Fatima: Report of Internship Activitites

FATIMA NOHELI BALZA-ALVARADO Report of Internship Activities

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Presented to the faculty of Chadron State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of

Master of Science in Organizational Management (MSOM) Sport Management Focus

Chadron State College Friday, April 19, 2013

The Portfolio of

FATIMA N. BALZA-ALVARADO

This portfolio is the work of Fatima N. Balza-Alvarado.

Please do not copy the contents without my permission

Table of content I.

II. III.

IV. V.

Introduction 1. Biography 2. Resume 3. Plan of Study Copy of learning outcomes Reflective paper 1. Recruiting 2. Academic advising 3. Workouts and agility 4. Budget 5. Organizing/scheduling 6. Travel team Benefits of internship 7. Personal benefits 8. Professional benefits Conclusion Weekly reflection questions.

Thank you letter to supervisor

Biography Name:

Fatima Noheli Balza Alvarado

Date of Birth: April 1st 1988 (25 years old) Nationality: Venezuelan Bachelor’s degree:

Communication Arts and Sciences (Penn State

University) Master’s degree:

Masters of Sciences in Organizational Management – Sports Management Focus Area. (Chadron State College)

My name is Fatima Balza and originally I am from Merida Venezuela. I considered myself to be very responsible, thankful and honest. I like to get things done when I suppose to, I’m very thankful for all opportunities I have had in my life and for all the people I have met and I like to be truthful to myself and others. I like to lead by example and I treat people the way I would like them to treat me. My family is very important to me, I have an older sister (27 years old) and I have a younger brother (20 years old). My parents are in Venezuela and they live with my brother.

All my life I have involved with sports. I was a member of the Venezuelan Volleyball Junior National Team since I was 14 years old. I came to the USA in 2007 with a full ride scholarship to study at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) and play volleyball. Coming to America was not an easy decision for me, but so far, it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I graduated from WNCC in 2009 with an Associate degree in Arts, and during my freshman year we won the NJCAA Div. 1 National Title. Then I got a full ride scholarship to play and study at Penn State University (PSU). I graduated from PSU in May 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts and Science. I had the opportunity to play for PSU and win 2 NCAA Div. 1 National titles.

Currently I live in Scottsbluff Nebraska. Scottsbluff is a small town but with great people; I love the community and I love this town. This is my second year as graduate student working on my master’s in organizational management with an emphasis in sports management. I am the GA (Graduate Assistant) at WNCC. I love my job, and I love taking classes, sometimes it gets very challenging for me but time management is the key to be able to work and be a full time student.

Besides being the Assistant volleyball coach at WNCC I also work in residence life. I’m one of the four residence coordinators at the dorms. I help to organize the dorms before students move in, I help students with any problem they have at the dorms as well as planning activities for them during the semester and much more.

My family is very important to me and they have always supported me to keep up with my studies. From the distance they keep cheering me on to make myself better. I am very glad to have the support of my family at all times. My mother always told me “education is something that anybody will ever be able to take away from you.” After I finished my undergraduate studies, I knew I wanted to get my masters. I had the opportunity to come back to WNCC to coach while taking classes through Chadron state College (CSC) to get my master’s degree.

As international student I have learned a lot in the last six years I have been in the United States of America. I have not only learned in the classroom but I have grown as a person as well. I here not knew any English, with only one goal in mind which was getting a good education. I got to WNCC because of a friend she helped me to get the scholarship; I decided to go to PSU because it is a great university with one of the best volleyball programs in the country and very wellknown academically. I got involved into CSC master’s program first because it was an opportunity I could not let it go and second because I always had in mind that I wanted to get a

master’s degree. My experience in CSC met my expectations. At first I was a little nervous because I was going to take all my classes online and during my undergraduate I had only taken two online classes. I cannot believe that it has been almost two years since I started with the master’s program. I have enjoyed every class, some more than others but I know that at the end they all are going to help me to be a better coach.

I strongly believe that in order to get where you want to be, you need to know where you going.

You need to have a vision. I considered myself a very friendly person, sometimes shy but with many dreams and goals I want to accomplish in life. Having a vision gives me the energy I need to work on what I want every day. The following are my short and long term goals: My short term goals are: 

Graduate from Chadron State College in May 2013 with a master’s degree of Sciences in Organizational Management – Sports Management Focus Area.

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Optional practical training (OPT) is a benefit associated with F-1 status that allows eligible F-1 students to work in the United States for 12 months. I applied to get my OPT and I hope to get it soon.

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Work volleyball camps during the summer.

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Once I get my OPT, I would like to stay in Western Nebraska Community College as assistant coach for one more season.

Long term goals: 

In the future I would like to get another master’s degree but in coaching this time. The problem with this is that not too many universities provide a master in coaching.

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If I do not do the master’s in coaching, I would like to get a Ph.D. related to sports and or management.

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I would like to stay in the United States for couple more years.

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I would like to have my own volleyball program.

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I want to travel around the world meeting new people and new cultures.

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I want to have a family

Fatima N. Balza-Alvarado Address Until May 2013 1409 East 27th Street Scottsbluff, NE 69361 308.765.8281 cell

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 

Permanent Address Avenida Urdaneta, Residencias Tibisay Torre C apartamento 10-C Piso 3 Merida, Venezuela 5101 0058.0274.263.5423 balzafatima@hotmail.com

QUALIFICATIONS Organized, leader, self-starter, problem solver, superior work ethic, handling pressure to meet goals, honest, punctual, multi-tasking, willing to assist others, work well unsupervised within a team or independently, athletic and life-long learner Bilingual in Spanish and English (reading, writing and speaking) Computer skills, public speaking, ethics, writing, business administration, sociology and college algebra Education Associate of Arts degree May 2009 Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) Bachelor of Communication May 2011 Pennsylvania State University (PSU) Masters in Sports Management pending May 2013 Chadron State University (CSC) Honors Full-ride athletic scholarship from PSU and WNCC from 2007-2011 Cougar Volleyball team captain (placed third nationally) from 2008-2009 Phi Theta Kappa (academic honorary) from 2008-2009 Academic Achievement Award 2011 Work Experiences

Education self‐funded through scholarships and work study Spanish Tutor

WNCC

August 2008 to May 2009 Custodial Assistant

FBG at WNCC July 2007 to May 2009 Summer Camps volleyball coach

WNCC

July 2007, 2008 and 2009 Summer Camps volleyball coach

PSU

July 2010 Equipment and Recreation Assistant PSU

Spring 2011

WNCC

Fall 2011 to present Assistant Volleyball Coach

Learning Outcomes Fatima Noheli Balza Alvarado Western Nebraska Community College Working at Western Nebraska Community College under the supervision of head volleyball coach Giovana Melo I expect to gain more knowledge in the following areas:

1. Recruiting.

A. Desired Outcome: Currently I am the Graduate Assistant volleyball coach at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC). For the last year and half I have been involved in practices with the girls. However, I have not had the chance to recruit players for the team. With this internship, I want to learn about what I need to look at while recruiting.

Also at the junior college level, coaches need to be able to recruit players in and out. In other words, help players to get recruited once they finish their two first years here at WNCC.

B. How: The volleyball club season started this January 2013. Around the country thousands of club volleyball teams play against each other. I will be traveling to the main volleyball tournaments such as "Vegas" that include more than 200teams, or “Cross Road� in Denver which includes more than 300 teams. To recruit our players out I will search for different schools and good fits where my actual players can move on to and do a good job. I can talk to different coaches etc.

C. Measurement: I plan to measure my accomplishment by counting how many kids I successfully recruited opposed to those that contacted us. To measure the players I help to recruit to other schools I plan in counting how many sophomores we have and how many of them went to a four years school.

2. Academic advising.

A. Desired Outcome: Being a student athlete is a demanding life style. As a coach I would like to learn about each major that my players are taking and depending of each major I would like to be able to help them to take the right classes with the right instructor for them. In any school many classes are offer but not all teacher teach the same way, knowing the personality of the athlete and the way teachers teach will help me to successfully advise the right class and teacher for each athlete.

