Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | Sitting Volleyball head coach, Uros Davidovic (center), is a hands-on coach who joins...... read more read more
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By Gia Oney, Madigan Army Medical Center
FORT BLISS, Texas - It’s no wonder that Uros Davidovic was selected as the head coach of the Army sitting volleyball team; his sentiment on winning volleyball games mirrors that of leaders of the Army Warrior Transition Command, whose mission is to provide care and transition support for wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and to promote success in their Army or civilian lives.
“My whole approach to coaching is to teach these guys how to fish and learn to fish on their own, because ultimately I can’t help them on the floor,” said Davidovic as he prepares for the day’s practice session. “I can help them in the huddle, before and after, but during the game, they’re on their own. If they’re self-sufficient and they can manage their own team, it goes a long way toward winning games.”
On a warm and sunny day in March, Davidovic is inside Soto Physical Fitness Center, Fort Bliss, Texas, surrounded by Soldiers pumping iron, running around the indoor track and hollow echoes that resonate throughout the volleyball court. As a competitive player, he does what every typical “volleyballer” is accustomed to doing upon arriving at the court: stretches his arms, legs and shoulders, and grabs a ball to start warming up. Nearly an hour before practice is scheduled to begin, Davidovic wastes no time getting mentally and physically prepared for the game, something that he’s been doing for nearly two decades.
Originally from Belgrade, Serbia, Davidovic began playing volleyball when he was 12 years old as part of a youth club team. Back in the 1990s, the volleyball clubs in Serbia weren’t as organized as the junior level clubs were in the United States. In 1994, Davidovic relocated to Ephrata, Pennsylvania, where his self-proclaimed love affair with volleyball began. His long arms, big hands, and six-feet-three-inch frame made him the prototype for middle blockers.
As his volleyball knowledge and skill improved, Davidovic earned his way on to the Lebanon Valley College volleyball team in Annville, Pennsylvania, before eventually becoming its head coach from 2001 until he left the program in 2006. He supplemented his collegiate coaching career with positions as head coach of Trinity High School in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania and a number of club teams in the area. That coaching experience he acquired eventually landed him a position with the USA Volleyball High Performance Program, a nationally recognized organization dedicated to training and producing some of the best Division I collegiate volleyball players in the country.
In 2014, while coaching with USA Volleyball, Davidovic was approached by the then-head coach for the Army sitting volleyball team to be a part of the coaching staff at the Army Trials. It was an opportunity that Davidovic seized immediately. When planning for the 2015 Army Trials began, Davidovic was contacted directly and offered the position as head coach; he accepted without hesitation.
When his assistant coaches start to trickle into the building, Davidovic calls a quick huddle. Once they determine their practice plan for the day, the conversation immediately turns light, and the coaches begin to laugh and pass volleyball around in a circle. As athletes slowly make their way to the court, Davidovic and his assistant coaches beam with pride, letting out a hearty “hey!” each time another player arrives. His enthusiasm to begin practice becomes infectious, as the players quickly put their things on the sideline and jump right into the impromptu scrimmage the coaches began.
Despite the average coach’s tendencies to instruct from the sidelines, the player in Davidovic has him in the middle of the game, providing training tips during the play. As more players arrive, Davidovic is forced to make room and relinquish his position on the court. But, he doesn’t go far; he moves a meager two feet from the boundary lines and continues to teach from within an arm’s reach.
Davidovic’s mission during the Army Trials is to determine who will make his 12-man squad. The mission isn’t easy, as Davidovic points out, within the last few days certain players have improved exponentially, making it harder for the coaches to finalize their roster. While most coaches look for athleticism and strength, Davidovic is also emphasizing mental toughness, motivation and the ability to be a positive influence on the other players.
“I’ve always been impressed by this group of athletes,” he said of the Army Trials competitors. “Motivation is generally not lacking and they put out 100 percent. They’re very attentive and coachable, [something] I think that comes partially from their Army background. For a coach, it’s a dream come true because you can make a lasting difference on the game because they listen and execute.”
As practice continues on, Davidovic can be seen diving after volleyballs or screaming, “Awesome block!” The balance he finds between constructive coaching and emotional encouragement seems to resonate with the players, who make quick adjustments to their form before executing a near perfect spike or serve. The positive reinforcement provided by the coaching staff becomes contagious; the athletes, despite knowing that they’re competing against each other for a spot on the team, are heard cheering for each other and rallying behind a struggling player.
Once the Army Trials are over, Davidovic will return to his home in Bradenton, Florida, back to his wife, Erin, a finance manager at Champs Sports. Erin has been separated from her husband quite often due to the traveling demands of his job, but when the head coach position for the Army sitting volleyball team presented itself, Davidovic said it was Erin who told him that he absolutely had to do it.
“[Coaching at the Army Trials] is probably one of the only [volleyball jobs I’ve had] that she’s really been behind 100 percent and really understood how much this means to me,” he said. “I think it speaks volumes as to the significance of the program.”
As Davidovic and his coaching staff continue to whittle down their list of potential team members, one thing remains at the forefront of his experience at the Army Trials.
“It bears repeating, and never gets old to say, that it is an honor and a privilege to be coaching these athletes.”
| Date Taken: | 03.28.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2015 23:54 |
| Story ID: | 158487 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 552 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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