Nov. 15, 2004
by Sam Miller, UI Sports Information
We are family. I got all my sisters with me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing. Everyone can see we're together as we walk on by...
While they are certainly not "The Family" of Pittsburgh Pirates fame, UI Head Volleyball Coach Don Hardin and his wife Kim have done their best to foster a caring atmosphere.
"Everyone knows my wife is extremely involved in my work and in our program. (She) loves being around it and playing a role. We have meals at our house and events throughout the year that give our players a feeling of being at home away from home. (It) humanizes (my wife and me) a little bit and builds some trust there."
Hardin is so sold on the importance of family, that he has conceptualized his beliefs as the Illini family connection.
"So many players and parents and assistant coaches started using this family environment for our team that I thought... I might as well go the extra step and embrace it in a model and really formalize it. (People said) that there's caring leadership. That we look after each other. If there's a problem, like in a good family, it's out on the table and discussed - it's not swept under the rug."
As with any family, it is the foundational values which carry the team through trials.
"You overcome obstacles together ... loyalty to one another, friendship, cooperation. Without those kinds of factors in the program, you don't overcome adversity. Every freshman and sophomore coming into a program is going to experience adjustments and adversity. There needs to be a commitment. You can't just bail on it or transfer the first time you run into problems or even start thinking, `Well, I can always leave. If you go into a marriage, and you say `Well, if we don't get along, we can always get divorced.' that marriage isn't going to last very long. There has to be a commitment and loyalty and trust and care on both sides from the player to the staff."
Similar to sibling relations, Hardin's seniors take care to set a good example for their younger sisters, serving as mentors for the freshmen.
"(The seniors are) just tremendous. They're competitive. They also are committed to learning and making change. They're all connected in the community and giving back somehow to others ... They're hard working, but they work with intent and purpose every day. They list things that they're going to do every day in practice to ensure that a day doesn't go by where they just came upstairs practiced in the gym and went back down. There's intention and purpose behind their everyday training."
Many families desire to share their love with other children through adoption. The Illini volleyball family is no different.
As part of Hometown Heroes, a program established by former Assistant Athletic Director Tom Porter, the volleyball team has expanded its family to include Champaign's Westview Elementary School in an effort to promote a positive image of Illini athletics throughout the community.
"It's a really good idea for getting the athletes out as positive role models. We have so many wonderful athletes here in all our sports. It's good public relations for our schools and our young people to see some of the keys to being successful at the next level."
The program's November 5 Westview Night was one of several outreaches to the younger students.
"We've adopted Westview (Elementary School) as a school we stay closely connected with. We go out a several times a year and do things with them. We have a Westview Night where (Westview students are) all involved in every aspect of event management - coaching, media relations. They have elementary students helping them park cars, interviewing me after the matches, doing their own articles. They're on the radio. We have assistant coaches on the bench. They sing the national anthem. They impact the event from every angle."
And we fly just like birds of a feather. We know that's no lie. All of the people around us say, `Can we be that close?' Just let me state for the record, we're giving love in a family dose.
