leading the U.S. Men's Olympic Volleyball Team to a gold medal at the 2008
Olympic Games in Beijing, Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) has
accepted the head coach position of the U.S. Women's National Team for the
2009-2012 Olympic quadrennial, according to USA Volleyball Chief Executive
Officer Doug Beal.
"This is a great opportunity for me to further develop professionally. I'm
excited by the challenges this change presents, and I'm optimistic that some
of the knowledge we've acquired with the men's program can translate to the
women," McCutcheon said in regards to changing roles to the U.S. Women's
National Team. "There will be differences in systems and aspects of
developing team culture but, at the end of the day, the fundamental
principles of volleyball are not gender-specific.
"Hugh proved throughout the past quadrennial his abilities as a great coach,
motivator and program manager," Beal said. "The direction he provided
allowed our men to steadily climb into position to be champions. Rarely has
a team been so good so often under such intense pressure as they were in
Beijing. I look forward to him bringing his talents, abilities, personality
and philosophy to our women's program! USA Volleyball is indeed fortunate
and pleased to be able to retain Hugh within our national team structure."
Beal notes this is not an uncommon situation in international or
professional volleyball. There are many examples of coaches moving from one
gender to the other, most notably Jose Roberto Guimaraes (Ze Roberto), who
led the Brazilian men's team to the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games,
and matched that success by leading the Brazilian women to the gold medal in
Beijing.
"Successful coaches are successful coaches," Beal said. "I have every
confidence that Hugh can learn the differences that surely exist between
genders and apply his philosophy to our women's team in a positive way."
Lindsey Berg (Honolulu), a two-time Olympian with the U.S. Women's National
Team and silver medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games, described McCutcheon as
a great fit for the program.
"Personally, I am absolutely thrilled Hugh has accepted the position to lead
our team," Berg said. "He will be able to help us take a huge step forward
in making change within our program in a very positive way. This will be a
great opportunity for our team to work under a different set of
philosophies. Hugh will be able to bring in fresh and new ideas for us to
build upon by bringing in aspects from the men's game, including how we
train and compete on the court. Overall, this is a great coaching move and
change for our program, and it is going to be exciting."
As the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2008 Olympic Games,
McCutcheon, 39, and Team USA went undefeated in Beijing to claim its third
Olympic Games gold medal and its first podium finish since 1992. He leaves
the U.S. Men's National Team program with a 107-33 overall record in four
years and Team USA ranked second in the current FIVB World Ranking, its
highest ranking ever.
The U.S. enjoyed one of its best seasons ever in 2008 under McCutcheon's
guidance as the team won all three of its major tournaments of the year.
Team USA secured its first-ever FIVB World League championship in July 2008
after a bronze medal finish in the same event in 2007, the first time the
Americans earned back-to-back medals in the annual event. The U.S. started
the 2008 campaign in dominating fashion by sweeping all five matches at the
NORCECA Men's Continental Olympic Qualifier to earn its berth in the 2008
Olympics.
"(Hugh) meant everything to our team," U.S. Men's National Team libero Rich
Lambourne (Tustin, Calif.) said. "He was the mastermind of what we were
trying to do. He was the one who clearly focused our goal and got it written
down and set out a plan for how to get us there. In 2005, when we started
the quad, the idea that we would be gold medalists was pretty comical. It
seemed so far away. It's a huge credit to him that he kept us on that track
and had in mind a way to actually accomplish that."
McCutcheon, hired as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team in
April 2003, assisted the Americans to a fourth-place finish at the 2004
Olympic Games in Athens after the squad failed to win a single match at the
2000 Olympic Games. He was elevated to head coach of the U.S. Men's National
Team in February 2005 after Beal moved from his coaching role into the
position of CEO.
The U.S. Women's National Team also enjoyed remarkable success at the 2008
Olympic Games under head coach "Jenny" Lang Ping, who elected not to seek a
contract renewal for the upcoming quadrennial. Using a roster of eight
Olympic Games veterans, Team USA earned its first medal since the 1992
Olympic Games and finished with the silver medal falling to top-ranked
Brazil in the championship match. The U.S. finished second in its group
including a victory over host China, then went on to defeat second-ranked
Italy in the quarterfinals and third-ranked Cuba in the semifinals. The
Americans were the only team to take a set away from Brazil throughout the
Olympics.
"Jenny proved once again why she ranks among the very top of the elite
international coaches by leading the U.S. Women to the Olympic Games silver
medal in her home country under very difficult conditions," Beal said. "She
deserves a huge amount of credit for the team's medal performance.
Beal indicated that now is the time to build the sport across a broad range
of platforms based on the achievements earned during the 2008 Olympics.
"The objective for all USA Volleyball programs is to maintain the remarkable
success from Beijing, while at the same time, working to grow the profile of
our sport as significantly and widely as possible," Beal said. "This will be
very challenging as both the U.S. and the world head into a period of
uncertain economic times. Hugh is very aware of our goals as an
organization, and I am confident that in his new role, he will be in a
position to contribute to them significantly.
McCutcheon was not a stranger to USA Volleyball prior to landing his first
job with the U.S. Men's National Team. He served as a volunteer assistant
coach for the men's national team helping out during the 2001 FIVB World
League, the 2002 FIVB World Championship and five international tours. He
has also served as the head coach of the U.S. Boys' Youth National Team in
2000 and 2001.
According to Beal, USA Volleyball does not have a set timetable to fill the
now-vacated U.S. Men's National Team head coach position other than taking
the necessary time to find the most qualified person.
No comments:
Post a Comment