“It’s like a puzzle piece, coming up with a good chemistry, a good lineup that also works well together.”
Erin Appleman, the head coach of women’s volleyball at Yale University sits down with us in this episode of the 35,000 Feet podcast and gives us insight into her journey as a volleyball coach. During our interview, Erin shares how she’s created a winning culture at Yale, her favorite travel experiences with her team and family, and what’s in store for the 2020 Yale volleyball season!
2019 Yale Women’s Volleyball Season Overview
Coach Erin Appleman: We had a really good run here at Yale. In my 17 years, we've won 10 Ivy championships, including last year, was our third in a row. And I just think the players here really want an opportunity to do it all. They want a great education, as well as winning Ivy championships while they're here.
Shianne: That's awesome. Congrats on all your accomplishments.
How Coach Erin Appleman Became a Volleyball Coach
Shianne: So how did you get here? How did you get to be a volleyball coach? Can you tell us about your journey?
Coach Erin Appleman: Sure. I started playing volleyball in high school, and ended up going to school, playing volleyball down in San Diego, San Diego State, and just really wanted to continue it. I love volleyball. I think it's the ultimate team sport. There's lots of sports you can have one or two good people, and dominate, and volleyball you're really dependent on your teammates, in order to be talented, or to be skilled, or just have any sort of winning time.
So I really enjoy the sport, and I wanted to continue it for my life, and didn't know that I'd still be here 30, 40 years later doing this. And really excited about where I am at Yale.
How Coach Erin Appleman Created a Winning Culture at Yale University
Shianne: Can you expand more on how you've created such a winning culture?
Coach Erin Appleman: Sure. I was an assistant coach at Penn State for about 10 years, under arguably one of the best volleyball coaches in the country, Russ Rose. And when I left to become the head coach here at Yale, I pretty much stole everything from him, and he knows it. And we just do it for about an hour less a day, and maybe six inches lower on the neck, than Penn State does. But we just started to get a culture, change the program around a little bit, we worked pretty hard.
Yale has incredible students here, that want to be successful, and that goes in the classroom as well as the court. So it wasn't hard to convince a whole bunch of young ladies that, "Hey, if we put in the work and we put in the time, we can be pretty successful at this."
We were pretty fortunate our second year. We were able to win the Ivy League, which allowed us to recruit better players. And continue that cycle of getting better, which has allowed us to win more. And now the Ivy League is full of very talented young women.
Coach Erin Appleman’s Travel Experiences
Shianne: Can you tell us about some of your favorite travel experiences, whether it's in your personal life, or with your team, whatever you want to share?
Coach Erin Appleman: Sure. Team-wise I think, the opportunity we get to travel, and we have not gone abroad yet in my 17 years, but we do travel and get to fly to, usually the west coast every other year. And just being with the players, is some of the really important things, and you really get to know them as individuals, and not just as a player. But who they are, and what makes them tick.
And I think travel is one of the best ways to really see inside somebody, because you have ups and downs with travel. You have delays, you have upgrades, you have all sorts of fun things that happen. And you have to be flexible with it, and just go with it. And I think that's where you really get to see who these people are.
Personally, I've been able to... I enjoy cruises, so I like to do those. So I've had a chance to go over to Europe, to Italy and Greece, and fly there, and see Venice. And go down on a cruise down to Greece, and then back up to Venice. And those were incredible opportunities for me to travel.
I am fortunate, my husband also coaches. And one of the years he was here at Yale, they took a foreign trip to Spain. And so I got to go to Madrid, and Barcelona, and really loved immersing in the culture there.
Shianne: Wow. It seems like you've had some really cool experiences. I know this is probably a hard question, but what was your favorite place you've traveled to?
Coach Erin Appleman: Ooh, I think probably Venice was really, really cool to see that, because it's been in so many different movies, and scenes that you've pictured, you've grown up seeing. I think going to Athens was incredible. And then I really did like Madrid. I thought it was a really neat place to be.
Just walking the streets in Madrid is, to me, very historical. I mean it's cobblestone streets. It's the incredible museums that they have. It really gives you a feel, you go to DC here and you feel the US history, and the culture here. And then you go over to Europe and you're like, "Wow, US is just a baby." It really puts it in perspective.
Something Unique About Coach Erin Appleman
Shianne: I'm going to put you on the spot here, but what is one thing that no one knows about you, that you can share with us?
Coach Erin Appleman: Oh wow. Oh that no one knows about me?
Shianne: Yeah. Or maybe it's a hidden talent, or something that you like to do, that not a lot of people would know.
Coach Erin Appleman: I love reading. It really relaxes me, and I really like to read sci-fi, and paranormal romances, and those kinds of things. I think is probably one thing that people really don't know about me. But I do enjoy reading, because I do travel a lot in my job, and so it's real easy just to get on my iPad and start reading. So I'm an excessive reader.
Coach Erin Appleman’s Advice to Athletes in High School
Shianne: If you were an athlete wanting to play for a university, or a team, what would your advice be to them?
Coach Erin Appleman: To reach out, and to contact the universities, and any of the places that they were looking at, to see if it was a good match. First and foremost, I think the academics and the campus life has to be a good match, before you put the athletic part of it in.
You really need to decide on a school that's the right fit for you, regardless of the athletic. I do say to my recruits that you should choose Yale because it's Yale, but you will be spending a lot of time with me, so we have to be able to get along as well.
So, I think that being an athlete, and being recruited, in some ways makes picking your school, your university, your college, a little bit simpler, because it's a very narrow fit of where you can play, what interests, major wise, all of that. It really narrows it down.
I have two children and one, he was a non-athlete, and looked everywhere, and then I have an athlete, and her search was a lot easier, just because it was a smaller group of schools that we were interested in.
What’s Next for the Yale Women’s Volleyball Team and Coach Erin Appleman
Shianne: So what's your next adventure with your new, your upcoming season? I know you're still probably in spring ball in training, but what are you most excited about for this upcoming season?
Coach Erin Appleman: I think at this point in time, I always get really excited about the first years coming in, the incoming players. I think we've done a really good job recruiting here, and it's always nice to watch them through the club season in the spring, and figure out where they're going to fit. It's like a puzzle piece, trying to fit all the puzzle pieces together. Coming up with a good chemistry, a good lineup that also works well together.
So for me, I always love August. The very beginning of season, when it's all fresh [light 00:09:24], and you're planning out the practices and you're trying to figure out this puzzle. I'm really into logistics. So to me this is like, that's one of my favorite times of the year, is just trying to figure it all out. And make sure that I've done enough in my coaching preparation, that we are allowed to be good, but also be having fun while we're doing it. Because, I don't want to be in a job that I'm not enjoying.
Shianne: That's for sure.
Coach Erin Appleman: So I want to enjoy every day. I feel like every time I come to the gym, it's the best part of the day. And I hope that my players feel the same. So for me it's the preseason. It's getting the new group in, and seeing how the incoming first years integrate with the team.
In this episode, we discuss:
How this past season went for Yale Volleyball (0:32)
How Coach Appleman got into coaching (1:11)
Erin’s favorite travel experience (3:32)
One thing that no one knows about Erin (6:08)
Erin’s advice to athletes wanting to play in college (6:59)
Erin’s next adventure (8:22)
Follow Yale Volleyball
Podcast made in partnership with Acanela Expeditions
Theme Song - I’ll Just Be Me by Gravity Castle