Over the past two seasons, Eagle’s Landing High’s volleyball team has performed well, and the secret lies around head coach Joel Kellogg.
The Lady Golden Eagle’s high school volleyball program has excelled with a small number of athletes on the roster but a lot of the athletes have roots in Eagle’s Landing middle school.
“I do prefer smaller teams at every level,” Kellogg said. “My goal for the girls is that they will be versatile and get as much court and game time as possible. I want them all to build as many of the fundamentals at a young age and become familiar in all game situations. My favorite team roster situation is one in which every girl has a role and knows exactly how they are able to contribute to the team.”
Kellogg coaches at Eagle’s Landing middle throughout the high school offseason and wholeheartedly believes the middle school athletes he has helps his programs’ performance.
“I started at the middle school level when I first started coaching and have always enjoyed coaching at that level,” Kellogg said. “Being involved at the middle school level is crucial for building the fundamental skills and setting the overall tone and expectation level for those athletes looking to play at the next level.”
From reinforcing the skills for the program to teaching fundamentals it’s an important fact that building fundamentals has to be mastered. Kellogg says that it’s obvious that there individual skills don’t make the team.
“It is important to have athletes you know you can count on to perform the necessary roles on the court,” Kellogg said. “At Eagle’s Landing we are fortunate to have several older athletes who are invested so much in our program that they want to come over to the middle school practices on a daily basis and help our next generation of athletes build those necessary skills.”
Of course, there is some changes that even Kellogg had to make to his coaching. From having a love of coaching at the middle school level to coaching the 13U team, Kellogg has been blessed with an abundance of patience.
“Coaching the younger ages does require a certain amount of patience but that is an area where I feel God has blessed me with great abundance of,” Kellogg said. “As far as coaching goes, I think the skills and systems advance with age; but at the core, Eagle’s Landing volleyball is about two things, hard work and having fun. I tell my middle school girls all the time that the best way to have fun on the court is to play consistent and real volleyball.”
Kellogg even gave some details on his tryout process where he keeps an open mind on the squad. From move-ins to surprises at tryouts, the program always has something new to look at. However, Kellogg still relies on his strong belief that the future of the high school program is in the middle school.
Kellogg doesn’t get much of an offseason after the high school season. Maybe just a few weeks of June is all he gets but Kellogg doesn’t worry about that.
“From tryouts in May until we go to camp at the end of June is about the only time that I am not doing anything,” Kellogg said. “From November to December is fairly light since that is when the club season is just kicking off, but I am glad for the chance to stay involved with the sport throughout most of the year. It gives the girls in our program a way to stay involved and for me to stay involved with them.”
How Eagle’s Landing works from middle to high school is very unique. From the way the high schoolers help with middle school practices and games to how they get conditioning in the offseason, the Lady Golden Eagles are able to keep their skills brushed up.
“Between middle school and club seasons, there is not a much extra time or gym space to get in additional conditioning,” Kellogg said. “Once the end of June rolls around, we get back into full swing.”
EAGLE'S LANDING'S JOEL KELLOGG CHATS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF MIDDLE SCHOOL COACHING
