An Interview with Jim Stockwell
Q: When you won regionals this year and you are set to go to nationals in May, what went through your head? Simple question but I know you have been close to this success in the past.
Great question and I do have a funny response… I kept the ladies in the dark for both days, so they didn't really know the score of the tournament. I had a lot of confidence going in that we would do well, as long as we stayed focused. When Lupe and Alivia were out on the court for the final match, I let on to the others we had won it (we had actually clinched the title about five hours earlier) and told them to wait for me to signal for them to rush the court. When they did, I felt so very happy for all of them to achieve what they did. I was proud and excited at the same time. Championships are never guaranteed, nor do they happen all that often, so you have to enjoy it when you get there. I couldn't have been happier for these ladies. At dinner that night, I did send texts to several former players letting them know we had followed in their footsteps and barring a worldwide pandemic, we will carry the MCC colors to the National Tournament. (NJCAA D1 Tennis National Tournament to be held May 4-8, 2024 in Tyler, Texas.)
Q: Your team carries themselves with such grace. They play hard and are there for each other. What can a coach do to maintain that culture?
This is a fantastic group of ladies, and I am thrilled to be a part of the team with them. I try to remain loose and relaxed so they can do the same. I also attempt to build a culture of mutual respect and allow each to be independent. I think it is important for them to be themselves and play for the fun of the sport… but we are also putting in an effort to get somewhere, so we don't want that effort to be in vain. We had a moment during the last practice that was uncharacteristic as we got very serious and pointed, I wanted to make them aware of what they could do and what they needed to do in order to accomplish it. It rallied them, as they wanted to do what they set out to do at the beginning of the season. I was very proud of them for their effort.
Q: In Tennis, there are one-on-one matches where your #1 plays the opposing team's #1. Do you often see the same matchups throughout the year and if so, how do you prepare?
Another insightful question. Our season takes place in a fairly compressed amount of time, we play everyone once and then the tournament brings everyone back together. Once the bracket is set, we can see who we have to play, and we look back on the score from before. We then talk about what we did well in the first match, and then make a plan to replicate it for that match-up. We also talked about reducing mistakes (in tennis they are referred to as "unforced errors") in general, as well as maybe what happened the last time. We did a really interesting drill in the last practice where we had the men serve to the women with all their power. It helped speed up the game for us, and when we played in the tournament, the game actually slowed down giving them more time to make an offensive play, rather than being defensive or reactive.
Q: Even with success there must come some failures. How do you teach an individual how to overcome, self-doubt, fear of failure, etc.…to a team that won so much? You and I have spoken and there is so much to learn from losing. Can you enlighten us? Get deep Jim, nothing superficial in this interview.
Oh, philosophy… I love it. This group of women are wonderful, and excellent tennis players. The biggest hurdle this season was being rich and not having enough space to fit everyone in. I had to break up a doubles team on a hunch and I had to place a line-up that pushed some of them to numerical positions that they were not happy with. While not "failure" in the traditional sense, some felt that it was. I had a handful of one-on-ones with players and there was a little tension. I explained that much of the line-up is administrative, but it doesn't mean that you are not valuable or excellent as a player. One mentioned that her pride was hurt because she was not playing where she was the year before. Logical concern, but when I explained that her number was just for setting the line-up, not a measurement of her skill, she was "okay" but still upset. I explained that each position is completely equal in that every point counts, no matter where you win it.
We were successful from the beginning to the end, one of the main ideas I try to teach is improving a little each day. You did fantastic today, let's keep that going. I also explain that you won't always blow your competition off the court (they are trying to win too) so a bad game should not affect the whole match. Besides, their opponent is trying to win too. I use a concept that I call "Dory" after the lovable Blue Tang in Finding Nemo. She suffers from "short-term memory loss" and I want the ladies to adhere to her characteristic that is an asset, not a hindrance. Once a play is over, forget about it and concentrate on the next one. Regardless of if you win or lose that point, the focus is the point at hand. I also often tell them that we are still at zero-zero and that we should play like we have to win this point. We boil it down to a very simple concept: If it is not on your side of the net, it doesn't matter. Get to the ball and hit it back and don't worry about anything else at that moment. It keeps us focused and driven. And I love it when they employ it.
Q: I love watching tennis when I see your teams play. They never seem to quit. Is there anything you do in practice to help prepare this group in particular?
It is a really funny thing about MCC tennis… we don't get tired in McHenry. It amazes me. We run in practice and push ourselves, but for some reason, they don't get tired. When I ask if they are, they tell me that they are not, so we keep running. Maybe it is the water…
I also notice that when I tell them that we don't get tired in McHenry, they agree with me. We notice that other teams do get tired but we stay strong. Must be the purple…
Q: Congratulations on a great season, what do we have to look forward to in Nationals?
Thank you – they ladies are amazing, and they deserve all the credit for the success of the season. We are looking forward to an opportunity to show that not all the best tennis players in the country are down south. We know how to play up here too. Our biggest concentration will be to remain consistent in our play and to reduce our errors. I do not doubt that they will represent MCC wonderfully both on and off the court.
