Episode #140: Sue Amendt

🎙️ Built in a Small Town, Built to Last 🏐

Coach Sue Amendt on Coaching, Community & Raising Athletes the Right Way

What does it look like to build a championship program—and a meaningful life—in a town of just 2,000 people?

In this episode of the Significant Coaching Podcast, host Matt Rogers sits down with longtime friend and Hall of Fame volleyball coach Sue Amendt, the legendary leader of the Lena-Winslow Panthers. Growing up together in Lena, Illinois, Matt and Sue reflect on how small-town values, deep relationships, and community accountability shaped them as athletes, coaches, parents, and leaders.

With nearly 700 career wins, multiple conference and regional championships, and a State Final Four appearance, Sue shares lessons from her 26-year coaching journey—along with powerful insight into youth sports development, player growth, and what it means to coach kids you truly know.

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👉 https://www.youtube.com/@CoachMattRogers

🎧 Listen. Watch. Learn. Reflect.

• Full episodes and past conversations with coaches and leaders from across the U.S.
• Coaching, leadership, and recruiting tools for athletes, parents, and coaches

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📖 Learn more about Coach Sue Amendt and her incredible career here:
 👉 https://le-win.net/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=742719&id=0

🎙️ Don’t miss Part 2, where Sue dives into her own recruiting journey and shares what she’s learned guiding her children through the process.

Until next time—stay focused on what you can control, stay humble, and keep chasing significance.