B. How: I will meet with academic advisors to learn more about the subject. I will ask the players what they thought about the class and the teacher, so I can have it as a reference for the future. Also, I plan on helping students-athletes to manage their time. To succeed in the classroom it is important that athletes spend enough time reading and understanding the chapters for their classes. Mandatory "Study hall" as a team will be a perfect time for them to focus in their assignments. We will meet in one classroom every day as a team so they can perform their academic duties.

C. Measurement: I can compare if with those extra hours (study hall) a day their GPA improved from the semester before. Also, I will create grade checks sheet and provide it to their teachers to see if the players have shown any progress. This grade checks will be hand out once a month.

3. Workouts and agility.

A. Desired Outcome: Skills are not enough to create good players, it is important to train them with some conditioning. I want to learn how to create a good volleyball conditioning program. For volleyball, the spring season is about getting the players in a good physical condition that will prepare them for the fall. The main focus during the spring season is conditioning other than volleyball skill in itself.

B. How: Last semester I assisted to couple sessions about conditioning and speed where I learn new things. I can implement and or modify from the actual conditioning workout

plan at WNCC. Also, as a former NCAA div. 1 athlete I can contact my former conditioning coach and ask for advice.

C. Measure: I will measure the results by giving the athletes physical test. One before we start working out, another during half of the workout plan and a final one the last week of the workout. If I get positive results I would like to create a summer workout for the players to take home.

4. Budget.

A. Desired Outcome: Learning how to successfully manage a budget is one of my biggest goals this semester. Managing a budged will allow the team go to tournaments, eat, stay in hotels etc. I want to be able to breakdown a plan of how much money the team will need during the season.

B. How: I will meet with the head coach and she will show me and teach me how she manages her budget at Western Nebraska Community College. Budget it does not only about know how much money you have available for your team but it also includes a lot of paperwork.

C. Measure: I will create an excel sheet about the budget and keep track of all the spending for the spring season.

5. Travel Team.

A. Desired Outcome: This travel team is getting ready to play in June 2013. They team will be integrated by high school students. I will like to learn how to manage my own team. I will be the head coach from one of the two teams will travel. I will also like to experience and learn about the difference of coaching college students and high school students.

B. How: I will have to talk to parents, the students; I have to hire an assistant, run practice, take care of them during that week and coach them during games.

C. Measure: I will ask for feedback from the parents, players, and the assistant I will hire.

Also I can measure my accomplishment by the position we get in the tournament and the full experience the players had.

6. Organizing/scheduling.

A. Desired Outcome: I will like to learn how to create and organize a volleyball schedule. I want to learn how to successfully communicate with other coaches in other colleges to create our own schedule. I want to learn what is needed to hire officials and line judge to our home games as well as the people on the table. I need to make sure that the schedule is competitive to keep the program at the top.

B. How: meeting with the head coach, she will teach me and show me how she normally does it. Send contracts. I can look at the national ranking and contact top teams. I will try to find tournaments during the spring that are competitive for the players.

C. Measure: It will be hard for me to measure that since the scheduling and organizing will be for the following season. However, I can ask the head coach for feedback.

Intern signature

Supervisor signature

Reflective paper Sports are a huge part of my life. I love being involved with athletes, coaches, fans, parents, etc. I can watch sports on the T.V, watch them live, play the sport myself, etc., whether I am on the stands watching a game or I am on the court playing I enjoy every moment of it. I know I would like to find a job related to sports to keep me happy.

I decided to do my internship at Western Nebraska Community College under the direct supervision of Giovana Melo. The goal for this internship was learn a lot more about coaching, have responsibilities I did not have before and manage them in a successful way.

This paper is organized in the six learning outcomes I worked on during my internship: recruiting, academic advising, budget, organizing/scheduling and travel team.

1. Recruiting Before I started my internship, one of the learning outcomes I wanted to know and learn more about it was recruiting. I wanted to learn about what I needed to look at while recruiting. Also at the junior college level, coaches need to be able to recruit players in and out. In other words, help my current players to get recruited when they finish their two first years here at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC).

How did I accomplish it?

Learning about recruiting was one of my favorite’s outcomes. Recruiting the right players is a huge part of being successful. However, I never thought recruiting was going to be so tiring.

First, the head volleyball coach at western Nebraska Community College talked to me about recruiting and what she normally does to recruit players. She told me that at our level (Junior College) we cannot recruit in advance, we had to recruit players each year. Also, she mentioned

that to recruit players I did not need to look at the best talent, but I needed first to look at my team and determined what kind of players I will need for the following year. Also, here in western Nebraska community College the head coach Giovana Melo, tries to recruit people that are not only good players but people that can fit into the program. It is more important to recruit someone who shows interest and have potential than to recruit a really good player that does not have respect for others. Second, I travel around the area trying to find good prospective. I went places such as Denver Colorado which is around 3hours and half away from Scottsbluff Nebraska to watch some club practices and tournaments as well. When I went to watch the club practice, I left Scottsbluff in the morning, I watched practice and then I came right back. When I got back to my place, I was ready to go to bed. Third, I attended to big tournaments, my favorite one was going to Las Vegas. It was my first time in Las Vegas; the tournament was the biggest one I have ever seen. There were two facilities one with 97 volleyball courts and another one with 56. I was really impressed to see so many players, parents, and coaches at the same time. I got up every day for 3 days at 7am to be at the convention center at 8am to start watching the matches. During this matches there is no space to sit or anything, it is one court next to the other and the few chairs around are already taken by parents and friends. So, all day is about standing up and walking around. Fourth, the head coach Giovana Melo, gave me a list of club teams that she wanted me find out if they have any unsigned player we could look at. So I took the list and I had to Google each team until I find the club director or coach’s information to ask about players. Finally, I use a website call berecruited.com where I spend hours finding prospective players.

What did I learn?

I learned that the recruiting game is like gambling. You can give all you have to “win” but if it is not your luck, you will lose all your money. It happens just like that with recruits. The recruits we liked from the tournaments and others we contacted, we had them come to WNCC for an official visit. In this official visit we paid everything for them and we show them what we have to offer. Having a player in an official visit does not mean that we will get her; it only means that we have a chance to be chosen by the player to continue her education. This year we lost over 5 players we brought in official visits. The decided to go somewhere else, and since we are paying for it, it hurt us because our budget is really small to lose bring five players and not get any of them.

I also learned that anything can happen. One of the players we were contacting and recruiting, at first was very interested, she is from Utah, she wanted to come in an official visit, so we booked her flight. Couple weeks before her trip she stop talking to us and one day before her official visit, she decided that she did not want to play volleyball anymore, so, she was not going to come for her official visit even though we had already paid for it.

I learned how to use University athlete support system. University Athlete (UA) is the premier communication tool connecting collegiate coaches and prospective student athletes. UA combines the convenience of an online database with the efficiency of, iPad, iPhone, Android, and Blackberry software to assist coaches’ recruiting efforts at tournaments. As I mentioned before tournaments such as the one in Vegas have hundreds of teams playing at the same time.

With UA searching for players is easier, it tell you exactly which court you should go and a what time the players will play. It is really convenient.

I learned that one of the best ways to recruit players is being totally honest with them. To have a successful program we need to be honest. Also, I need to recruit the players that fit the program.

It is why it is important to bring players to our campus in an official or unofficial visit, so we can see how they connect with the rest of the team, get to know them a little bit more, what they like to do, and see if the player matches the values we already have on our program.

During the recruiting trips, I made some connection and met more coaches which from my point of view is really good for the future. In Western Nebraska Community College, at the moment we still are in the recruiting process.

2. Academic advising Academic Advising is more complex of what I thought it would be. Sometimes it could be challenging. It is very time consuming and definitely you need to love what you do. Academic advising is not only being able to help the players to enrolled the right classes, but it also includes keeping track of their academic progress during the year. At the beginning of the internship, my goal was to help my players to take the right classes according to their majors, and make sure they are doing well in their classes.

