Court Notes Volleyball Journal

For players seeking the next level... Based on the training logs and notebooks of Olympians and other world-class athletes, Court Notes Volleyball Journal provides a wide variety of reflective activities that can optimize an athlete's thinking, training, and performance. The journal includes match analyses, writing prompts, and note pages that will help players become "students of the game."

Coaches & Athletes' Thoughts on Writing, Team Notebooks, and Athletes’ Journals

"I like to have my student-athletes write about their experiences, be it about practice, a game, or even an injury. Writing helps them to analyze their play, thought processes, and feelings. It brings more meaning to what they are experiencing. Writing ... is a reminder of what we all are playing for and working towards." –Nicole Moore, Coach, Stetson University

"Team notebooks create a different way for players to learn." –Mike Keller, Head Coach, University of Southern Maine Men's Soccer

"I like free writing... it's a meditation, trying to open up the mind and go for it."
–David Chamberlain, Nor/Am SuperTour Cross-Country Ski Champion

"Writing provides another avenue for strengthening the player/coach relationship." –Brian Bold, Head Coach, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Soccer

"No one likes skiing with a cluttered mind, so put it on paper and free some space."–Carter Robertson, Alpine Ski Racer

“If this book did nothing else other than lay out opportunities for reflective writing, it would be a useful guide for coaches. But the book is more than a set of suggested practices; it is filled with examples of Richard Kent and other coaches interacting with their athletes. We get excerpts from the writing of coaches at all levels, and from athletes - high school soccer players to world class skiers. […] Through his own example, Kent teaches us how to read this writing - generously, thoughtfully, learning from the experiences of his athletes, even appreciating their goofy humor. He has the ability to pull nuggets of insight from writing that a less alert and sympathetic reader would miss. He is the kind of teacher who makes you feel smart.” Thomas Newkirk, University of New Hampshire, from the Foreword of Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports (Kent)

“Leading us outdoors and onto the playing field, Richard Kent offers a systematic approach to writing that has already assisted coaches to cultivate athletes’ reflection, shared consciousness, and improved performance. What an athlete needs, he makes clear, is writing.” –Julie Cheville, Illinois State University, Author of Minding the Body: What Student Athletes Know about Learning

“Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports illuminates a largely hidden side of coaching and athletics, one where writing is increasingly a part of the cultural norms for coaches, individual athletes, and entire teams. Richard Kent brings the powerful combination of sport and writing to life throughout the book by smartly weaving the literacy production of athletes into the discussion. Educators and coaches alike would do well to learn from the insights provided in this book […]” (Jeff Duncan-Andrade, San Francisco State University, Author of What a Coach Can Teach a Teacher)

Richard Kent, Ph.D., is a professor at the University of Maine. A former Olympic Development Program soccer coach and state ski coach, Kent is the author of many books, including Writing on the Bus: Using Athletic Team Notebooks and Journals to Advance Learning and Performance in Sports. Kent works with teams, athletes, and coaches across the USA and manages the resource website, WritingAthletes.com.
 
David Gallagher, Ph.D., is a professor at Mount Saint Mary College where he teaches courses in adolescent literacy and secondary education methods.  A former captain and setter at Boston University and Michigan State University, Gallagher has been in gyms and on sand courts playing volleyball since the age of five.