Adam Ivetic Selected 11th Region Volleyball Coach of the Year
After four seasons as the head volleyball coach for Great Crossing, Adam Ivetic was named the 11th Region Coach of the Year.
Over the last four seasons, Great Crossing’s volleyball program has had tremendous success. They have won four straight district championship titles, as well as a regional title. Most people would agree that behind every successful team is a strong coach. Head Coach Adam Ivetic was publicly acknowledged for his work this year when he was selected as the 11th Regional Coach of the Year.
Few coaches have the task of building a program from scratch, like Ivetic did when GCHS opened in 2019. Winning the Coach of the Year award is affirmation for the work Ivetic has done in shaping the volleyball program. Ivetic said “Starting up a new program is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we had a chance to establish a culture of being a good teammate, compete every day in practice and fully buy into the growth mindset. We are a program of making mistakes and learning from them, and a staggeringly high percentage of players bought into this system and trusted the process that resulted in playing our best ball at the end of the season and winning the games that matter most.”
Coach Ivetic understands the value of having a team that works together. Ryann Livingston, a junior on the Great Crossing volleyball team said, ”Ivetic has personally helped me with developing a drive and determination for the game. I have learned from him that to reach a goal in volleyball it takes the whole team, no matter what your role.”
Junior Lexi Everman also respects Ivetic’s style of coaching and seeing players as individuals. Everman said, “He gets to know his players–not just because of the team we’re on, but he genuinely wants to get to know each of us for who we are and what we are good at, not just in volleyball, but in life.”
Another aspect of his coaching Everman values is his positive attitude. “He is not the type of coach to be discouraging and bring down the team. If we’re down, he reminds us that he believes in us and we can do anything together,” she said.
Ivetic has also brought a great strategy to this program, which is needed to be as successful as this team has been. He said, ”We’ve talked a lot about breaking away from ‘the way it’s always been,’ and I think looking at our middle hitters over the years is a great example of that. The old way was to just take your two tallest kids and put them in the middle. We have moved on to focusing more on speed than height there. We want to put our most athletic kids in the middle and let them play fast.”
Helping players find the position that works best for them is another of coaching strategies. “We preach versatility and adaptability to our players and part of that is having the mental capacity to know different systems and be able to switch back and forth between them throughout a match. I feel like this really sets us apart as a program. The idea of adaptability reaches throughout the program and we try to run our offense, defense and serve receive based on what type of players we have instead of trying to cram them into some pre-established roles.”
The players also seem to like his strategy. Livingston said, ”One of Ivetic’s strategies that has helped us succeed this season is productivity in practice. Every single drill and rep had a purpose, which follows in every touch of every game.”
Ivetic enjoys coaching for many reasons, one being that he can help create a positive experience for his players. He explained, “Number one for me is having a front row seat to these kids making life long memories and life long friendships. I am so lucky to play a small role in that.”
He also loves supporting his players after they have graduated and are transitioning into adulthood. ”Seeing kids be successful after they have left the program is important. I got espn+ this year and it’s pretty cool to be able to sit on my couch and watch kids achieve their dreams. But this isn’t just a volleyball thing. Having former players come up to me and tell me about what’s going on in their lives at work or school is one of the best feelings in the world.”
Ivetic also is very happy with the success this program has made in the past four seasons. He said, “I am over the moon with where Great Crossing volleyball is right now. While it is my job to put the team in position to win championships, I don’t think wins and losses will ever be the main measuring stick for a successful season.”
Livingston also is happy with the program he has built, and the standard the varsity team has as a whole for the team. She said “I love the program he has built. This program at the varsity level has a competitive, determined,family-like atmosphere with one goal that we are all working towards.”
With all of the success Ivetic is also still finding ways to improve after each season. Ivetic said ”At the end of each season I try to reflect on a couple of questions that I got from another coach that I deeply respect:Did the players enjoy the ride? Did the players develop their skill set and grow as players? Did the players improve on being a good teammate and mature as people? As much as I would like to say that those answers are always yes, that’s not the case and that’s why I will never stop trying to get better at this job. Ultimately this is all about the experience of our student athletes.”
This award for Ivetic not only means something to him but also his players. Livingston explained why she thinks her coach is deserving of this award. “I think Ivetic is the most deserving of this award. Since the end of last season after losing nine seniors who were very talented, everyone thought we would suck. After having such a great season with those nine seniors he could have given up on us this year thinking we had no potential. But with that being said he is the reason we made it as far as we did. He has believed in us since day one and never gave up on us. Ivetic developed us and pushed us as players in practice every single day. Then he prepared us for every single team on our schedule and in our region. He took a team who no one thought would compete in such a tough region like the 11th and pushed us to make it to the championship.“
This award means a lot more to Ivetic than just adding another title to the volleyball program. He said, “It means a lot to me. A lot of my peers wrote us off after we graduated nine seniors last year, six of which are playing at the next level. Getting back to the region final and setting a school record for most number of wins was very rewarding for me personally but this award isn’t really about me at all. This award is for my wife Allison who shoulders an incredible work load with our son Luka during the season. This award is for Coach Just who spent years developing the next wave of athletes who stepped in and succeeded this season. This award is for all of the members of our program who decided that Great Crossing volleyball isn’t going anywhere. It truly is a testament to all of the hard work that our players put in year round to continue to improve. The people around me make me look good and that’s that.”
Ella Drew Bourget is a junior at GCHS, and a first year journalism staff reporter. Ella Drew loves watching sports, especially the GCHS basketball teams...