How did I accomplish it?

With academic advising one of the very first things I was in charge of since the beginning of the year was study hall. It has been my own experience that to succeed in the classroom it is important that athletes spend enough time reading and understanding the chapters for their classes. We had mandatory study hall. We meet for two full hours from Monday to Thursday in one of the computer classroom at the college. During this time I supervised that they were doing their homework instead of spending time in social networks.

Excused absences, I created a sheet that excuses our players from missing classes when we are on the road. This semester we had two tournaments and few scrimmages games. Therefore my player missed few classes I created the excuses absence sheet to keep their teachers informed of our schedule.

Grade checks, I created a sheet for grade cheek where I asked each player to write down every class they are currently taken, the teacher for each class and the days and times they are taking the class. Each player must take the grade check sheet to each of her teachers and have them write their grade down, how many absences they have had, how often they participate in class, sign it and there is a space for comments if the teacher wishes to write something else. This way I can keep track of how well they are doing in their classes. If they have F’s or D’s I will immediately reported to the head coach.

Special procedure, this semester we have two players with bad grades. Last semester their GPA’s were really low and this semester both of them were in probation. To track their academic progress, I personally talked to each of their teachers to get feedback. I met their teachers at least once every two weeks. If I could not talk to them, then, I would email them to ask about my players. If I did not get any good feedback from the teachers these players were not allowed to practice and or play until they get their grades up. At the end one of them decided to quit and the other one has not practice all semester long.

Enrolling players in future classes. It is a long process they need to do. I met with the head coach Giovana Melo and I observed what she did with the players to enroll them. For example, freshmen going to be sophomores need to first make an appointment to see the register and ask for a degree audit. Once they have the degree audit, they must meet with their academic adviser who normally is one of the faculty members at the college. In this meeting the adviser tells the

player what classes she should enroll for the following semester. Once it is ready the player must go with coach to show her tentative schedule. Coach checks the player’s schedule to make sure that they have enough credits.

What did I learn?

I learned that academic advising is a huge part of coaching. I never thought coaches have to be as involved in their player’s academics as they are. I learned that all players must be enrolled in at least 15 credits each semester. Although all players meet with their advisers to make their own schedules they must meet with coach before enrolling their classes and the reason because they need to do that is because as a coach I need to make sure that my players will be eligible to play, and to do so, they need to be enrolled in at least 15 credits just in case they do not pass one class or if they want to drop one class. Here at Western Nebraska Community College, all players are enrolled in 15 to 18 credit hours. Also, students-athletes must take enough credits so they can graduate in two years and move on into a four year school.

In student-athlete, student is first for a reason. It is more important that the athlete be a student first and then a player. Without the grades the player will not be able to play and or practice during the season which can hurt the team chemistry and the results as well. I learned how to enroll my players into her classes and the process they need to do to take the right amount of credits each semesters including summer.

To be accepted at WNCC there is not a minimal score on the SAT or ACT. Newcomers do not have yet an adviser for their classes, however, they need to send the SAT and ACT scores to the head coach so she can register them for their classes. All classes have scores that are set as entry levels; if a student does not have a SAT/ACT score high enough they will have to work their way up by taking classes that will prepare them for the future.

3. Workouts and agility For volleyball, the spring season is about getting the players in a good physical condition that will prepare them for the fall. The main focus during the spring season is conditioning other than volleyball skill in itself. At the beginning of the internship I was looking forward to learn to create a good conditioning and weight lifting program for the spring semester.

How did I accomplish it?

I met with the head coach, and I told her we needed to make some changes on the workout. I see the players on the weight room all the time and they get bored of the same exercises. The head coach told me to go ahead and make the changes need it. Strength and conditioning are very important to prepare the athletes for the future, to keep them in shape and to make them better players.

Strength: Lifting weights. First, I looked at the old workout and I wanted to make some changes but I was not sure how. Then I contacted my former strength and conditioning coach at Penn State University and I asked him for some advices. He sent me a DVD made for him with over 150 exercises for volleyball players. I watched the DVd at least 3 times and I made some notes every time I watched. Second, I review my notes and with my experience as a division one athlete I select the exercises I wanted to do with my team. Third, after I had a draft of the changes I wanted to make I showed it the head coach to ask her opinion and see if she wanted me to change or add something else. Finally, I made the last couple changes to the workout routine and I send it to my former strength and conditioning coach seeking some feedback.

Conditioning and agility: Just like lifting weights, I looked at the current conditioning workouts and I try to make some changes by contacting my former strength and conditioning coach and getting some guidance and advice. Volleyball conditioning usually works a lot on the legs and core because players will be using these muscles the most. For my conditioning we do a lot of sprinting short and a lot of explosive jump training. Use a lot the ladder, jump rope, hurdles and exercises to control their body. This is to improve speed, agility, stamina and muscular endurance-which are needed a lot for volleyball. I also went online to XLathlete.com and create an account to check and review the best exercises for volleyball players, I probably spend hours trying to figure out which drills will work best for my team. Another website I went to and help me to create a better conditioning and agility plan was athlet365.com.

What did I learn?

I learned that it is really important to stay with them in the weight room while they are lifting weights. It is incredible how much athletes can slack if the coach is not around. During lifting weights, I learned that no matter how many times you corrected the players over an exercise they will keep making the same mistakes, and the more they do it the more I need to remind them how to do it right. When they keep making the same mistakes, the more I need to tell them what they need to focus on while they are doing the exercise and the more I need to show them how to do it. I cannot generalize, but this group of girls I am working with right now is visual learners. I have demonstrated for them every exercise. Also, it is important to change or modify the workout every four weeks, incorporating new types of equipment such as balls, bands, wobble discs, or other tools to help keep things fresh. If the players keep doing the same workout routine, their muscles will get used to it and will never reach their full potential.

During conditioning and agility I learned that when the athlete is tired is when as a coach I needed to talk the most with them. Their bodies are fatigued, they feel tired, their mind start telling them that they cannot do it no more, and they start getting lazy. At this point is when I start helping them out telling them to stay focus, getting closer to them and cheering them up, telling them to finish strong, to don’t give up, to keep the technique and to do not get lazy. I saw a lot of positive feedback every time I told them to keep going when their minds where telling them to stop. I saw effort, and the determination to finish strong.

I learned that with strength and conditioning and agility it is also important to mentor the athlete to eat right. The food they eat is the fuel they will have in their body before exercising, if they do not eat well they won’t have enough energy to successfully finish the workout. If they eat right they have more chances to have more energy to finish the workout and still feel good about it.

Also, keep reminding them that they need to drink a lot of water; they need to be hydrated before, during and after the workout.

I learned that all players on the team are different and to keep them at their best effort it is important to modify some workouts for some players. For example, on the team we had few really fast runners, the time we had for them to finish the sprints were too easy. So, instead of having one big group, I decided to divide them in two different groups the first group had to less time to finish the workout than the second group.

4. Budget I had never had the chance of work with budgeting. Even in my personal life, I do not keep a budget or I do not keep tract of my income and spending. At the beginning of the internship I

was very excited to learn how to successfully manage a budget. Managing a budged will allow the team go to tournaments, eat, stay in hotels etc.

How did I accomplish it?

First I met with the Head coach Giovana Melo and she showed me and explained me what she normally does. She mentioned that in the past everything used to be in paper, whether you were requesting a check, a credit card, or giving the information back from the trip. Now things have changed with the help of technology everything is request and done online. Coach Melo explained how her budget got cut 3% this year and it actually made a difference at the end of the year because she did not have enough money to bring recruits for their official visits.

In Western Nebraska Community College, coaches must keep the business office informed about what they are buying. Before the trips coaches can ask for cash in advance, it is one of the ways to get money. Request a specific amount of cash to take it to the tournament. After the tournament coaches must give detailed information of how much money they got, how much money they spent and how it was spent it. Coaches must keep every receipt they got for, food, accommodation and others. Another way to get money for tournaments is by requesting a check.

