#CEVCoachesConvention: The Speakers: Eric Hodgson

With the #CEVCoachesConvention approaching (September 22-24, Sofia, Bulgaria, more information here), the participants are eager to know more about the keynote speakers that will share their wide experience and knowledge with them.

Delving into getting to know better Mr. Eric Hodgson from the USA and his career path, the attendees will gain important insights on basic movement, fun and gamification for kids age 12-years-old. 

Eric is not the “typical” Volleyball coach - a former player who later became a coach. He started by a lucky chance, that changed the course of his life. 

“I became a coach because of my then 11-years-old daughter, who wanted to play Volleyball. I knew very little about the sport, I was a basketball guy, had done a little bit of basketball coaching (not high level) and a tiny bit of tennis coaching, but I wasn't really a coach. When she got into Volleyball, her PE teacher asked me to help out one day, and I did. I fell in love with Volleyball, and the coaching became part of my life.”

He got devoted to studying the game, creating his own notebook with drills, going with it at every practice. Exchanging experience with professionals from USA Volleyball (including Mr. John Kessel who became his mentor), the Volleyball story of Eric turned out to be a real snowball, even starting a club with a friend of his. 

“It wasn't a thing I was looking for. I have been so fortunate, Volleyball has been so kind to me my whole life.” 

As mentioned, Hodgson has never played Volleyball professionally, and jumped directly to the coaching career, precisely working with younger kids. Why does this inspire him?

“When you coach 11- and 12-years-olds, you see a significant difference  from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. This is the age when they can also fall in love with the game. If you have a good experience at this age, you are going to be with the sport for the rest of your life. If you have a horrible experience, you will try something else.”

Woking with young kids might be challenging but very much gratifying as well. What is the  motor, the main engine that moves Eric ahead?

Creating good experience on the court for the kids at this age is crucial to Eric. But, how can coaches avoid creating bad experience then? 

“11- and 12-years-olds, we treat them as adult athletes, and they are not, they are kids. Their brains, the way they think, their emotions - they are kids, and you need to treat them like that. Especially in the USA, we want them to become professional athletes at the age of 11. By the time they are 14-15, they are fried. That’s a big part of it, understanding that they are kids, they want to have fun, and for them - fun is playing.”

On the other hand, this is the precise age where kids learn basic movements and technics, so it is important to find the balance. 

During the Convention, Hodgson will aim at conveying the message on the importance of engagement. 

He will also talk about psychological dynamics, meaning changing of coaching perspective.

“Kids learn by doing, by figuring things out. You have to create the environment for them.”

Hodgson has a lot to share about spotting the talent as well.

“We have to get away from the idea that at the age of 12, you will spot the talent. Some kids might be more developed, but others might be late bloomers. Our work, as coaches, is to find those kids that are physically more advanced than other kids their age, but it doesn’t mean to not work with others. It comes back to the love of the game, how do you keep them motivated when they are still not yet physically well-developed.” 

What will European coaches gain from the US perspective Eric will bring to the Convention?

“We try to bring science to it, but not in the boring way; there is a set of principles in motor learning, we try to use it. And we are adaptive, as it is, to a certain point, dangerous to keep on coaching the way it was being coached when we didn’t know that much about bodies.”

Other than that, Eric, who is also involved in Sitting Volleyball, will share more on his views about the values of the sport, and how the game has developed through his eyes in the past 30+ years since he has been coaching.