for that and be part of something.

As a coach, I'm nothing but excited about the number of ideas that have been mentioned and the enthusiasm about them!  This type of self-motivation is an incredibly positive sign and I'm really excited about the coming year!

As has been mentioned, the plan for the girls is to have a minimum of two group practices per week along with an individual practice session (with actual accountability), with the Thursday practice beginning at 930p in the nursery for some classroom time or general discussion about bowling...including all kinds of topics.  I expect that some of the information will be review for some and over the head of others, but we'll work through it.

I'm all for the guys joining the discussion, especially when we're talking about mental game and such, but my concern is that there just won't be room.  At this point, I anticipate at least 20 girls and 30 guys for the season...that many people just won't fit, so it might not be practical to have that type of gathering every week.

For the ladies, after the big "beginning of the year" meeting which will most likely occur on that first Monday of classes, I plan to have a 9pm gathering at the Thursday practice before try-outs that will serve as a giant paperwork meeting to make sure that we're not chasing everyone for sanctioning, contact info, etc., as well as a review of expectations for the season.  We'll also take the time to record everyone's arsenal of bowling balls including serial number and how they react compared to each other.  This will serve as a starting point for learning equipment and adjustments and will be a nice database for those tier 1 tournaments. 

Regarding mentoring... For the girls, I anticipate enough to have three teams, so my thought is to create trios made up of one player from each team.  Of course, the actual numbers will determine exactly how that plays out.

The beginning of the year questionaire for the girls from years past will return, but will be be followed up with one-on-ones to clearly define goals.  For future reference, proper goals require something attainable and measurable.  So, you can't just say I'm going to improve my spare shooting... For any returning bowler on the women's team, I have tons of stats that might provide some ideas for "measurable" goals.

As for actual Thursday practice, I'm already working on several ideas and my plans do NOT include throwing my back out again, so that should clearly help. 

Thank you all again for your enthusiasm and thank you to everyone that's provided an idea or suggestion on this board and specifically to those who have spoken to me in person over the last several months.  Feel free to keep them coming!

Phil

Town, I gotta say that I like the steps being taken to bring this team together. Strengthening the team will only help on and off the lanes. But there is one problem, especially on the guys side, that I want to address. Girls, I'm not intentionally leaving you out of this one, i'm just not around enough to see any problems like this.

Last year at some touraments, some of us (ALL of us, including myself. I don't want anyone saying I'm pointing them out) lost our cool with each other and with Randy. The only person who I can say was valid in their complaints was Jason. I don't think he recieved the respect from the team that he deserved last year. I will lead the charge in making sure that wrong is righted this year. But back to what I was saying. This team is Top 5 in talent and potential. But I wouldn't put us top 16 when it comes to the whole package. Luckily, we have the entire season to work and get to the top.

My 1st year, I expected to make Nationals because of the team being the defending champions and being somewhat oblivious to the whole college bowling thing.

My 2nd year I expected to make Nationals because, even though we lost Valenta, we had awesome leadership in terms of Bitt, E, Dre, Scrivy, J-Lo, and G. Some were and were not at Sectionals and Nationals; didn't matter, all of them, whether with or without a ball, kept the teams confidence up.

We are going to have to work at Sectionals this year. I know it's 8 months away, but we can't count our chickens before they hatch (anyone remember a very talented Purdue team last year???).

This year is going to be different. We are the most talented YOUNG team out there. We have one remaining National Champion left in Wick. The rest of us do not know what it is like to succeed on the Collegiate level. Some of us have local, regional, and National (JOG) experience and successes; but none of that matters.

We have to realize this. It is not going to be an easy year. It's going to be rough. We are going to bowl bad. What we have to do is turn those bad finishes into Top 10's; turn those ok Top 10 finishes into Top 5's. And so help me God if we go into the finals at Match Games again leading, and fall apart like that. We are one HELLUVA team, and I guarantee we will not be the favorites. We will be the underdog's. But you know what? That's good. We will, once again, not recieve the respect we feel we should. That's OK to. What the rest of the college bowling world doesn't know won't hurt 'em.

Finally, every single idea posted in this thread is going to help. They will be put into a plan, and implemented to the fullest extent. I completely 110% agree with everyone and hope to have a great season.

Remember, all the work that we do in the next two months is preparation for the first practice ball in Wauwatosa in October. That's all we can plan for. The rest is to be determined.

farish,

I will accept that we will have to work harder than ever...but i will never accept a the mediocre season that you have described or possibly predicting that we will have. Yes we are losing lots of talent. but its how we embrace what we got and prove that we can do it with hard work and dedication that will set us apart from other young teams. You mentioned a young team that didnt make it to nationals...i wanna mention 2 extremly young teams, how bout pikeville and calumet college of st joesphs. Pikeville was leading nationals until the last couple games...and anyone who thinks calumet is a team to look over...look what almost happened to us.

Young....yes.

Season that has been described....not if i have anything to say about it.





-TOwn

-- Edited by Town at 06:46, 2007-07-31

just a short note here....chad has more right in there than anyone. The most TALENTED 1-6 team LU ever had did not even make nationals. Ask Halwe if you don't believe me, as that one was even before my time so I know most of you wouldn't know it.

Extra work & learning is a great thing in my opinion, but is has to be because I'm not one of the natural greats like we've had several of. Just don't become a Wichita, yes they will always be good, but remember who has won the more often than not the last few years and how they've done it. Even back to the Sapp & Keefauver Western teams....they qualify in the us & Sag type.

Does Wichita look like they're having fun when they bowl? I'll let you decide there, but let me also ask, Did we look like we had fun last year? Especially compared to previous years? I pissed away 2 of my years thinking entirely the wrong way and also let myself get in my own way a good bit of the others, especially that one incident that I now understand was completely right, so I think I'm qualified to say this stuff.

Mandating everything will likely only lead to unrest. Like I said, practice (THE RIGHT WAY) is good, but you would never see me running in order to make a team. And I dare any one of you to question my work ethic. The people who work for me love me because I don't give 2 ****s what they do as long as there is results (randy, dan dorion, randy widger). The other managers may be respected more but end up getting less done because the employees spend more time talking about them behind their back. It relates more than you might think just reading this now.

I read none of this post

Just sayin'