Coaches must request the check at least one week in advance by going online to their accounts and filling up a check request. The last way to get money is by paying things out of their own pocket, keeping the receipts and attached to a check request form after the tournament. This way the business office can see how much money the coach spent to be reimbursed.

Unfortunately since we are not in season and the trips we made this semester were not too far from here, I did not have the chance to work enough with budgeting. However, I had the chance to keep track of all the money we spend at one of our tournaments and filled out the forms that were needed.

At Western Nebraska Community College budget is allocated into a few different areas: the following are the main ones.

1.

Travel a. Travel Team i. Lodging ii. Food iii. Gas

2.

Equipment a. Team gear (court shoes, running shoes, jerseys, game shorts, practice spandex, tshirt, socks, kneepads, water bottles, etc.) b. Volleyball gear (balls, ball carts, net, pols, antennas, etc.)

3.

Volleyball Summer camps

4.

Recruiting a. Visits b. Recruiting trips i. Hotel ii. University athlete purchases iii. Food iv. Car v. Airplane ticket

What did I learn?

I learned that the very first step in becoming financially responsible with the team is by knowing my budget and keeping track of all spending. It is extremely important to have an idea of what we want to buy, how we are going to buy it and how much money we have to get it. The best reason for having a budget is that it will relieve the stress connected with worrying where the money is going. Having a budget helps to keep the stress down and it helps to have a peace of mind where coaches know exactly how much they have to spend each and every month and by

simply checking where they stand with it during the course of the month. Budget shouldn't be complicated, it should be kept simple. Here at Western Nebraska Community College all the budgeting expenses are turned in to the business office. However, it is really important for coaches to also have a copy of everything they turn in just in case the business office misses something.

I learned that it is very important to use the taxes empts card given by the college every time we feed the team. Staff members at the business office get really angry when it is not use. Also, when turning the receipts in, all of them must be animated, so the business office can know exactly how coaches spend the money. If a coach missed some receipts, or forgets to get them after feeding the team, it means that the coach must pay that money out of their own pocket and give it to the college since they need proofs of how each dollar was spend.

Asking for a thousand dollars cash or checks sometimes can be very challenging. It is important to ask for them ahead of time since the request needs to be approved by the athletic director, the vice president of students and the dean of students as well. If it does not get approved for all three of them the business office cannot release the money.

5.

Organizing and Scheduling

At the beginning of my internship, my focus goal with organizing and scheduling was that I wanted to learn how to create and organize a volleyball schedule. I wanted to learn what is needed to hire officials and line judge to our home games as well as the people on the table.

Also, how to successfully organize practice, games, etc. I met my goal and I learned a lot more of what I expected.

How did I accomplish it?

Organizing Organizing involves pretty much everything in the program. It shows the structure of the program and the way in which things get done. Each program have their own values and rules, here in Western Nebraska Community College head coach Giovana Melo tries to keep all his staff on the same page to be able to move forward and work smoothly.

Recruiting is one of the biggest keys to coaching. Once, we have selected the players we want to recruit, we must organize what she is going to do during her official visit. First, we need to talk to the recruit and ask her what major is she interested in. Once we know what the she wants to study, we need to talk to the student’s services office and let them know when we will have a recruit on campus. In student’s services, specifically admissions, they help us to create a schedule for the recruit, adding some meeting with faculty members and tours around campus. If the recruit stays overnight, as coaches we talk to our players and organize where the recruit is going to stay and we make sure they talk and hang out with the recruit as well.

Practices are fundamental to make the team the best they can possible be. Indeed, they must be planned. Every day before practice I meet with the head coach and we plan exactly what we are going to do for practice. The first thing we do is think about what we need to work on; are there some players that need extra work? Should we make those players come in a little before than the rest of the team? Etc., we normally spend at least one hour everyday planning practice. Once we are done planning practice, I go to the equipment room and make sure all the ball are pumped and that we have everything to set up the net.

Organizing home games is very important. Everything must go well. During practices the team normally sets up the net. However, during games we coaches make sure the girls only focus on

the game. We need to first, talk to FBG which is the company that helps to set up the gym, and let them know we will have a home game. Second, I need to talk to the people in the cafeteria to let them know that the volleyball team is going to eat earlier than dinner time. So, they have some food ready for them. Third, I make sure we have two official ball games, all the warm up balls are pumped and that all the players get to the gym on time. Fourth, I set up the camera before the match. Finally, the head coach overseas my work and lets me know if there is something else I need to get done.

Scheduling To go to nationals all teams must win their region first. Western Nebraska Community College plays in the Region IX to have the chance to go to nationals. WNCC has been the Region IX champs for the last 14 years straight. Unfortunately this region is not very competitive, for this reason, some changes were made to the 2013 schedule. The main reason to change the schedule was to make it more competitive. It was accomplished by contacting different coaches and finding tournaments with high level teams.

Practices, classes and workouts are schedule carefully so they do not overlap each other. Practice normally is at 3pm, so the players can go to classes during the morning and be ready in the afternoon. For lifting and conditioning the best time to have the whole team together is in the morning at 6am.

Here at Western Nebraska Community College, the referees at the home matches are always the same people for two reasons: convenience is the first one, it is cheaper and better to have local people than bringing someone else to ref the match. Second, refs must be certified, and around the Scottsbluff area they are very few ref certified.

What did I learn?

I learned that organizing and scheduling is a lot more complex of what I thought it would be.

Organizing is a lot more than just making sure everybody is doing their job. Organizing involves every single detail. By organizing all the activities and duties with the team I learned how much easier things can be. By being organized we take into consideration future plans which will allow us to follow a path without many obstacles to reach our goals. Being organized helped me to manage even better my time since I knew what I need it to get done without time-consuming search. Therefore, I was able to focus on the task at hand instead of scrambling each time I need to find something.

Scheduling games can be very challenging; however, it is vital to keep the schedule game competitive in order to be good. To be able to win against good teams we must play at a high level. Also another reason for which the game schedule should be competitive is because competition can push the players to higher levels of performance helping them to gain confidence and self-stem.

6.

Travel Team

Triple Crown Sports, Inc. Is a sports company that is in charge to recruit teams from different disciplines all around the country and help them go to different tournaments. This year Triple Crown contacted head coach Giovana Melo to be responsible for the Nebraska volleyball team going to Richmond VA in June 2013. Head coach Giovana Melo accepted to take the team. This team will go to Richmond for one week where they will be able to participate in a team camp and a showcase.

How Did I accomplish it?

The first thing we did at the beginning of the year was a tryout. It went pretty well around 28 young players showed up. Since we had that many players trying out we decided to make two teams. Team A and Team B. Giovana Melo will be the head coach for the first team, and I will be the head coach for the second team. The teams will be integrated by high school students. At the beginning of the internship I was very excited for this opportunity because I will be managing my own team.

Communication is really important. The players I am working with are young. They are around sixteen years old. I am not only had to be very clear with them but I also had to talked with their parents to make sure they are informed of what is going on. I emailed parents with some information about the trip, What did I learn?

We have not yet going into this trip. However during the process I have learned that communication is really important. I needed to keep all my players informed of what was going on, what days we were going to meet, what days we were going to have a little practice, etc.

I learned how to communicate with parents. At WNCC I do not talk to parents because their daughters are old enough to know what they are doing right or wrong and make their own decisions. I talk to parents only when they come to visit their daughter or if they want to specifically ask me something. With the travel team, the kids are between fourteen and sixteen years old so parents must be informed of everything since the kids may forget some stuff.

I am very anxious for this tournament to see how I do as head coach for the first time in my life.

I plan to apply all the skills I have learned in school, in this internship and in my personal experiences.

Benefits of intern at Western Nebraska Community College

Doing my Internship at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) under the supervision of head volleyball coach Giovana Melo brought me many personal and professional benefits: Personal Benefits: This internship not only has helped me as a coach but it has also helped me in my personal life.

