The volleyball team ended the season with a victory over Glendale College on Nov. 19, the Renegades finished the season with a 6-6 record in division play and with an overall record of 10-14.
Before the win, head coach Carl Ferreira had a special ceremony for his sophomore players. On a team predominately full of freshman, sophomores Brenda Contreras, Tyler Herring and Kourtney Grantz were recognized for the hard work and internal leadership they showed throughout the season.
The win left BC with an even record in the conference, but the Renegades missed out on the playoffs after qualifying for the regionals last season. Finishing with a record under .500 and missing the playoffs might be considered a disappointment, but not to coach Ferreira.
“My job is to create a culture that’s laced with morals and values, you got to believe. We create the culture that no one player is better than another. If you go through a season with no conflict but there’s still gratitude and appreciation, that’s success.”
Ferreira understands that his team’s success might be judged by wins and losses, but wants to teach his players that losing doesn’t mean you weren’t successful.
“As a competitor, do I wish that we won more? Absolutely, you don’t do everything that we do and feel great about being second. You celebrate your wins and learn from losses, don’t finger point,” said Ferreira.
Usually, you have the returning players helping to teach the freshman, but when you have such an inverted scale, it takes longer to tip that scale in the right direction.
With a team of 11 freshmen, the Renegades were slow to start before picking up the pace late in the season and winning six of the last 10 games. It took some time for the young team to buy into each other, and as the season progressed the players started to buy into the team philosophy more and more.
Practices for the volleyball team have remained the same throughout the season, whether it was back in August, or up until the last couple of practices before the season finished.
After the match just before practice, everyone gives their opinion about the game. During this time, there is no winning or losing, just the time to learn. Players learn what needs to be done better, and that is where the practice start and the work begins.
Ferreira has also had to learn as the years have gone by, he has gone from having a “my way or the highway” type of attitude, to valuing his athletes. Transitioning to that type of teaching method isn’t as simple when you were raised and coached by the same “my way or the highway” method as he was. The tools Ferreira has learned have helped him learn a better way of teaching the athletes of this current generation.
“These athletes want to be valued. They want to know that my participation in this activity has meaning, and that’s all they want. I want them to be great, and I don’t want them to be average. I want them to separate themselves as far away from average as possible,” Ferreira said.
The returning players to the team next season will be ready to help Ferreira teach the incoming freshman the “team first” philosophy. Kayla Romero, Jade Delgadillo, Lorena Ramirez and Stephanie Lugo are just some of the sophomore players that Ferreira will look to provide the internal leadership, just like Grantz and Herring this year.
With the experience coming back next season, a return to BC’s winning ways shouldn’t be far off either.
The sports world might judge Ferreira’s success by wins and losses, but the athletes that leave his volleyball program knowing the value of teamwork and how to appreciate their teammates, would say otherwise.