Transcript

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On the latest edition of The Significant Coaching Podcast, the presentation of the coach, Matt Rogers YouTube channel. Available audio only everywhere you get your favorite podcast. I'm your host Matt Rogers. In this week's two part episode, I sit down with one of my oldest friends from my hometown of Lena, Illinois. Coach Sue Amit Hall of Fame head volleyball coach of the Lee Wind Panthers joins me to talk about our memories of our idyllic experience growing up in a village of 2000 people in northwest Illinois and how that impacted our lives for the better. We'll dive into Sue's coaching history where she has accumulated almost 700 wins in her 26th year illustrious career. That includes 11 conference championships, 10 regional championships, and a final four appearance in the state of Illinois. In 2002, she was inducted into the Northwest Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. She's the wife of Ryan, another great former Lee Wynn Multisport athlete, as well as the mother of two great kids, maxi Molly, who have both gone on to play college athletics. Sue is also a beloved art teacher in Lena's Elementary School. It was fun and personal for me, catching up with someone who I remember being a great person, a superstar athlete, and has now become a world class coach and leader in her own right. I encourage you all to come back on Monday for part two of our conversation where we're gonna talk about Sue's own college recruitment and what she's learned as a parent guiding her two kids through the college recruitment journey in the past few years. Alright, let's get into it. Here's my conversation with Coach Sue Amit. Coach. Outside of my family. I don't know if anybody has known me as long as you have. Does that sound about right? It does sound about right. I rem I, I'm pretty sure my mom babysat you. We were under three because my parents hadn't moved into their house on Townline Road yet, it was the apartment above the restaurant downtown and Yeah. Yeah. I remember grandpa showing up with m and ms in his pocket and us, both of us sitting on his lap. Yeah. And I know we were both, we both had preschool with Mrs. Lady right. In their house. Yeah. Yep. That crew of us was there, eight or 10 of us that Yeah. Were together for all those years. That's really bringing it back. That's good times. Yeah. Hard to believe. I'm just so impressed with you and I've been following your career and obviously my nieces and nephews, and you coach Sammy, and and she's gone off and done great things after your tutelage. I wanna talk a little bit about Lena to get started because Sure. It's, when we were kids, I could, we count on our, on one hand how many kids left Lena and went and played sports in college? Probably, yeah. I don't know if there was more than that. That I remember. Maybe two or three basketball players. How many volleyball players do you remember before you that played in college? Like Aaron bidding Meyer. Yeah. And Sue Schaefer. Sue Schlumberger. Yeah. At the time, and there might have been a couple others and I apologize if I've missed anybody, but I'm too, I'm trying to rack my brain, yeah. I remember Justin Yeager sure. How did growing up in a place where everybody knows everyone shape who you are as a coach? I, I think being from a small town. Led me to make the college choices that I did and ultimately wanna come back to small town Illinois and continue coaching just because coaches, players, families, and those relationships and those connections and bonds. I'm going through the second cycle of kids where I'm. Gonna be coaching players that I coached. And so I just really appreciate the connections that I make with people through coaching and wanting to give them tools that will, help them in their lives and college and post-college and all the things, and just be a part of their life beyond volleyball. Yeah I think at 18, 19, 20, I think that was always my, that was gonna be my dream. I was gonna come back to lean and teach English and coach basketball and be there forever like you've done and right. Circumstances, sure that happened, it's so cool for me to see you do that because I know how important it is. In a small town, the way we grew up, there weren't a lot of role models that could say, this is what happens when you go away for a while. And this is what happens when you can learn from other people and get out of your cocoon a little bit. Yeah. So the fact that you did all that and then came back and could share all those things to me that's really powerful. That's really cool. You talk about kids whose parents, and now you're coaching their kids. How does that connection change your responsibility in coaching? Does that affect how you go about, do you find yourself adapting every year and evaluating how you're coaching because of all that? Yeah, for sure. And especially for me. In the last 10 years, not only coaching families of people that I knew, but my daughter Molly, was a 2024 graduate, so I am coaching. Her friends and her classmates that know me on the level of being a mom, right? And a teacher and a coach. So it just made that web of connections a little bit stronger and a little bit more personal. So that, it, it extends that role of a coach beyond just what happens in the gym, right? So it's so cool. I, my kids, we live in a town of about a hundred thousand people, but we're 20 minutes away from a metropolis in Denver, and the kids here have a hundred choices. They can go to any high school they want, they, there's 200 high schools they can go to. And so you don't always have that community that we grew up. I remember dressing up and cheering for you and Kendra. And Shelly and Steph. Yeah. And how cool that was that I don't ever remember playing a basketball game at home where there weren't people hanging from the rafters.'cause there was no seats. I don't ever remember watching you play where it wasn't a packed house. And I've always said that, come post-season for example, I've. Always attended the state tournament at the class A level. And the crowds that Class A schools bring are by far above and beyond what you're gonna see by the time they get to the three A and