With this internship I: 

Decided that coaching is the right career for me: this internship helped me realized that coaching is what I really want to do for my future.

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Gained confidence: I improved myself in different aspects such as better oral and written communication, more volleyball knowledge, hold myself accountable etc, that it increased my confidence level.

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Applied classroom knowledge: During my master’s program I learned so much about coaching, ethical dilemmas, legal aspects of the sports, conflict resolution, and leadership among others. With this internship I was able to apply my classroom learning outcomes in real life situations.

Professional Benefits: This internship helped me to be a better coach all the way around. My duties before the internship only involved the volleyball aspect of coaching. Once I started with my internship I received a lot more responsibilities. 

Gained valuable work experience: There are some things in life that cannot be taught in the classroom. I attended to one big convention where I learned a lot about coaching volleyball from high level volleyball coaches.

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Skill development: My coaching skills have improved with this experience since I got involved with so many different aspects of coaching.

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Networking opportunities: Going to recruiting trips helped me to create a bigger coaching networking which I can benefit from in the future while looking for other jobs or looking for more players.

Conclusion This internship is one of the best real life experiences of my whole life. I am very glad and happy I had the chance and the opportunity to work with a great coaching staff in a great place as it is Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC).

Coaching is more than just getting practice done. Coaching involves so many things people are not aware of. Coaching is helping the players to be the best players they can be but not only that, also, help them to get through school by teaching them how to manage their time. Being a College Volleyball coach can be a very rewarding career. As a coach you have the opportunity to build something that reflects your personality and desires; here at WNCC the volleyball program reflects the values of the head coach Giovana Melo.

Working at WNCC gave me a real idea of what is coaching. I have been involved around volleyball for many years now but it was always as a player and as a player I did not realize how much work my coaches did to keep the team at the top. As a player I never worried about anything but practices and getting my job done. As a coach I have learned that all little things matter.

Being a well communicator is extremely important as a coach. We are always talking to other coaches, players, co-workers, staff members from other departments among others.

Communication is vital to receive help from others and to be respected. The way we talk and the way in which we express ourselves says a lot of who we are.

Coaching is carrying about the players in every aspect, is providing leadership and mentoring to a college student for them to be better in life. There are many, many other ways to earn a living, but I have not seen yet any other job that is as emotionally rewarding as coaching.

I am very satisfied with all my learning outcomes in the past few months. I have extended my coaching knowledge as well as my motivation to keep working in this field.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question Question:  

What is the name, size, and location of the business/organization of your site?

Define the purpose of your business/organization.

I am doing my internship at Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC). WNCC is a community college that has a broad range of purposes for attending. It has an award winning facility and a vast selection of courses to help students to start their collegiate career, and help them to broaden their professional opportunities for their lifetime career.

WNCC is located in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and has about 2,395 enrolled students. The town of Scottsbluff has about 14,500 people, and is surrounded to many cities similar to Scottsbluff. The town has national monuments that are very beautiful to visit, a lake, and lots of bluffs to help you recreationally have a good experience in the town. There are many things to do in this town and all the people are very friendly and supportive. The community is like one big family that comes to support WNCC's athletics, theater, and any other school sanctioned events. Western Nebraska Community College has everything in more and I am glad to be doing my internship at such a great place.

The faculty is very well educated and come from all over to help teach the students to become the best students possible. The class sizes are a lot smaller than the average class size in colleges, which allows the teachers to have a personal connection with the student and are able to give the student the attention when they need it. There is also a wide selection of tutors and student instructors to help the students in the subjects they need the help in and help the do all they can

in order to achieve success. The school has all the tools for student s to be successful in the class room. The school is also very helpful in getting the student to a university to finish their associate degree and start their bachelor’s career.

Western Nebraska Community College is also very well known for their nationally ranked athletic programs. Each year several sports teams are very successful and are top programs for students to come play and get a well-rounded college experience. Volleyball did very well this past year finishing second in the nation, and has always been known for doing very well throughout the season. Softball and Basketball, men's and women's, have also been known for being successful programs. The athletic program at WNCC helps the student athlete get a great education while also helping them to move on to play at a university and finish their college degree.

Fatima Balza Internship Weekly reflective Question

Question: What is your job description? What are your responsibilities?

Institution:

Western Nebraska Community College

Job title:

Assistant Volleyball Coach

Job Description: 1. Before internship 2. After Internship 1. Job description before Internship: Currently I am the graduated assistant coach at Western Nebraska Community College. I have been working the position for the last 18 months. In this period of time my duties were strictly focus to the coaching aspect. In other words, my job was to coach the players in the court, to help them to get better volleyball wise. Also, I helped with the conditioning, making sure the girls did the right moves while lifting for example, or keeping the time while running.

2. Job description after Internship Starting this internship my role is no longer only in the volleyball court. With this internship my responsibilities have changed and now I am in charge of so much more than just the volleyball aspect. 

Study hall: One of my responsibilities outside volleyball is study hall. Every day we have study hall as a team. Before the team used to meet with the student manager at the library for two hours to do study hall. I never thought it was a good way to do it,

since I’m in charge I made some changes. Instead of meeting in the library I reserved a classroom with computers where I can see exactly what each player is doing. 

Recruiting: Getting good players is part of how successful your team can be. One of my new responsibilities is keep in touch with recruits and get new players for our program. I never went recruiting before, this year I have been into two recruiting tournaments and honestly I did not know what to expect. The very first time I was lost with everything, the second time I was more familiar with the process.

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Conditioning and lifting weights: The conditioning aspect of the team should never be the same. Since we are a small junior college, we do not have the money to hire a straight and conditioning coach. This semester I am in charge not only to monitor our player during the workout but actually I have to create the workout myself.

Lifting workouts and sprints and conditioning drills.

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Assists the head coach in managing and directing the volleyball program.

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Assists the head volleyball coach with all aspects of the team including training, competing and scheduling.

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Organize and maintain accurate inventory of volleyball equipment and uniforms

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Help to Coordinates travel arrangements

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Complete other assigned administrative duties in a timely manner

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Promote and market the program

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Assist with scouting opponents

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question

Question: Describe the effective and ineffective mechanisms of organizational communication at your site. (Support with specific examples and suggestions for modification.)

Organizational communication includes emails, memos, phone conversations, video conferences, teleconferences, presentations, more meetings, etc. All of which are effective ways of communication. But how theses communication methods are carried out can determine whether or not the message was sent effectively or ineffectively.

Emails are a very common way to communicate in the office, and it is an easy way of doing it.

Our department rule is; always respond to an email within 24 hrs. Everyone has access to email even if they are away from the office now-a-days. Even if you do not have an answer to an email, make sure you respond.

Video conferences are an effective means of communication. Our staff has had several training sessions with video conferences. Anywhere from learning a new email system to learning new recruiting materials.

Teleconferences is how our conference is able to meet a as a group and hold discussions. This is very effective because only 1 time per year, all of the coaches are required to attend a meeting, but other than that all discussion are held via telephone.

Presentations are also effective. Presentations are an effective way of showing what needs to happen or what needs to get accomplished. Meetings are a way for everyone to be “on the same page� in a sense.

Each month we have one staff meeting which includes everyone under athletics and once a month we also have a coaches meeting. But while sitting in a room with everyone seems like a good idea, most of the topics have already been discussed, via email or telephone or memo. So a lot of times I feel like meetings take away from time that could have spent being productive.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question

Question: Imagine you are a manager within your organization. Propose some changes that would increase efficiency and working conditions or boost employee morale.

One would think that if you have the best talent in your workplace, you will have the most productive workplace. That is not necessarily true. Along with the best talent the right environment, conditions and set up needs to be in place in order to increase efficiency and boost employee morale. If I was the manager of my organization I would make sure that my employees knew of the following 9 Rules that would ensure quality of life on the job as well as establishing a high rate of work efficiency.

