LIVE IT! LOVE IT! COACH IT!
“BECOMING…”

Coach Michelle Collier, Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, Georgia Tech

When I think about my journey in volleyball and the phrase LIVE IT! LOVE IT! COACH IT!, I realize those words describe much more than my profession.

They describe a journey.

Volleyball has taken me from a young girl in Recife, Brazil, to the United States, around the world as a professional athlete, and eventually to the sideline as a coach and leader.

Along the way, the game challenged me, humbled me, opened doors for me, introduced me to incredible people, and continually asked me to grow.

Looking back, I realized that while I thought I was learning volleyball, volleyball was teaching me how to live.

LIVE IT!

I grew up in Recife, Brazil, where I fell in love with the game.

Like many young athletes, I had dreams. Volleyball eventually gave me the courage to leave home, move to another country, learn a new culture and pursue an opportunity that would completely change my life.

I came to the United States to play collegiate volleyball at the University of South Florida. From there, volleyball took me around the world professionally.

Different countries. Different languages. Different teammates. Different coaches. Different systems and expectations.

I didn’t learn volleyball from one coach, one country or one way of thinking.

I learned it across cultures, locker rooms, victories, disappointments, relationships and uncomfortable moments.

And every environment required something from me.

Adapt. Compete. Listen. Work. Respond. Grow.

I learned that talent may open a door, but what you do every day determines how long that door stays open.

I learned how to compete when things were going well and, perhaps more importantly, how to keep competing when they weren’t.

I learned that feedback isn’t always comfortable. Growth isn’t always comfortable. Leadership isn’t always comfortable.

And I learned that success is never a destination.

There is always another level.

Looking back, I realized I wasn’t simply learning how to become a better volleyball player.

I was learning how to become.

Those lessons followed me far beyond the volleyball court.

Discipline. Resilience. Accountability. Adaptability. Gratitude. The willingness to work. The courage to evolve.

Volleyball didn’t just become something I did.

It became part of who I am.

That is what it means to LIVE IT.

LOVE IT!

People sometimes ask what keeps me motivated after so many years in this sport.

The answer starts with something very simple:

I love volleyball.

I love competing.

I love winning.

I love the strategy of the game and the challenge of figuring out how to get better.

I love walking into a gym and seeing a group of people completely committed to pursuing something difficult together.

There is something powerful about discovering how good you can become when you are willing to work for it.

But over time, I realized that what I love most about volleyball isn’t simply the game.

It is what the game can teach us.

Volleyball teaches you to work when nobody is watching.

It teaches you to respond when things don’t go your way.

It teaches you to accept feedback, even when it is difficult to hear.

It teaches you that your energy affects other people.

It teaches you that being part of a team sometimes requires putting something bigger than yourself first.

It teaches you to be accountable.

It teaches you to evolve instead of becoming comfortable.

And eventually, if you allow it to, the game teaches you that what you give to others can last much longer than anything you accomplish for yourself.

That is what makes coaching young women so meaningful to me.

Every athlete who enters our program comes with dreams, strengths, insecurities, expectations and tremendous potential.

Our responsibility isn’t simply to make her a better volleyball player.

It is to challenge her to discover what she can become.

Yes, wins matter.

Championships matter.

Competing at the highest level matters.

Excellence matters.

I believe pursuing excellence teaches us something about ourselves that comfort never will.

But the greatest reward is watching what happens beyond volleyball.

It is seeing former student-athletes become leaders, professionals, mothers, mentors and people who positively impact others.

The scoreboard eventually turns off.

The relationships and lessons can last forever.

That is why I LOVE IT.

COACH IT!

When my playing career ended, I knew I wanted to give back to the game that had given me so much.

But coaching quickly became much more than staying connected to volleyball.

I discovered that I loved building.

Building teams. Building people. Building belief. Building environments where expectations are high and people are challenged to discover what they can accomplish together.

That has been one of the most meaningful parts of my journey at Georgia Tech.

The vision was never simply to win more volleyball matches.

We wanted to build something that could last.

That required changing expectations.

How we trained. How we competed. How we recruited. How we prepared. How we responded to adversity. How we treated one another. And ultimately, what we believed was possible.

Those daily choices eventually became results.

Championships. NCAA Tournament runs. An Elite Eight. National rankings. All-Americans. Professional opportunities. Packed gyms and a community that believes in Georgia Tech Volleyball.

I am incredibly proud of those accomplishments.

But I am even more proud of what they represent.

They are evidence of what can happen when people believe, work, sacrifice, trust and grow together.

Because coaching isn’t standing on a sideline and directing traffic.

Coaching is leadership.

It is creating a vision and helping people believe in it.

It is holding someone accountable because you believe she is capable of more.

It is knowing when to push and when to support.

It is demanding excellence while making sure people know they are valued beyond their performance.

It is helping athletes understand that leadership isn’t a title. It is what you consistently bring to the people around you.

Sometimes coaching means celebrating someone.

Sometimes it means having a difficult conversation.

Sometimes it means asking someone to do something she doesn’t believe she can do yet.

And sometimes it simply means standing beside someone while she figures it out.

The most meaningful victories aren’t always visible on a scoreboard.

Sometimes the victory is a young woman finding her voice. Accepting responsibility. Responding differently to adversity. Learning how to lead. Believing in herself. Or realizing that she is capable of much more than she originally thought.

Those moments remind me why I COACH IT.

THE LEGACY I HOPE TO LEAVE

For a long time in sports, success can feel easy to measure.

Wins. Championships. Rankings. Records.

And I am proud of those things.

They represent sacrifice, discipline, courage and thousands of hours of work by a lot of people.

But the longer I coach, the more I understand that the greatest measure of our work will not be what hangs on a wall.

It will be who walks out of our program.

Did she learn to lead?

Did she learn to work?

Did she learn to respond when life became difficult?

Did she learn to accept feedback without allowing it to define her?

Did she learn to take ownership?

Did she understand that her energy and actions affect the people around her?

Did she learn to pursue excellence even when nobody was watching?

Did she learn to be grateful for the opportunities in front of her?

And did she leave prepared to positively impact whatever team, family, company or community she becomes part of next?

If the answer to those questions is yes, then we have accomplished something much bigger than volleyball.

Over the years, I have come to describe that process with one word:

BECOMING.

Becoming isn’t about arriving at some final version of yourself.

There is no finish line.

It is understanding that every experience gives us an opportunity to grow.

Excellence is something we pursue.

Energy is something we choose.

Evolution requires courage to change.

Ownership means accepting responsibility for what we bring to the people around us.

Gratitude reminds us to appreciate the opportunity and the people sharing the journey with us.

And Everlasting means understanding that what we build and give to others should matter long after the final point is played.

Those aren’t simply volleyball values.

They are life values.

And maybe that is the greatest lesson this game has given me.

Volleyball has taken me farther than the young girl growing up in Recife could ever have imagined.

I lived it as a player in Brazil, as a collegiate athlete in America and as a professional athlete around the world.

I loved it enough to keep learning from it – even when the lessons were difficult.

And now I have the privilege to coach it, sharing those lessons and helping another generation of young women discover what the game can teach them about themselves.

Someday, the matches will end.

The rankings will change.

The trophies will gather dust.

But hopefully the people we have impacted will continue impacting others.

That is the legacy.

That is the purpose.

That is the journey.

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