four A matches. Because it, the town of Lena is empty when the team's playing at state. That's right. It's like Hoosiers. They put the signs on the businesses, we're at the game, and everybody knows what that is. Yeah. That's so cool. Go ahead. No, I was just gonna say even the folks that might not follow the team for the long haul, when it comes time to support your local athletics people are there and people show up because we know it's important and we know that, these kids are getting more than just the game. It's the community support behind it too. You know that, that's what hurts my heart. I went back and coached high school a little bit in the last couple years and here in town, and we've got these beautiful gyms that seat, 2000, 3000 people in these high schools, and two, 300 people show up to watch a game. Sure. Maybe every once in a while when it's two big teams that are doing really well, do the uhhuh, does the gym fill up? But it's really rare. So I think anybody that thinks that small town, you, you don't get that pressure as an athlete. You don't get that feeling of what it's like to play big time. I think you need to go to a game at Lena and understand that Yeah. You know how to play under pressure. You know how to coach under pressure in a sport. Because it's everything. That's been one of the things. Our coaching staff is really pretty tight coaching staff, and I'm an elementary teacher, right? So one of the things we talk to our athletes a lot about is those kids that are starters on the varsity team are walking the halls of our elementary building. So when those kids walk through. These halls in this building, they, they're looked up to and they're being watched. And we have to talk to them about you're in, the kids are looking up to you and seeing what you do on the court and off the court. And so that's a great life lesson for those kids to know that the younger kids are watching them and they're gonna remember when they get into high school. I remember watching. This person or that person or somebody that was really doing something cool on the court. Yeah, I remember when we were freshmen what Kyle Benson and Mike Maher did for me, and just the fact that they gave me the time of day and you would driving places and work out with me. And, to me that the loyalty that came with that and the drive that came with that is so valuable. And I don't know if we see that anywhere else today. I don't know if we see kids wanting to achieve what they see in front of them. Like we, we used to have yeah. And it's such a great thing, like thinking of yourself when you're an athlete and having those older kids be like, Hey, Matt, come with me. Watch what I do. I'm gonna bring you to lift, or I'm gonna, this is what we do. That whole bonding thing is just really part of the whole atmosphere that we as coaches try to create. But you can't always teach those kinds of things. Yeah I don't wanna bore our audience'cause you and I could talk about Lena. We, the 30 years we haven't seen much of each other. We could go all day. I wanna transition to youth sports because it's such a huge topic right now and it's, I think it's always been, but I think we're seeing so many kids quit their sport at an earlier and earlier age. We have kids that are doing nothing but one sport. It's volleyball. 12 months outta the year. It's basketball, baseball, 12 months outta the year. And kids are getting burnout. Where does that begin and end with you as a high school, the varsity coach in a town where you're it you're the master teacher for volleyball. Where does that begin for you and what does that look like at a certain age to the time they get to you? Volleyball's a little bit different of a beast because kids are not easily able to do it. When they're five or six or seven years old because they're just simply not strong enough to serve that ball over the net. But bringing my old kid, my own kids up through the ranks, they're starting basketball and wrestling and softball and baseball. Eight or younger. Yeah. And then club volleyball and things like that come in when they get to be 10 or 12. And you have the club sport dynamic of it, and then you also have like our local Lena Sports Association teams are starting. And then you might have a couple parents that say, Hey, we wanna travel a little bit more with these kids and so you've got a lot of different avenues pulling at the kids, wanting them to do this and that and the other thing, and I think with, for my own kids, we always told'em, travel ball's great and fine as long as you still love to do it, but also we're not gonna do travel. Volleyball, basketball, wrestling, we're not gonna do everything. So you need to pick one that you wanna specialize in for that. But you're still gonna do like small schools. We need to have three sport athletes. Yeah. Or you're not gonna be able to sport a team. Yeah. So there's just a fine line between putting all your marbles in that travel ball, youth sports avenue. And just sometimes letting kids be kids. Yeah. It's important, I think it's important for kids to learn how to adapt to different coaches and to be a part of a team and be a good teammate. I think all of that's very important, but. We've done a really nice job here at Lena developing our youth programs in the summer. That's really been a thing that I think has come on in my time of coaching. Just being able to have our hands on deck. During the summer months. And so that to me is important to pull the kids for a week and just saying, here's what Lewin volleyball is all all about. And maybe having those upperclassmen in the gym with them as coaches even more than the travel ball thing, because now I know they're getting fundamentals, you'd sign up for travel ball and summer activities and some of those things you don't always know. The quality of coaching. Sometimes it's somebody else's dad that, their dad is gonna have them be the pitcher and the catcher and not letting everybody experience that, right? So youth sports is in my mind as a head coach, I want those kids learning fundamentals and learning the love of the game. And not getting burnout with wins and losses and all that kinda stuff at such an early age and not specializing