1. Accountability.

This is at the top of the list. Employees need to know that they are going to be held accountable for their actions and output. This will ensure most of all that your employees do not take advantage of situations at work. Anyone with supervising duties would need to come up with a plan of how to make their employees accountable. On top of that, I establish a list of criteria for my supervisors to make sure they are held accountable as well.

2. Follow Up. Each task that is assigned to an employee needs a follow up plan. How did we benefit? How can we get better when performing this task again? What changes need to be made?

3. Avoid Micromanaging.

My employees must know that while there are rules to establish accountability and follow up measures to ensure they are on the right path, there will not be micromanagement. Employees

need to know that they can thin for themselves, have ideas, create and try new things without the pressure of being micromanaged.

4.

Rewards and Recognize.

Encouragement at any stage of our lives is a must. Employees must know that they will be rewarded for their hard work. Whether that’s in a bonus check, paid conference trips or a simple recognition at a staff function in front of their peers.

5. Open Door Policy.

I want my employees to know that their quality of life is more important than any job can ever be. They must be happy in order for me to be happy with their work. I want my employees to know that my ears are open at any time for anything they need to say. Obviously, within reason.

But I believe if you establish the accountability, the follow up, avoid micro managing and reward and recognize, a bigger relationship starts to develop naturally between a manager and her employees.

6. Realistic Targets/Goals.

Farfetched goals make for unrealistic work. I want to have a set of goals for the organization at the start of each year, semester or quarter, whatever it may be. And they will be realistic. Goals are not dreams. Dreams go beyond goals. Goals are things that we as an organization CAN achieve with hard work.

7. Teamwork.

While we all may be doing separate jobs, it is the overall main goal that is in mind. And we can only achieve this if we work together. We create a community or a family in our place of work.

If teamwork is involved, employees are much more likely to reach out to each other and be happier in the workplace.

8. Less Meetings and More Action.

I want my employers to know that if I am taking time from their day to attend a meeting it is because we are going to get better. Meetings are a place where everyone benefits. Whether that is in a form of a workshop or some means of work enhancement. We will not meet to waste time. Meetings will be a place of productivity.

9. Equipment and Tools.

I would promise my employers that we would stay on top of the time by giving them the proper tools. Computers, smart phones, laptops, ipads, etc. Everything that we need to increase productivity within reason will be given accordingly.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question

Question: Describe a conflict within your organization, past or present, (actual or possible) and discuss how it concluded or how you would like to see it conclude. Provide information about how you would have handled such a situation or if the conflict has not yet concluded, describe how you would bring resolution to the conflict if it was your responsibility

A very big conflict within our organization right now, is how to separate the same departments that work under the same roof can somehow not manage to work together.

Athletics department is built with many other coaches and sport programs. There are constant debates and conflicts between coaches. There are endless battles over who should have what times scheduled and how much money it costs to reserve space in the different venues. All of Athletics coaches have offices in the same building and it goes as far as walking down the hallway and not saying hello to people. Some Athletics staff do not like other members, without even a glance, one will not say hello or smile to the other.

This is an ongoing issue. I would very much like to see everybody working together and helping each other with their needs. We need to find a compromise. But many times some coaches think that their needs are greater than the others. In handling this situation there need to be some big changes. I think job descriptions need to be re-written. Some individuals have been staffed here for so long that they are stuck in "old ways." I agree that each athletic program need to be satisfied but it is hard when there is not a new set of eyes to see what is really happening. With the staff that has been around for so long, we as a department are not changing with the times.

If it was up to me, I would bring some new young workers in that saw these jobs as something new and special. I would rewrite job descriptions because I think with the changing of times, so

do jobs and there specifications.. I'm not a big proponent of office bonding because I hunk it cuts into productivity time, but there needs to be a common thread established among coaches in order to work as one unit.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question

Question: Describe the effective and ineffective mechanisms of personal communication within your unit or immediate work environment that affect your ability to carry out your day to day responsibilities. Include specific examples and suggestions for modification

Mechanisms of personal communication within our coaching staff and team include phone calls, video conferences or Skype, texting, emails, meetings and daily interaction with who we are immediately working with.

Phone calls are made to recruits on a weekly basis. Checking in and making sure a recruit is interested or still interested in us as a college and volleyball program is something that happens at least bi-weekly for each individual recruit.

Skype is used mostly for when we are speaking with an international player that is thinking about coming over to play for us. Most international students are not able to come to campus to see what it is like or what we are like as a coaching staff. Skype makes it easier for the potential student athlete to see what we are really all about by having face to face conversations.

Texting is how we communicate as a coaching staff and how we communicate with our players on a daily basis. It is not the most personal of ways to connect with an individual, but if something simple needs to be communicated to our team or to my boss in the shortest amount of time possible, texting is the way to do that.

Emails are an effective way to communicate more complex issues to our team and within the coaching staff. Many times issues involving community service events, banquets traveling schedules, etc. are communicated this way.

Meetings are things that we make sure to have; especially within our coaching staff and with our players. So much information is given to our players electronically. Not much is done on a face to face basis anymore. We make sure that every semester; we sit down with our players and speak individually to them. We talk about everything from classes, to the court, to how their families are doing. This is very important, again, because so much communication is not done face to face anymore, we need to make that connection. We also have daily meetings as a coaching staff to talk about practice and write up a plan. This is to ensure that we are utilizing our court time efficiently and effectively.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekle reflection question

Question: Describe an ethical dilemma at your workplace, (actual or possible) that you have observed or of which you have been a part. Discuss why you feel this dilemma exists and what actions were/are necessary to resolve the dilemma

It did not happen during my internship but 3 years ago I worked with the club team at the Penn State University. I had two roommates. One was a very good friend of mine and the other was a coworker hat I was just beginning to know, but felt like we were becoming friends. We both worked at the university as assistant coaches for different sports. Unlike my team, her student athletes were older. They were individuals that had competed at a high level and then decided to come back to school to get a degree. It is fair to say that her student athletes were only a few years apart in age difference from her.

As the year went on I began to notice a trend. At night or on weekends, if my roommates and I would go out, our one roommate's student athletes would be out too. Instead of avoiding being around them in an unprofessional setting, my roommate would eventually act like their friend around them and leave me in a very uncomfortable situation. In fact she would even communicate with them in a very unprofessional manner.

Again, this seemed to happen on a regular basis. So I confronted my roommate/coworker about the behavior. I would never be out in a social setting with my student athletes and I didn't think it was right that she was out with hers. She reassured me that nothing was strange about it. Her student athletes were older and it was just the nature of the team. So, I went along with the idea and just decided I would continue to remove myself if an uncomfortable situation arose.

A couple weeks later my other roommate and I arrived home for lunch unexpectedly. We parked it cars in the driveway walked in together laughing that we never came home for lunch let alone on the same day. When we walked in, my coworker had a student athlete in the house with her.

I was a little surprised. And honestly, I think she was as well. This particular student athlete was of the opposite sex to add to it. The response to the question, "what are you both doing here ?" was that they were reviewing film. In my opinion that is something that should be done in the office. So, with some awkward exchanges, my other roommate and I had lunch and left.

Later that night I confronted my coworker again. I said I don't think that you should have student athletes over to the house. Especially since I work there as well and I am uncomfortable with it. I also expressed my thoughts that his was the extreme of being too close to her student athletes and she could be in a lot of trouble if her head coach knew she was having student athletes to the house. Once again, she tried to reassure me that there was nothing going on between her and this particular student athlete as well as with any of her student athletes.

About 2 weeks later my coworker moved out. Her habits didn't change. She denied any wrong doing. We came home one day to find her belongings gone and she moved out. It was very awkward around the office for the rest of the year. At the end of the school year, my coworker was not on the staff anymore. And the rumors about her and the particular student athlete were outrageous. She never did change and ultimately was no longer employed here.

I think when hiring a person in power of people that are of or close to the same age, the conversation of what is appropriate behavior and what is not should take place. Even when you are not close to the same age, appropriate behavior should be a topic of conversation in the hiring process, especially if students are involved.

