John Mayer has done a little bit of everything in volleyball. He set the Pepperdine men’s indoor team to an NCAA final four in 2003, then started at opposite on the Waves' 2005 NCAA championship team. Now a pro beach player, Mayer has three career AVP titles, including one in August at the tour's Seattle stop.
Mayer is also a longtime coach. For eight years, he guided the men's team at Santa Monica College in Southern California, and he was recently named head coach of Loyola Marymount's beach team.
With so many years on the court and on the bench, along with the fact that he is now a dad, Art of Coaching figured he'd be a good source of tips for how parents can help their kids thrive in sports. We pulled Mayer aside between matches at the AVP's Manhattan Open in August and talked to him about everything from what parents should say to their kids after losses (and wins), how to motivate young players, the importance of encouraging kids to step outside their comfort zone and why failure is such a key part of success.