at an early age. I've even seen with volleyball. Young kids at the elementary or junior high level are being geared towards being a setter or a libero or a middle hitter. And then they get to high school and they've grown six inches and they've developed physically and or didn't grow at all after that. Yeah. Or they didn't grow at all. And now as a coach they're trained to that one specific activity. I'd rather see an all around athlete, bring an all around athlete into my gym any day. And, they can adapt to what I need them to do well because they can do it all. Your middle school is right across the street, right? Correct. Yep. What role do you look in terms of just your personal responsibility or accountability that you take on yourself? What role do you take on with those coaches over in the middle school and those sixth, seventh, and eighth graders that are learning how to play? Where does that start for you to get them starting to be ready to get to you at that point? Sure. That's a difficult thing during the season. Because we play volleyball in the same season as our junior high kids do, in this corner of Illinois. So what we've done here is, we've got all sport workouts all summer long. So high school coaches are. In our facility working with those kids with their strength and conditioning and speed and agility. Which is huge. But then also, like I have a hand in who those junior high coaches are gonna be. We, during our camp weeks, pull those coaches in so they can not only see how we do things and we want things taught, but also I always bring an outside source in to run our summer camps. So that we as coaches can sit back and evaluate and say, Hey, I really like the way they're doing this, or, I like the way they're doing that. Or, let's talk about what kids in certain roles. And it's also time for us as coaches to sit back and learn from a college level coach and get on the same page. That's really cool. YI know you're an elementary teacher. Yes. Help me out here. I so many, so much has changed. The elementary and middle school is both across the street. The elementary and middle schools are both in the same building. Okay. Separate. So you don't have far to go to run practice every day? No. In fact, here at Lena now and. We all, the games are no longer played in the gymnasium in the high school. They all play in the actual elementary gymnasium. Oh, they do? Yeah.'cause when they built the new school here, it's bigger, better, all the things. Okay. That's cool. Yeah. All right. That's awesome. That's good to hear all on the same campus though, yeah. Yeah. When you talk about your summer camps and it's so cool that you, what you do and how you format that, so you have the chance to have your focus where it needs to be. Sure. Are you finding that gives you, and also an opportunity to start building relationships with some of those, I'm sure you taught most of'em coaches. Coaches, but also the kids, the Oh yes. That are coming to the camps. Yes. What is that like for you in terms of. If you see something, a drill not going the way you want it, or you see a kid that maybe has some promise that needs a little motivation, does that give you that avenue to provide that through early on? Yeah, for sure. Because that's the nice thing about sometimes when you're coaching you're tossing the balls or you're involved in the actual drill where you don't see what's going on for team dynamics and that kind of stuff. So you get a different perspective on. Body language and maybe somebody's gearing towards, they wanna go to the defensive lines and the drills or whatever. And as coaches were like, what do you think about that player? Maybe setting or that player doing something else. So it's nice where I could say, Hey, step over there for a minute. I wanna watch you in the server sea, or I wanna watch your serve, or whatever it is. So it just gives us a nice perspective as coaches to see how they respond to someone else, but also it's always nice to have affirmation for the kids to hear it another way from another coach. Maybe Coach AMT does know what she's talking about. I've heard that before. Things like that. That's fantastic. Yeah. Lena's had two volleyball has had two volleyball coaches in what, the last 60 years. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's unheard of. Yeah. It's really a special thing. And we've talked, rose and I Rose still lives in Lena as well, Rose Black. So she'll stop by and we talk lineups and we talk X's and o's and all that stuff, which is cool because I still have her perspective. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like in this day and age, it's really hard for schools to find somebody that's gonna be in it. And a teacher too. Yes. There's a lot of teachers just aren't coaches anymore. You're pulling somebody from outside the district and yeah, it's just really a cool thing. It's almost impossible here in, in the bigger cities because there, there's so many teams, there's so many schools and Yeah. For every 10 teams, whether it's club or high school, there might be one or two people that really are, have the ability and have been taught how to coach at those levels. Sure. It's just for what you and Rose have done over these last 60 years at Lena and the prowess and the lives that you've changed. To me, it's. They should make a movie about it. It's pretty. Let's talk about coaching coaches. Let's talk about coaching your staff. Where are you at in terms of season's over November 1st, you're not gonna play a real game until late August. What are you doing with your assistance to develop them so you are not having to. Have be an octopus in practice and have eight arms everywhere where you're really sure giving them resources and giving them tools to be master teachers on the floor. What are you doing in that November to August timeline? It's really, and that's another cool thing, is those coaches, my assistant Stephanie Matts Myers. Is my assistant coach. She's been my assistant coach for the same amount of time that I've, please give them both a hug for me the next time you, yeah. Will you please? Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And then my freshman coach at the high school level is Lindsey Killian who played at Platteville. So it's really a special thing because here you've got three varsity caliber coaches. Yeah. Working in the district. I would trust either one of them to take my team if need be. So very knowledgeable, supportive supportive people that I'm working with on a daily basis as a teacher. Yeah. We are, we usually try to get to a coach's clinic. We. Shoot emails back and forth or talk things over. There's, local clubs here going on where some of those assistant coaches are coaching another team. So it's just really a relationship that doesn't just start and stop when volleyball season stop stops. These are my friends, these are my community of people that we're always talking volleyball and what's happening next. What's next year gonna look like and what do we wanna do with the program in the summer? And and all the things. It's just a, it's just a continuous conversation. I it's why you look so much younger than me. It's because you've got assistant coaches to take some of this pressure. So they've always said, it's been a long time since I've had that. Yeah. It's amazing what happens when you have really confident, strong, mature coaches that know what they're doing. For sure. How much better of a head coach you can be. Because of that. Much growth. Your kids get out of that when they have three voices that are competent and trustful, trustworthy and know what they're talking about. Yeah. It's really easy to buy in, so I love that. Yeah. Where does ownership, where does that word work in your program in terms of your players, in terms of their ownership of the program? What does that mean to you? I think, ownership to me is not just a volleyball thing, it's a Lee Win community thing. Yeah. We really instill that work ethic. In the summer. It all starts in the off season, and I would say in the last probably six years for sure, Lee win female athletes. Have taken ownership to their athletic development, not just volleyball, but all around athletes because whether it's volleyball or golf or even cheerleading, basketball, softball, track, all of it. Sure. If they're not there in the summer, putting the hours in and the time in and working harder. When nobody's watching then they're not buying in. And we don't want, we don't want that. And kids have figured it out that if they're not there, they're gonna be behind. If they're not there their teammates maybe aren't going to trust'em or aren't going to rely on them, or all the things that you. Want kids to be doing in the off season. Our Lewin kids are doing, our Lewin girls are participating in making themselves stronger and putting the time in. And I think that's where ownership comes because then when we stop step in the gym, in our open gyms, and when we start doing those things in the early summer. Time, they're ready to do it and they're ready to buy in. And when it's go time, it's go time. And they're confident in their abilities because they've done the work. Tell me if I'm wrong here, but I don't remember once the season was over outside of maybe a week of summer camp or maybe we went away for a week for a camp. I don't remember being with Coach much. Do you remember that? It was pretty much the season was the season and then you were on your own to figure it out. Yeah. I would say that's one of the biggest changes in high school sports since I've been teaching is you know what it used to be. Yeah. Here's this camp at NIU. And. If you're interested in volleyball and really wanna be a part of this I encourage the group of you to go. But as far as me as a coach or Rose Black as a coach, we couldn't have any part of that because yeah. So now in the off season or in the summer months, we have, I think it's 20 contact days where we can spend working with our athletes. That's fantastic. And that's side. That's just in the gym for volleyball. That's not, our summer workouts that happen, bio's, weight room, right? Yeah. So these kids are coming in the week after school gets out and they're putting in three days a week in the weight room. And then here we always do basketball things in June. So they've got probably two or three days of open gym for that. And then a summer league. And then volleyball stuff starts picking up in July. And so in Illinois now the, they changed the dead week from August to the 4th of July week. And so as a volleyball coach, I can say, all right, we're gonna do camp week, the week before and we're gonna get a jumpstart on, what's gonna happen or whatever. Now we haven't come up with that schedule yet, but it's just totally different from what you and I knew as kids. It's crazy, yeah. I was doing the same thing as a high school coach out here. We all summer long, I was in, I was opening the gym three days a week and I could basically run a full practice. I couldn't make it mandatory. But anybody that showed up, we could put in the offense, we could put in the defense, we could, yeah. We could work on our communication. And that's quite an advantage. And the other thing with that, we talked about coaches and coaches that are in it for the long haul. I think that. Demand on athletes and coaches year round. Yeah. Has made people think a little bit like, this doesn't work in my schedule. If you're not a teacher, it's really hard to be able to put in those days in the morning workouts or, whatever the expectation is in the summer. Yeah. That's so cool. I it's, I don't think people outside of a small town community understand the gift. That is there, we can complain. We don't have this or don't have that in a small town, but what we do have and the heart and the soul and the spirit and the community and the culture, yeah. It's just built in. You don't have any other options. This is, I'm gonna be a part of this and I'm gonna make it matter. I'm gonna, I'm gonna. I want to be known as one of the best that's ever done this, so Sure. It's a really cool, it's a really cool way to grow up. I remember riding my bike everywhere. I remember being outside all summer long. I remember riding my bike to the pool or the gym and always being active. Yep. Is that still the case for a six through 15-year-old and Lena? I think it is. I think we've got summer softball and baseball going on for