Looking back on the situation I wish I would have done a couple of things differently. I wish I would have confronted her the very first time I thought it was an uncomfortable situation. I should have never let her talk me in to thinking what she was doing wasn't entirely wrong. I should not have believed her when she said she would change. One of the biggest steps I should have taken to resolving the issue early one would have been to tell her boss or someone of a higher power. That way she would have seen the consequences more clearly.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question Question:

Discuss how your classroom learning applies to your internship experience

My classroom learning outcomes helped me with this internship. During the last two years as a full-time student at Chadron State College, I worked very hard trying to be the best student I could possibly be through hard work and dedication. However, while doing my school work I always thought about different ways in which I could apply my learning’s in real life. During my program I took classes such as: coaching philosophy, sports law, sport management, high performance leadership and organizational behavior. All of these classes had a great impact in how I did thing in my internship.

Coaching philosophy: Learning about coaching is not about reading a book that tells you what to do in certain situations, it is about reading and getting informed about what is currently happening in the sports industry and how these problems are being solve. During this class I learned a lot about current situations and how they were being faced. For example the scandal of the University of Miami was a good assignment during this class. Finding different articles and giving our opinion of how the coaches are facing the situation and what would I do if I were the coach in a situation like that. I learned to identify what is right, wrong, and or beneficial for the team before making a decision. Sometimes in the world of sports more than just one player are involved in a specific situation, teammates, coaches, parents, media, fans etc., get involved and being able to make the right decision at the right moment is crucial to keep a good image Sports law: This class helped me with my internship because I learned new things and reinforces my knowledge about others. What I really liked about this class was being able to put it in

practice right the way at my job. I learned the importance of waivers. Waiver it is very important for director of sport events, recreation and sport managers to have a well-written, properly administrated waiver, voluntary signed by an adult because it can be used to protect the recreation or sport business from liability for ordinary negligence by the business or its employees. We had a small not very well written waiver at the volleyball camps, but after learning and reading about it during my class I talked to the head coach and I actually got to write a better waiver for the volleyball camps at Western Nebraska Community College Sports management: During this class I learned the way in which organizations interact with each other and the government as well. To be able to successfully administrate an organization it is important to learned or be familiarized with budgeting, marketing, and even fund-raising among others. During this class I also learned how to manage a budget and we put it in practice by proposing a mini grant budget. This specific assignment gave me an idea of how to deal with a real budget just like I did during my internship. Also, it is important to know what are the weakness, strengths, opportunities and threats of the program and there is no better way to do it than conducting a SWOT analysis I did conduct a SWOT analysis with the WNCC volleyball players.

High performance leadership: I really like how a lot of the assignments were personal questions that made me think about my leadership skills. As a coach it is important to be a leader and lead by example. Before this course I had in mind that I was a good leader, I had experience leading others and helping them to be better. But after this course started questioning how good of a leader I am, not in a bad way, but in a way where I realized that there is a lot that I need to learn and practice about leadership before I become a high performance leader.

Organizational behavior: I learned that Organizational behavior is a new accepted theory concerned to the understanding, predicting, and management of human behavior in organizations. By taking this class I acquired management skills and awareness of organizational behavior. Concepts such as social responsibility, diversity, motivation, ethics, reward system, culture, personality, attributes, communication, conflicts and power, group and team among others, were studied and discussed during the class period. This class helped me during my internship because I learn the value and importance of human capital, I tried to give my players more knowledge about everything, volleyball, time management, nutrition etc.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective questions

Question: What have you learned about the value of your education in preparing you for, or not preparing you for your career? Explain.

Education is something that nobody will ever be able to take away from me. Since I was little my family always taught me the importance of education. I did my undergraduate studies in Communication arts and Sciences (CAS). Being a Communication Arts and sciences major I learned to think across disciplines, allowing my mind to reach its fullest potential. CAS did not prepare me for a specific career, it prepared me for life. Nowadays employers seek individuals who received a liberal arts education because they want individuals who can think creatively and logically. They also seek employees who can solve problems effectively and are able to adapt to change. Lastly, employers are now searching for individuals who have a well-rounded education rather than those who were trained in one field.

So why did I get a communication arts and Sciences degree? First because I was not sure what exactly I wanted to do in the future and I understood that with a communication majors a lot of different doors will open. CAS provided me with strong verbal and written communication skills, problem solving skills, a passion for learning, a global understanding, leadership, creative, logical, and critical thinking, versatility and adaptability, and strong interpersonal skills.

After getting my undergraduate I realize I wanted to be a volleyball coach. I know my communication degree combined with my volleyball experience was going to be great to apply as assistant coach to any school. However, more education will never hurt me. I decided to go

ahead and get my master’s degree in Organizational management with a focus on Sport management.

As an undergraduate I thought I had very good time management, As a postgraduate student I learned to have more determination, self-discipline, and a lot better management of my time. At the master’s program level, class work was more challenging. Even thought a lot of classes were very similar to the ones I took during my undergraduate such as leadership, organizational behavior, research communication etc., each class had a different challenge. My classes at this level not only helped me with my leadership skill and the way I handle things but also helped me to give me a general idea of how to solve problems and handle situations as a coach and or any staff member involved in sports.

Also, having a master’s degree immediately differentiates one from other graduates. It's very simplistic to propose this, but master’s degrees are different and, well, impressive. That extra attention may make the difference between an application in the bin and an interview.

I work with young woman who are very emotional. In teams and especially in females groups emotions are all over the place. The age group I work with are mostly freshman and sophomore in college who still have a lot going on in their minds and not all of them are mature enough to do things on their own. Some of them like to gossip, others do not care as much about the team, and other give everything they have to make themselves and the team better. Thanks to my education, I took a lot of several classes were they taught me abut, conflict management, leadership, in my coaching class I learned about teamwork and how get the team together, I did several communication classes and I was exposed to analytical thinking. I took sports ethics, sport law, psychology which also helped me to understand others and to separate my feelings from logic.

I am glad my education and most of my classes have helped me to be a better coach. I am able, at least most of the time, to analyze things carefully and not jump to make my own conclusions.

At this point of my life, I have in mind that at in the next two or three years I will start my Ph.D. in coaching as well.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question Question: Discuss how the experience is or is not meeting your expectations. How will you apply yourself differently for the remainder of the internship? What factors would improve your experience?

My overall experience at Western Nebraska Community College was above and beyond my expectations. My motivation after this internship has increased enormously, I want to keep learning, I want to go to more conventions, I want to go to seminars, learn more from different coaches as well.

This internship not only helped me to have a real and clear understanding of all the duties a coach must have, but also helped me to understand the importance and value of having a master’s degree. Talking to the head coach Giovana Melo, she explained me how having a master’s is really important because it could open more doors. As a coach, having a masters I could be able to teach some classes.

I love getting and accepting new challenges and I am very thankful and glad that my supervisor Giovana Melo trusted me to get done some important aspects for the program. For example, I expected to go in recruiting trips, but I never expected that my supervisor was going to let me go by myself trusting my point of view and recommendations. I am very happy and satisfied with the quality of the supervision. Giovana Melo tried to help me as much as possible, she taught me how to manage a budget, gave me advises, showed me the way she get things done and why she does it that way among others. The training provided during my internship was mostly talking to my supervisor, going to conferences and having the responsibilities to do things on my own by being able to make decision for the team.

For the remainder of my internship I do not think I will change absolutely anything of what I have been doing since I started; I will keep doing this the way I am, being very open minded, trying to do my best in my duties, listening, getting things done when I am supposed to and keep my motivation high. My internship is almost over and I want to finish it with the same energy and even with more energy of how I started it.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflection question

Question: What would you have done differently for this internship experience?

I would not have done anything differently. All of the moments in this internship, everyone I met, each mistake I made, every tip I made, every success I had, everything happened for a reason. It either helped me to be better at something, or gave me the feeling of satisfaction for getting the job well done.

