As the season begins for the WWU Wolves volleyball team, Coach Scott Schafer gives a special insight into the behind-the-scenes details of the team’s road to success.
WWU: What are your goals for this year’s team?
Scott Schafer: Our team goal this year is for our players to individually get better each practice, set, and match. As a member of the competitive Cascade Conference, we have a huge task before us to keep improving as a team to compete successfully.
WWU: What is your coaching philosophy?
Schafer: Philosophically, I want my team to learn to compete in the context of supporting each other as a team. We are only as strong as our team and building team chemistry through bonding goes a long way. We spend time working on those attributes that give great teams emotional strength.
WWU: Do you have a motto you say to the team to inspire them before the games?
Schafer: Each year my team picks a symbol that they want to represent their team throughout the year. We then talk throughout the season about how the attributes of the item are similar to successful teams. In past years our team picked a plant and a nail, and this year we chose a volleyball to represent our item. There are many parts of a ball that give it its shape and they all work together to accomplish that. We want our team to do the same thing. There is no one part of the ball that is more important than another. All parts are equal in their function to the whole.
WWU: Do you have prior experience coaching or other qualifications that will be helpful as this season progresses?
Schafer: I have been coaching volleyball since 2006 at various levels. This included junior high, high school, and also club volleyball of which I was the director. I have also been an acrobatic coach and basketball coach for many years.
WWU: Are there any specific things fans will enjoy seeing unfold on the court this season?
Schafer: My goal is for them to see our match-by-match improvement. We have a large number of talented freshman players along with our players from last year and it should be fun to see the growth as a team.
WWU: Do you have any family in the WWU area?
Schafer: I am an only child and my parents live here, which is part of the reason we moved here in 1995 so they could be close to their grandchildren. My wife, Carole, is a kindergarten teacher at Rogers Adventist School. My oldest daughter, Kelsie, lives in Loma Linda with her husband. My youngest daughter, Krista, is a setter on our team and is a senior social work major.
To learn more about the WWU Wolves volleyball team, including player statistics and game schedules, visit uwolves.com.
Posted on Oct. 3, 2019
