Q&A: USA Volleyball Coach Hugh McCutcheon
Patricia Oberhaus
Active.com
Hugh McCutcheon doesn't get much sleep these days.
The head coach of the USA men's national volleyball team has led his team to success since its inception in 2005. Team USA posted wins over the 2004 Olympic gold and silver medalists (Brazil and Italy, respectively), registered the highest winning percentage of any men's national team since 1988 (.818) and recorded the most wins by a men's team since 2000 (27). McCutcheon hopes to continue the success this year as he prepares his team for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Active.com spoke with McCutcheon to hear his thoughts on training, international competition and the future of volleyball in the U.S.
Your travel schedule is intense. You just got home from Green Bay yesterday, how soon do you travel again?
Yep. And here's yesterday: we wanted to get home as quick as we could. There was a 7 a.m. flight out of Green Bay. Got the guys up at 5:30 a.m. and got ready to come back. And because of Green Bay's fog, we don't get out until 11 a.m. We ended up getting split and so some guys didn't get home until 10:30 p.m. last night. It was a tough day. And, we're going to be in the gym practicing today and then leave again tomorrow.
How does the travel required by the World League schedule affect your team?
It's a significant part of an event. Managing the jet lag and the fatigue and the recovery is a huge part of being able to succeed in tournaments [outside the U.S.].
Can you give me an idea of the training regiment of your athletes? What's a typical day in the life of a member of the USA men's national team?
A normal training day: Practice starts at 9 a.m. They're usually here by 8:30 in the training room--some guys are here earlier. Depending on the day, we'll either get right into some activity, we'll watch some video, or we might do some mental training. And then at about 9:30 we'll be getting into warming up and we'll practice through 12:30 or 1:00. They'll go to lunch and come back to lift. Some of them come back and we actually do some small group work, working on specific volleyball skills at 3 and be in there until 4 or 4:30--something like that. Ice up and be on there way around 5pm.
How much does playing abroad versus in the U.S. affect the momentum of the match?
You know, we are really accustomed to playing abroad. We play more of our matches overseas than we do here. It's just the reality of our competition schedule, I guess. We certainly prefer playing in the U.S., but there are just limited opportunities for us to do that relative to the FIVB schedule.
How do volleyball crowds in other countries compare to U.S. volleyball fans? Who has the craziest fans?
Poland and Brazil are pretty good and Italy is way up there too. Between those three countries they not only pack them in, but it's pretty loud.