On the basis of past I can improve my present and secure my future. In my opinion past events are important to have a better future. I remember during my internship I made a coaching mistake. I went to Vegas to recruit players, it was my second time recruiting, I did not know too many coaches but I saw one coach I knew who was recruiting as well. During our break, I was talking to this coach from a different junior college and we were talking about our teams. She was telling me the challenges that she will have for next season and I mentioned some of the challenges we will have for our season as well. In the conversation, I mentioned that we might do not bring back one of our starters players because her attitude is not the right one for our program. We kept talking for a while but then we went back to work. Couple weeks later she called my head coach to ask about the player I had told her, she wanted to know what the player status was because she was looking for a player and she wanted to know if we were definitely going to keep her or if we were going to release her. After my head coach got off the phone with her, she immediately called me and asked me why I was telling other coaches about the problems or decision we made on our team. I was upset with myself because I never thought that the conversation was going to ended up that way. The other coach took our friendly conversation

into business; I quickly learned to be more careful to what I say. I learned that what happened on my team it only concerns to my team and anybody else. I would not change the fact I told the other coach about our player, but I made sure I learned from it.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflection question Question: Describe your short term and long term career goals and design your pathway for achieving these goals. Where are you now in relation to these goals and how do you plan to get where you want to be? How is the internship assisting you on your pathway?

Short term goals: 

Graduate from Chadron State College (CSC) in May 2013 with a master’s degree of Sciences in Organizational Management – Sports Management Focus Area



Coach volleyball camps at the Mitchell high school during the summer 2013

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Coach volleyball camps at Western Nebraska Community College during the summer 2013



Be the assistant volleyball coach at Western Nebraska Community College during the Fall 2013

Right now I am very close to get my master’s degree of Sciences in Organizational Management–Sports Management Focus Area, which is going to help me to have more opportunities in the future. After I graduate from CSC, I plan to work with some of the local communities and help young players develop. With my internship I have learned what is needed to manage a team and I think I will be able to do it on my own. Also, I am planning on working at WNCC some summer camps, I would not run the camps by myself. In this opportunity I will

be working for Giovana Melo, but I think this experience will help me to evaluate myself and see what else I could have done while working with the young players around the area. I love WNCC and I love my internship experience, I would like to stay in WNCC for at least one more season.

Long term Goals: 

Ph.D. in coaching or related to sports.



Have my own club volleyball team.

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Be an assistant volleyball coach at the NCAA level Division 1 or Division 2.



Be a head coach at the NCAA division 1 level.



Teach a coaching class

My short term goals are related to my long term goals. I believe that in order to achieve the long term goals I need to achieve the short term goals first. I want to coach in small school first to gain more confidence and be able to coach at the next level. This internship has helped understand the basic knowledge and duties of a coach which will be useful for the rest of my career. What I have learned so far about coaching is the base of my own pyramid which must be the most solid part in order to keep adding more things and succeed. First, I would like to have my own club team, this way I can put my name out and get to know other coaches. Then, I would like to apply to be an assistant coach at the Division 1 or Division 2 level after few years I would like to go to the next level and apply for the head coach position. Finally, as a head coach in a four year school I would like to teach some coaching classes because I think by then I will have not only more education, but enough experience. I know it is going to take a lot of time to reach my goals, but I am motivated to take one step at a time to make sure I am going on the right direction.

Fatima N. Balza Internship Weekly reflective question Question: What have you learned about this occupation or profession?

During my internship, I went to a coaching clinic led by Carl McGown. McGown is a cofounder of the Gold Medal Squared coaching philosophy. McGown’s was an Assistant for the USA men’s team, Head coach for the USA men’s team, Head coach for BYU men’s, where he won 2 national championships and most recently Head of the Swiss National Men’s team. McGown and other colleagues over the years have done a number of statistical studies which led them to the GMS philosophy. Easy to say that McGown was one of the best at his professions, coaching volleyball. In 1996 while coaching at BYU, McGown invited a neighbor of his, who happened to be a Rocket Scientist, to watch one of his matches against Stanford. Stanford was ranked #1 in the nation. BYU took the match in 5 and everyone stormed the court. After the match was over the neighbor approached McGown and said, “that was the most exciting sporting event I have ever attended.” McGown opened the coaching clinic with that story. McGown goes on to talk about how the Rocket Scientist refers to how many parts and pieces of the puzzle there are to being a coach. That suggestion coming from a rocket scientist is very impressive. Since then I have learned many things about coaching. Since that coaching clinic I have learned that even a Rocket Scientist thinks being a coach is a complex job.

Many levels apply to the coaching profession; and at the top, is establishing fundamental beliefs; a coaching philosophy. First, coaches need to decide where they are getting their methods from and where they are getting their principles from. Stephen R. Covey makes a statement that directly relates to centering coaching techniques around correct principles. “Correct principles

do not change. They don’t depend on the behavior of others or the current fad for their validity.

They are not here one day and gone the next. Even in the midst of people or circumstances that seem to ignore the principles, we can be secure in the knowledge that principles are bigger than people or circumstances.”

Second, another decision a coach must make is how to facilitate motor learning or determine a teaching method. How am I as a coach going to help players understand hot to perform the skills of the game? Here is how: I am going to reduce the information given to the players. I need to determine what is important. I need to have written instruction on how I want these skills to be executed. I need to demonstrate the correct way to execute the skill. I need to decide when practicing how much to a practice in part and how much do I practice in whole. How much skill do I practice in a controlled setting and how much do I practice in a chaotic setting. How much does physical fatigue play in practice? By setting up all of these ideas above correctly, I can enhance motor memory. I can train players to recreate the skill in a game like situation, under pressure.

Third, another decision I would like to establish as a coach is, what is my standard for practice?

The answer for that is simple, our players believe it and our coaching staff believes it. “There are no little things.” Along with that practices are always “made the same.” They always start with an outline of practice on the white board. On the white board is also a skill description, a serious of ladders that the players are competing to move up on, and usually a quote of the day.

This is standard. As well as how our practices are run. While the goals and objectives of practice a specifically tailored, the standard of practice is always the same. The three decisions above describe philosophy, fundamental beliefs, facilitating learning motor skills and a practice

standard. These elements of being a coach must be in place to be successful I believe. But like Carl McGown’s neighbor insinuated, coaching is complex.

What I have not yet mentioned is the other skill sets that go into a coaches job: managing a budget, setting up an academic success plan for student athletes to follow, being a sports psychologist, the endless art of recruiting and organizing your recruits, being a good speaker at community service functions, running camps and mentoring the youth of your community, being able to scout other teams and break down game film, etc‌ I have learned that coaching requires someone with a well-rounded skill set and someone willing to be patient.

Fatima N. Balza 1311 East 27th street Scottsbluff, NE 69361 balzafatima@gmail.com Friday, April 19, 2013 Ms. Giovana Melo Head Volleyball Coach Western Nebraska Community College 1409 East 27th Street Sccotsbluff, NE 69361

Dear Ms. Giovana Melo, I wanted to thank you for the opportunity to work with you this Fall 2013 as volleyball assistant coach at Western Nebraska Community College. Although I have been working for you for the last two volleyball seasons; during my internship I had the opportunity to work with some aspects of the job that I was not familiar with. This internship helped me to have a better understanding of how recruiting works, how to effectively manage a budget, the importance of having good communications skills when having a travel team, the measures that need to be taken while organizing and scheduling games as well as helping the players to keep a good GPA to be eligible. This experience has made me more knowledge and I cannot wait to keep learning and getting better at this job.

The worked I performed during the internship allowed me to apply my university learning in a real world environment. Having worked with you, I have realized that this is the field in which I want to work in future. This was especially due to the great example you provided me by having a great program and particularly the help you gave me, which has motivated me to do even better for the future.

Thanks for your patience with me, the opportunity and for your support while working at western Nebraska Community College. I had a wonderful experience being the first intern for the program. I hope future interns will benefit from this experience as much as I have. Thanks again for the opportunity.

Sincerely,

Fatima N. Balza