This year’s girl’s Varsity Volleyball Team is taking a new approach on how they see their season, the record their goals, and each other. This is Alaxandia Battin’s second year as head coach, and she is looking forward to taking the lessons she learned last year, and those she gathered at various collegiate coaching conventions over the past year, into her second season as a Rock.
Battin decided to shift her mindset this year. She knew that with the loss of powerhouse outside Addison Bomleyn from last year’s roster, the team’s record would be seen as a disappointment for the girls this year. However, Battin is determined to institute a new mindset in her players. “You already beat yourselves up enough,” Battin told her players in a postgame locker room talk. “It’s time to change our vocabulary to something positive.”
In response to Battin’s wisdom, the girls decided to begin a tradition of positive affirmations before games. As part of their pre-game ritual, the Varsity girls gather a circle and link pinkie fingers, then they take turns affirming themselves and the team with just one word. One player says a phrase from their heart, and the rest of the team repeats it aloud, as an assuring mantra that works to shift anxiety to confidence.
“More than half the game is mental,” said second year Junior captain AJ Stewart. “If we can all mentally prepare to win, I think we’re gonna win more games then we think.” Even though the team is only half-way through the season, significant improvements in positive mental health efforts have been made.
