Volleybrain(tm) - Official Site of the Bellevue YMCA Blaze Volleyball Club

YMCA Blaze U15

Coaching Staff

Head Coach: Wen Tseng
Experience: This is Wen's 5th year as head coach.
He has coached the U15, U16 and U17 teams.
Certifications: CAP Level 1, Gold Medal Squared,
IMPACT, First Aid/CPR

, Member AVCA
Bio: Wen played volleyball for most of the last two
decades, including a stint on the Men's USAV team
at Western Washington University. After college,
Wen has continued his love for the game by playing
competitively in various indoor/outdoor leagues. He
also enjoys going to the AVP beach tournaments
whenever possible, watching, meeting and learning
from the pros.

Assistant Coach: Austin Zimmerman

Experience: This is Austin's 1st year as assistant
coach.
Certifications: IMPACT, First Aid/CPR
Bio: Austin played competitive volleyball for
over eight years through high school, club and
college teams. She recently finished her collegiate
career. She is incredibly passionate about volleyball
and loves having the opportunity to share that
passion through coaching.

m Philosophy & Policies
Team Philosophy & Policies
"Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
- Legendary UCLA Coach John Wooden

We strive to provide a fun and positive learning experience by sharing the love for the sport of volleyball. We want our athletes to mature into real team players, and learn how to play competitively as a team. We will demand full attention and concentration in practice, and continually challenge players to do better and push their limits, to learn and apply their skills at game time. Mistakes will happen and the athletes must learn from them and develop into a flexible and adaptable player.

Fitness and Work Ethic: Players wellbeing is my highest priority. Besides learning the proper skills to avoid volleyball injuries, each player needs to develop the good habits of health, safety, and physical fitness. I will incorporate physical conditioning and plyometrics training (for increased muscle power during movements such as jumping) to improve players performance. Each person must give 100% effort and work hard during all activities.

Discipline, Respect, and Sportsmanship: We expect every player to always come to practice and tournament prepared, focused, and on time. Every player must know how to be dedicated to the sport, both on and off the court, at practice, or at tournament. Each person must trust and respect one's self, teammates, referees, coaches, and parents. Be responsible for your actions and never blame others for your poor actions.

Have Fun and Play Hard: Volleyball should be fun and educational. Fun is a by-product of hard work and winning is a result of hard work. Give your full effort regardless if its warm-up, drills, or matches. Take every opportunity to have fun, learn new skills, and make friends. And you will end up with great memories of the time spent playing the sport.

Attendance & Punctuality: PLAYERS ARE RESPONSIBLE TO CALL, EMAIL OR OTHERWISE NOTIFY THEIR COACHES OF ABSENCES OR LATENESS 24 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME.

Being early is being on time; being on time is being late.
You are expected to attend each practice and tourney. Academics come first, but you need to develop time management skills to get school work done on time without missing practices. Lack of practice time can affect playing time. Always plan to arrive 15 minutes early! You are expected to be in the gym ready to play (shoes, socks on, hair up) when practice starts. Use that extra time to set up the nets, get ready, catch up with friends, etc.
When you miss a practice, you are preventing your team from learning to play with you. You also throw away money when you miss practices. And you throw away your time to improve your skills. Please give your coaches and your team a full 3 to 4 hours per week of practice time. Once you start missing practices, it is difficult to catch up. Keep these things in mind before you decide to miss practice.
If you have unexcused absences or lateness, you will be asked to perform extra conditioning before being allowed to join the team for practice.

Positive Attitude & Teamwork: Learn to sacrifice for the team. A team is more than just a collection of individuals. It is critical that everyone knows how her role fits into the context of team goals. You need to support your teammates at all times and help them to improve. Mistakes are a part of this game and we all learn from them. Success in volleyball is more dependent on how well the team plays together, rather than how individuals perform.

Maintain a positive attitude. A player with poor or negative attitude will be asked to sit out certain activities or leave. Disrespectful behavior or attitude will result in severe consequences, possibly including removal from the team.
Everyone helps. Everyone sets up nets, shags balls, officiates games, etc. No one leaves until everything is picked up at practice or until our teams referee duties are finished.

Playing Time: Our playing time policy is simple. All players will participate in the pool play on tournament days if she follows coach's philosophy and adheres to team rules and policy. In the deciding games or bracket play, playing time will be decided based on coaches assessment of a players individual performance and the team chemistry on the floor. We are happy to discuss playing time issues with players or parents before / after practices, HOWEVER, we will not discuss them on the day of tournament.