With her 2015 volleyball season recently concluded, Becky Schmidt, Hope’s head coach and assistant professor of kinesiology, undoubtedly used a page or two out of her own book in coaching the national championship-defending Flying Dutch to another NCAA appearance (their eighth in a row) and a 24-7 overall record.
And not just her own playbook but her own textbook, too.
Schmidt is the author of the newly released, Volleyball: Steps to Success, a 216-page instructional publication published by Human Kinetics that provides guidance on serving, passing, setting, attacking, and blocking as well as tactics for playing various offensive and defensive schemes at all positions. The book features dozens of drills, illustrated by photos of Hope College students on the DeVos Fieldhouse court, as well as a self-scoring component that allows players to chart progress and accelerate improvement.
A project two years in the making, Schmidt wrote the book with club and high school volleyball players and their coaches in mind. She also wanted college students and instructors in volleyball activity classes to benefit from her book.
Schmidt vastly relates to each audience member to whom she writes, having stood in their same coaching, teaching, and playing shoes. As a former NCAA Division III All-American at Hope herself, and now, a professor of volleyball activity classes, a club coach of girls ages 12 to 18, an international coach of two U.S. teams to Italy and Australia, and, a 2014 national championship coach with over 350 wins in 15 years of head coaching at the Division III level, Schmidt knows from whence she writes.
“I wanted to break each step of the game down into fundamental pieces and I also wanted to make sure I communicated the importance of each of those pieces—and how they fit into the greater game,” Schmidt says of her writing process. “When teaching volleyball class, for example, we learn and talk about fundamental skills first, but we still play a lot of volleyball games in class. This book shows the lessons and importance of fundamental skills and techniques, alongside tactics, in context with the bigger game.”
“Leading her team to the NCAA Division III National Championship is testament to Coach Becky Schmidt’s acute knowledge of volleyball and approach to coaching,” endorses Sam Shweisky, head men’s volleyball coach at Princeton University. “In Volleyball: Steps to Success, she provides a game plan for improving skill level, mastering the fundamentals, and achieving success. This book will make any volleyball player or coach better.”
Schmidt is a 1999 graduate of Hope with a major in kinesiology. She subsequently completed a Master of Science degree in sports behavior and performance at Miami (OH) University 2003.
You can purchase Volleyball: Steps to Success at the college’s Hope-Geneva Bookstore. The Hope-Geneva Bookstore is located on the ground level of the DeWitt Center, 141 E. 12th St., Call 800.946.4673 or email bookstore@hope.edu.