Since the first day I started playing volleyball, I have always played the setter position. But going into my sophomore year in high school I had never had any specific “setter training;” and as successful as my teams were, I was hearing comments from coaches of other teams like, “She is a great athlete who could be a good setter if she gets more coaching.” It was a pretty obvious consensus that if I was really going to take volleyball seriously, I needed to improve. With the help of my parents and club coach, I signed up for the Long Beach State Setter Camp that summer, to further work on my skills. Going into the camp, I felt pretty confident. My team success in both club and school volleyball in Washington led me to believe that I was one of the best setters around.

The first day of camp changed my life. I remember breaking up into age groups, with about fourteen girls in each.I immediately began sizing up my competition, and I couldn’t wait to start. There was no doubt in my mind that nobody wanted to be there as badly as I did. The coaching staff evaluated us as we started doing drills and basic setting skills. Then they began assigning us to two different groups. It was fairly clear, as it usually is, which group was the top level, and that was NOT the group I was assigned. Frustrated and disheartened, I called my mom during our first break. I told her how upset I was about being in the second group, and how all the girls in my group just goofed around and giggled the whole time (looking back now this makes me laugh). As usual, my mom helped me see things more clearly.

She reminded me that the reason I wanted to go to camp in the first place was to get better at volleyball. She basically told me that I needed an attitude adjustment, and that it was up to me to get what I wanted out of camp. She said not to worry about any other setters, but to watch the instructors, ask questions, and work hard to get everything I could out of the camp. I did just that, and I’m glad I did. This had a big influence on my volleyball career.I learned that although I had experienced success in Washington, there was an entire world of setters out there that were better than I was.

I will never forget the feeling I had that day watching the other setters in my age group get all the attention of the coaches for these amazing things they could do. I wanted to be as good as they were. At that moment, being a good high school setter seemed so far away, much less getting an opportunity to play in college! When the coaches (Long Beach State players) would demonstrate setting skills, I would sit there and think, “Wow, their hands are amazing! I bet their hands never looked like mine when they were my age.” My mom knew better.She helped me realize that nothing in life comes easily and that if you want to be good at anything, you have to take full advantage of every opportunity to improve yourself. And everyone, even college players, had to start somewhere.

I learned a lot about volleyball at this camp, including what to continue working on at home, and I gained insight into what I needed to focus on to become a better player. My high school team went on to win two more state championships, and while my club team was very successful on the national level, we never won that elusive national championship.Just like the camp had, this lit another fire in me. I took this fire with me to the University of Washington, where I was once again lucky to have a coach and many teammates who shared my passion. Our UW team went on to play in three national semifinals and in 2005, we won the NCAA National Championship. Now, 10 years after thinking I would never be good enough to play college volleyball, I am a setter on the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team trying to earn a spot on the 2012 Olympic Team.

My experiences, my teammates, and my mentors have taught me many things over the last 10 years, some of which I would like to share with you. The following are a few of the lessons I wish I would have known on my first day at camp…

Control what you can control

The greatest lesson I have learned is “not to look sideways.” Never compare yourself to anyone, never measure yourself to anyone, and most importantly, do not worry about anyone other than yourself. All that you can do is work to be the best that you can be, and in order to do that, you have to focus on only those things within your control. The Minute you start worrying about how good someone else is, or how tall she is, or what her team’s record is, you lose focus on what you need to do to win the next point. To win, you must be connected physically, mentally, and emotionally. All you can control is your own behavior, so stay focused on being the best that you can be.

An ant can move a mountain bit by bit

Small people can do big things. There are thousands of sports examples where the “underdog” has risen up against all the odds to prove her critics wrong. The best way to overcome your challenge, whether it’s being too small, too slow, not coordinated enough, etc., is to move your mountain bit by bit. The biggest dream can be achieved if you take it one day at a time. Chip away at your goal little by little, and if you keep your head down and work every day, you will be surprised at how far you’ve come, once you take a measure of your progress. Don’t be consumed with how impossible your goal seems, or with how much work you’ll have to put in to reach it. Be relentless. Be focused. Get better today, and move your mountain bit by bit, because it can be done.Let me repeat; small people can do big things.

Anything can happen — that’s why we play the game. Dream big. In
our society, we often put successful athletes on a pedestal. In doing so,
it can seem impossible for one of us to reach their level of success. It
happens at every level; junior high kids think high school kids are amazing,
high school kids think college kids are amazing, and college kids
think professionals are amazing. The reality is that we all start somewhere,
everybody is human, and at some point everyone has doubt.
There is no magic; professionals and Olympians go to practice every
day, and work on their weaknesses. They make mistakes, they have
bad days, and they have to work sometimes to motivate themselves.
These athletes have put in more work than most of their competitors,
and that is why they are successful.

Courtney Thompson earned AVCA All-America First-Team honors three times as setter for the Washington Huskies. She led her team to the national semifinals three times, winning the championship in 2005. Thompson is currently training with the U. S. Women’s National Volleyball Team in Anaheim, Calif., and co-authored her first book, Your First Hour, with Ryan Hite in 2009.