young kids. We've got, the pool and the park passes and activities and yeah. I think those kids, a lot of that is still the same. Good. That's, that makes me feel good. Yeah.'cause my kids don't have that, they're not on their bikes. They're, it's, when you're in a city it's hard to. Let them go too far.'cause you don't know what's gonna be outside of that mile radius, two mile radius. I remember, gosh, I must have been 10 years old, 11 years old, riding my bike out to Lake Lee Aana, which is what, four or five miles from town? Sure. Yeah. And who knows what was out there at that point, but I. I don't think my parents ever knew where I was from eight to six. Eight to seven. Don't come on. Don't come home till the streetlights come on. Streetlights come on, it's time to come home. That's right. But also like Lena's blessed because we do have such a great park district and, community and things going on for kids where, everybody's taking care of'em and we want them busy doing something or they're gonna get in trouble. So yeah. That's awesome. Let's talk, let's dive into volleyball. Let's get into your volleyball brain when,'cause you watch a lot of volleyball too, I'm sure, and yeah. When you see, like Nebraska play in Texas a and m in Kentucky, what does that do to your brain when you're watching those kids play? How are you taking that level and transition it to your level? What does that look like for you and how your brain works? I think so many of those athletes, when you're talking Nebraska and Wisconsin and those teams that you're watching in the final four, they're just so intense and dedicated and, all the things you wanna see in an athlete, like that's the pedestal and that's the where we want these kids to achieve. But I think transitioning that to the high school athlete you just want to give them bits and pieces of all of it. The intensity of a division one athlete, for example, might be way more than what any of these kids are. Ever gonna see in their, that's in their lifetime and maybe even from a boss or whatever, but to be able to talk about being in the zone and being present and being where you're at and not looking forward to the next thing but focusing, you chose to come out for volleyball so we're gonna work this and we're gonna make you the best that you can be. And what, as a player can you do. To turn that switch in your mind, to get in the zone or, maybe it's the little things like, a fundamental or you're hitting the top of the tape with a ball. What can we do in the off season to, to increase that vertical, right? Or, to get your foot speed where it needs to be. We just have all so many people who are seeing these kids during the day. We're all hands on deck for our coaching staff. Men, women, boys coaches, girls coaches. So I think just, being able to talk to kids about, Hey, did you see that game? Women's sports now is so accessible to these kids. It's awesome. Yeah. I don't know that I ever probably saw a college game growing up, college volleyball. Yeah. So it was unheard of to be on tv. Yeah. So basketball and football. That was about it. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe tennis. Maybe tennis, yeah. But now at the college, right? Yeah. So I think pros, even if we're talking game film over talking, watch our footwork and now here we're gonna. Let's buzz into this Nebraska film. Watch what their liberos doing, watch their middles transition off the net and approach, and where's their setter putting the ball. I think being able to watch those higher level. Things has allowed our kids to maybe visualize where they want to be. That's very cool. Yeah. I was gonna ask you about that. You you start talking about film and watching the film. What are the tools that you use to inspire your kids and motivate them, and just to get that light bulb to go from here to here and go, oh. The speed of play. I didn't really understand speed of play, but now I see it or now I understand. Yeah. What are some of those tools that you use to get them to take that next step? I think I like to pull, I like to watch volleyball with the kids. If you're familiar with Lewin Volleyball Pro, you knew you did it for basketball at Lee Win too. We travel to away tournament so that we're not just seeing the same competition. That we see in our Northwest Illinois conference at tournaments. So one of the things that I've taken some pride in my program is developing a really strong strength of schedule. I see. So one of the things that kids on my team are able to see when they go to those higher level games, they're like. Whoa, we're walking through the motions, so it's almost throw'em into the fire, because when you're playing against a team that has a dynamic middle that's pounding those one balls, and we're not ready to block. It's learned by trial, right? You've gotta get in and you've gotta do it or you're gonna look foolish. And a lot of that happens. By our strength of schedule and playing at that intense level, but also being able to run lot. There's a lot of simple drilling that goes on within my program, that fundamental stuff. But then as practice progresses, I like to bring, we're going full court by the end of practice and trying to speed up that level of intensity so that kids are right. Are moving and just talking'em through it the whole time they're playing. That's awesome. How much scrimmage do you do? Hardly any. Yeah. Hardly ever. Yeah. And. Six on six in my gym is not a scrimmage. It's, we might be specializing on this side on, I want back row attacking. But on that side, we're transitioning to pin hitting. Yeah. So I like to focus on single skills within a six on six situation rather than serve pat, there's just too much downtime mastering the situation. Yes. Absolutely. Love that. I wanna talk, we're gonna do another episode. So for those that are listening to come back on Monday, we're gonna do one more, but I want to get into your recruiting experience, your daughter's recruiting experience, what you're doing with your kids that have that dream of playing at the next level. So we'll do that next, but I wanna do some rapid fire with you. Okay. Just give you some fun stuff to think about and get your thoughts on. Best age to start