{"id":23866,"date":"2019-04-30T15:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T20:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=23866"},"modified":"2019-04-29T12:17:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T17:17:04","slug":"tartan-pride-volleyball-makes-moves-in-the-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2019\/04\/30\/tartan-pride-volleyball-makes-moves-in-the-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Tartan Pride Volleyball Makes Moves in the Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

41 years ago, Sinclair\u2019s head volleyball coach Kum Chee Gan was playing on Malaysia\u2019s national men\u2019s volleyball team. Next semester, he will begin his 21st season as head coach of the Tartans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This outstanding experience is one of the key factors that help Gan prepare to retaliate from one of the toughest losses in recent history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing 21-15, winning the conference and heading into districts with the top seed, Sinclair lost two games back to back to Mott CC and Oakland CC after winning their first matchup by a sweep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That experience makes the fact that he\u2019s anticipating one of his most successful teams yet to arise from the disappointing and shocking end of last season very interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eight impressive freshmen join last year\u2019s strong core of seven players despite losing key pieces like Taylor Vittorio and Kara Jones. Gan emphasizes the challenges of keeping consistent team chemistry in a constantly changing environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe worst part of women\u2019s volleyball is developing chemistry. If you can bring the kids together you have a good team, because each of them are very opinionated. Sometimes they clash,\u201d Gan says. \u201cEvery year is a different challenge. Sometimes kids you recruit come in and they\u2019re slightly different than you thought. It\u2019s never easier, there\u2019s always different characters, every player has very unique features and their own personality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the position is always filled with plenty of obstacles, he is very vocal of the passion he possesses for the sport and the kids he coaches and guides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Gan\u2019s daughter played college volleyball, and he helped her a lot as she was growing up. He uses some of the same attributes of being a father and applies them to not only coaching these young women but assisting them in preparing for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He treats his players as if they were his daughters, or \u201cgranddaughters\u201d as the 68-year-old put it, correcting himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe kids keep me young,\u201d Gan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s clear if you observe the personal relationships between him and his players, Gan is close with them. They\u2019ve reacted well to his blunt coaching style and he\u2019s purely motivated by making young women into better volleyball players and better human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t want to coach volleyball, I want to teach them to be good young adults. Hopefully, they can contribute to society and that\u2019s my first objective,\u201d Gan said. \u201cPlaying volleyball isn\u2019t important in comparison to being a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That attitude is a big recruitment tool in itself. The motive of player development as a person is part of what makes the program he\u2019s built here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s one of the things sophomore to be, Nicole Sicking praises Coach Gan for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the only coach I\u2019ve ever had that has truly made me a better person and player,\u201d Sicking said. \u201cIt\u2019s always \u2018be better in the classroom, be a better captain, a better teammate,\u2019 I wouldn\u2019t want to look for that anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sicking, 19, burst on to the JUCO scene last year as a highly touted freshman from Fairfield and quickly became one of the best players in the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a scouting mishap with Miami University, Sicking was confused for she had aspired to follow in her aunt\u2019s footsteps and pursue a career at Oxford for most of her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Coach Gan talked to her afterward and convinced her that he could mold her into not only an elite talent but a solid individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe basically told me I had a lot to bring to the team and if I was coachable, I\u2019d get a lot better which I feel like I was cause I definitely have improved a ton from last season,\u201d Sicking said. \u201cI got certain awards I wouldn\u2019t have gotten without his coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sicking won player of the week four times, and along with fellow sophomore to be Hallie Holbrook, won conference all first team honors, and all freshman team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After such a successful season, the vocal and emotional Sicking has established a leadership role and been elected team captain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She emerged as an influential and fiery personality last year with enticing potential. Along with the deep, competitive and obedient roster, Sicking is one of the very many reasons the Sinclair volleyball staff foresees major success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While beginning to establish a bond with the incoming freshman, the solid foundation she has created with her fellow classmen has been a catalyst so far. Open gym is from March to May and that usually gives players good idea of where they are at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But even while forming a rapport with the team, her attitude is out there, and it is contagious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m very competitive and I strive to be the best player I can be constantly. I won\u2019t settle for anything less than the best I can give. I don\u2019t feel like you should be apart of a team if you aren\u2019t willing to give 120 percent,\u201d Sicking said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after all of her success and bonding with the team, she still reflects on last year\u2019s stunning ending in awe, confused about the reason the losses occurred at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end of the season I was pretty upset, I\u2019m not going to lie. We should\u2019ve came out a lot stronger. We were just missing something. I still don\u2019t know what it is,\u201d Sicking said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sicking may not have figured it out but Coach Gan has a theory on why the Tartans didn\u2019t fulfill their first seed potential. It\u2019s simple too: Confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must learn how to win, when we\u2019re supposed to win. I know most of my opponents already and I recruited better than last year, so this team is better,\u201d Gan said. \u201cNow it\u2019s \u2018how can I put this team in a position to be confident.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confidence should definitely come once the talent of this Sinclair roster is converted. He doesn\u2019t actually go for talent while recruiting though. While it\u2019s definitely an aspect that is considered, Gan keys in on whether or not they are coachable first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If players don\u2019t fill the character expectation he has for all of his girls, then they don\u2019t even get a second thought. But this year, Gan is confident he has gotten all of his puzzle pieces. Now it\u2019s all about if they fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the team is assembled he tries to gel certain lineups together while trying to keep his best players out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this recruiting class is so good that Gan is expecting to have tremendous depth, a position battle at almost every spot on the floor and three or four freshman starters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s anticipating huge things from his team next year, but doesn\u2019t get crazy with their goals. They aim to win the conference before anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although with Coach Gan\u2019s rare confident and unfazed demeanor complimented by his ultra-rare prioritization of mental clarity and academic success, the Sinclair volleyball team\u2019s talent could be molded into a very special group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it\u2019s all about how Gan can \u201cput the team in a position to be confident.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Allen
<\/strong>Reporter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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