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Coming into 2023 with nine new players, Syracuse head coach Bakeer Ganesharatnam searched for a way to bring his team closer. So, once a week after practice, his coaching staff came up with the idea for a book club.

“We’re exploring different team-building activities,” Ganesharatnam said, mentioning that the team has gone bowling together and hosted team dinners on top of the book club.

Despite Syracuse’s (2-18, 0-10 Atlantic Coast Conference) on-court struggles, Ganesharatnam said he wants to lay the foundation for the future. The book club gives players an opportunity to open up and connect on an interpersonal level.

The group has read just one book thus far, “The Inner Game of Tennis” by W. Timothy Gallwey. Even though the book is about tennis, Ganesharatnam feels it’s similar to volleyball from a mental aspect. The book came as a recommendation from a coach in Germany, where Ganesharatnam grew up.

Multiple players said their main takeaway from “The Inner Game of Tennis” is the separation of mind and body, known in the book as “self one” and “self two.” The author uses the two selves to illustrate how to stay positive throughout games.

“Self one is your intrinsic motivation, how you want to play,” said freshman Zharia Harris-Waddy. “Self two is your body, what you actually do.”

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On Oct. 6 against Virginia Tech, Veronica Sierzant was dwelling on an error. But then she remembered something Lauren McCabe said during the book club. McCabe told the team you can’t think about a mistake for too long because volleyball is so fast-paced.

McCabe, a graduate transfer from Seattle University, said she’s started journaling again because of the book club. In her time at Seattle, she said the team would write before and after practices and games. McCabe stopped journaling at one point, but started again after reading the first book.

“I was reminded of how much it helped reflect and decompress,” McCabe said.

McCabe is very active in the team’s discussions. During McCabe’s freshman season, she remembered her coach giving the team a book about a rowing team. The story taught them hard work and dedication.

“It’s exciting to me to be able to take the concepts from the book and talk about it as a team,” McCabe said.

No coaches attend the book club. Ganesharatnam said one staff member moderates the discussion, but they don’t contribute to it. Ganesharatnam said the conversations give the players “a platform to be creative” and to “work on the culture.” He said he values the players taking ownership of that.

Freshman Greta Schlichter said the lack of a coach in the room allows players to open up more. She explained that the team has uncomfortable discussions when they disagree on something, and insights from the book help them power through. For Schlichter, she said the conversations help her find her “zone.”

“We could talk about (the book, volleyball, etc.) really just as a team, as players and figure out what is best for ourselves without having the coaches listening or giving any other input because I think they give enough input,” Schlichter said.

Harris-Waddy said the team can relate to each other when being open about their individual struggles. The discussions have helped players realize what they need to do to help each other when they’re on the court together.

“Reading and discussing what helps everybody out when they’re on the court allows the team to be more cohesive as a unit,” Schlichter said.

Ganesharatnam hopes to continue the tradition of the book club. He said that he has a number of books in mind, but plans to take recommendations from players. The second-year head coach said it’s difficult to maneuver the schedule in the fall, so they might do it in the spring when there’s more time.

“A big part of playing on a team is being open and vulnerable with each other,” McCabe said. “And that book club opened up that dialogue.”

Published on October 24, 2023 at 12:38 am

Contact Sam: sefederm@syr.edu