Julio Velasco was not only the coach of the generation of phenomena, but also a teacher to be inspired by, on and out off the pitch.
THE 10 CULT PHRASES OF JULIO VELASCO
1 – Victory and defeat
“Whoever wins celebrates, whoever loses explains”.
2 – The culture of alibis
“Failing to overcome difficulties leads to the culture of alibis, that is the attempt to attribute our failure to something that does not depend on us.
I’ve met hundreds of athletes. Some winners, some losers. The difference? Winners find solutions. Losers are looking for alibis ».
3 – The spikers and the lift
“The spikers keep talking about the lift and I get nervous. They are experts in lifting, they know everything. One finds them at the bar and they are talking about the lifters.
So, I want attackers who hit bad balls well. The spikers don’t talk about the lift, they solve it “.
4 – The role of the coach
«One is not a great coach when he makes players move according to their intentions, but when he teaches players to move on their own.
The absolute ideal occurs when the coach has nothing more to say because the players know everything there is to know. ”
5 – The fault of the electrician
“The attacker crushes out because the ball is not lifted well. In turn, the lifter was not accurate due to the reception. At this point, the receivers turn to look on who to discharge the responsibility. But they cannot ask the opponent to take it easy, so that they receive well. So they say they were blinded by the spotlight on the ceiling, placed by the electrician in a wrong spot.
In practice, if we lose it is the fault of the electrician “.
6 – The leader must be himself
«What doesn’t work, especially with young people, is who wants to be what isn’t. Because the others notice it right away, they start scratching, they discover that there is no substance under the surface and laugh at it.
The leader doesn’t necessarily have to be tough. I am, but I know great coaches who have another way of approaching players with the same results ».
7 – The difference between males and females
«When we talk about challenge, we always talk about it in the male version. But men and women work differently.
The talented kid tries the hardest play. Try to attack in the two meters. And when he does, he raises his arms to cheer, even though he has thrown ten balls out first. We males are like that.
When I coached women I happened to have to say: “Try, even if you are wrong”. I would never have said it with males, otherwise it would have been disaster.
8 – Learn to lose
«I am proud of the team that won the World and European Championships but I am equally proud of the team that lost the Barcelona Olympics. For one reason: because we knew how to lose. We didn’t blame some external factor. We recognized that the opponent had been better than us, full stop. ”
9 – The importance of being fair
«The leader must be fair. Let’s think about the teachers we had at school. There were demanding, tough, unforgiving professors. And we protested, we talked after him, but never with hatred. Because they were hard on everyone.
We hated those who had preferences, those who were unjust ».
10 – Good and bad people
«To young people I say: you must try to win as much as possible, but don’t believe those who say that the world is divided into winners and losers.
I believe that the world is divided mainly between good and bad people. Then among the bad people there are also winners, unfortunately. And among the good people there are, unfortunately, also losers ».