sports. Seriously. For the wins matter to you. Seventh grade. Seventh grade? Yeah. I'd agree with you there. One habit every young athlete should build early. Great body language. How do you teach that? I think watching video, yeah. I've even done that with myself. What do I look like when I'm coaching? Is it positive? Is it negative? What do people see in me? Yeah. So I, I think when you've got those kids that are hanging their heads or, watch, here's, let's look at what you look like. Yeah. Every college coach I talk to says the same thing. It's a, yeah. It's such a big thing. I remember, I'll tell a story. I remember my dad bought one of those big camera recorders. I must have been sixth, seventh grade, right? The big things that were on your shoulder, and it was the first time I'd ever seen myself play. It was like a, a wild animal seeing themselves in the mirror for the first time. And I thought I was in good shape and I thought I was fast, and I thought I was, and I watched the film, I was like, oh my gosh. It was a trade wreck of laziness and incompetence and, and I was just like, oh, so that I know what that film did for me. So that's great to hear. Most underrated skill in bottle serving. Serving and passing. I, we always start kids with serving and passing, and when it comes down to it at the varsity level wins and losses, serving and passing, I, I don't know if it's because I didn't grow up playing volleyball, just watching it. But I watch the Olympics. I watch the Final four, and I'm like, when they miss a serve, I just wanna pull my hair off. For sure. You still feel that way? Yeah. And then there's coaches I don't care if they miss every serve, I want them to be aggressive, especially in rally scoring. And then you miss a serve and you're giving the other team momentum. So yeah. Drives me crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Tougher job coaching or parenting an athlete. Parenting. I have a 60-year-old daughter. I know exactly what favorite memory from coaching maximally. Ooh. That's a tough one, the one that stands out. And I don't want you, I don't want either of your kids to think that mommy's got a favorite, but is there a memory that comes sound? I never coached Max. I watched him play and stuff. But with Molly, it's gotta be just those aha moments. It's not necessarily one, one, an example but just the time where we're silly on the court and just sharing a look with each other I got, you know what I'm thinking or I know exactly what you, that kind of stuff. Like just that connection or, they just figured something out. You've been telling'em for years and all of a sudden it just clicked. I love that. One thing, small town athletes do better than big city athletes love their teammates. Good answer. One thing, small town athletes must work harder at. I think being three sport well-rounded athletes, I think small town athletes think they need to focus on one thing, and I think they're better off doing it all. Yeah. I have 140 episodes of college coaches tell, saying the exact same thing, so any of your kids want to hear it they'll all tell you the same thing, go enjoy it. If you love playing your sports, go play'em all. Last one. Coaching moment that made you proudest as a teacher? That's easy. And it's not necessarily a moment that I had sharing on the court, but through my information that I sent you, you probably saw that we. Started a fellowship at Christian Athletes Yeah. Group here, which is really cool. It's a great organization. Lots of great skills that kids learn there. But someone gifted me, I have to look around to see if it's behind me. A photo of the football team at the state championship with both teams on one knee praying after the game. That's great. But. As a coach, we strive for the wins and losses and the, like that's our ultimate goal, right? I wanna play in the state championship game. But as a coach we're giving lifelong lessons, right? So when I saw what Lee Win Can Community has done with this Fellowship of Christian athletes, and I saw 75 young men kneeling on the biggest platform in Illinois praying. I was like, I'm not only influencing Lewin volleyball, but that influence has spread throughout. And so those kids have gained something that's bigger than the game. Sure. Is that. We're here for football, but we're here for a lot more. And yeah, for sure. We're doing this together even though we're doing it against each other. That, that's pretty powerful. Yeah. Yeah. Really powerful, Sue. It's can't tell you how happy I am to see you, and so happy for your success and that Lena has kept you and you've been able to do all the great things you have and change the lives you have. So thanks for doing this with me. Thank you. It's been a joy. I enjoyed being here. Come back on Monday and we'll talk some more. Sounds good. Thanks Matt. That wraps up another episode of the Significant Coaching Podcast. Thanks for hanging out with us today down that fun trip down memory lane. It always brings me joy when good things happen to good people, and my heart is full. Knowing the great work Sue has done in our hometown, I'm truly thankful for Sue's friendship as well as all the great people of Lena Illinois who helped shaped who we both are today. Whoever said that it takes a village to raise great kids. May have spent some time in our hometown. Okay. If you enjoyed today's conversation with Coach Sue Amit, make sure you go back and explore past episodes featuring some of the best coaches, athletic leaders, and difference makers from across the country. Every conversation is designed to open your eyes, give you food for thought, and hopefully make your journey as an athlete, parent, or a coach a little easier and a lot more joyful. You can listen to every episode, watch full conversations on YouTube, and get access to all my coaching and recruiting tools, books, courses, and resources@coachmattrogers.com. And don't forget, join us back here on Monday for part two of my conversation with Coach Sue, where we'll dive into her college recruiting journey and her perspective as a parent navigating the process with her own kids today. Until next time. Stay focused on what you can control. Stay humble and keep chasing significance.