Core Value # 4: Purpose

“One memory that sticks out in my head was coming home from a volleyball tournament and it happened to be Halloween. We were randomly driving and we all had this great idea to stop in a local neighborhood and go trick or treating. It was amazing. It was a great impromptu team bonding experience that I will never forgot." ~ Heather McIntosh, Fredonia Volleyball player from 2001-2004 and 2014 Hall of Fame inductee

Two weekends ago we inducted our first ever volleyball player into the Fredonia Athletics Hall of Fame, Heather McIntosh. She graduated a year before I came to Fredonia (2004), but Coach Braun tells me she was probably the most complete player he has ever coached, holding the school records for kills and attack attempts.

You’d think a player with that kind of talent would have some pretty fantastic memories of playing volleyball. But in a recent article for our school website about her induction, I was intrigued to read the above quote about her favorite Fredonia Volleyball memory.

One day last January, Coach Braun sat our team down in the locker room after a disappointing finish to our 2013 season. He talked about his vision for the program: competing at the top of our conference and eventually, one day, competing for a national championship. He talked about the commitment and effort it would take to get to that level, because he wanted to give our girls an experience they would never forget.

But even though that’s where we want to go, winning volleyball matches is not our purpose.

So I often wonder what is our purpose. I think the above quote from Heather gives us a lot of clues… that you can be a stand-out player on a college volleyball team for four years and ten years later your best memory was when you went trick-or-treating.

It’s a lofty goal, but we want our girls to have purpose in everything they do on the volleyball court.

When they serve, pass, set, hit, block, and set, they should have a purpose in why they’re choosing to put the ball in a certain spot. It gives them ownership of their decisions, makes them less reliant on the coaching staff, and ultimately helps them feel as if they have some control over their performance.

More importantly though, I think our purpose is encompassed in the journey itself: practicing, playing games on bus rides, eating a team meal, or any infinite number of things we may do together. Our purpose is to be as present as possible to the time we have together, while living our core values to the best of our ability (Family, Passion, Service, Purpose).

The rush of winning a big match only lasts a few hours. I’ve never won a national championship but I can’t imagine that rush lasts a whole lot longer. It’s nice to have, but when I’m on my deathbed I doubt I’ll be terribly concerned about my winning percentage.

I’ll probably be more concerned about the experience I gave the people who interacted with me, about the quality of the friendships I had, and if I was true to myself in every aspect of my life.

I hope every girl that graduates from our program feels the same.


~ Ryan