Why Salima Rockwell chose Notre Dame (Ep.18)

Meet Salima Rockwell for me it's an easy sell I I think there are so many unique things that Notre Dame offers and no place else in the country offers the connections the Alum the for from Forever how can we help you become this amazing human and person for the rest of your life from the campus of Our Ladies University this is for good stories from Notre Dame a behindth scenes glimpse into life under the golden dome and the powerful stories that drive Notre Dame to become a Force for good in the world hello and welcome to for good stories from Notre name as we kick off a new school year anticipation is building around the start of a new season for Notre Dame women's volleyball under the leadership of our outstanding head coach Sela Rockwell now beginning her third year with an incred r l talented roster of 22 student athletes including an incoming class ranked second in the ACC the Fighting Irish are gearing up for a promising and competitive season we're thrilled to have Coach Sela Rockwell with us here today Sela thanks so much for making the time we're here in the beautiful confines of the purcel Pavilion and the joy Center y you're matching the court itself green on green I love it so um let's start before we talk about the Notre Dame program y you had the incredible honor of being the Broadcasting the 2024 Paris Olympics color commentary uh for the women's Olympic uh team and in in all of July you were broadcasting but you were doing it from afar tell us a little bit about it yeah so I was so fortunate and like you said blessed to be have the opportunity to call the games at the Olympics um it was for the men and the women so it was both sides um 24 teams you know competing 12 and 12 a lot of prep a lot of um you know studying goes into that but it was it was awesome and it was unique because the commentary team was in Connecticut we were in Stanford at NBC headquarters calling those matches remotely so that is that the first time for you that you you've called the match remotely you know what no I during Co that's kind of when it all started when I was in broadcasting we went from completely on site to almost fully remote and then a combination and I think that was one that that Co got taught everyone that you can you can do things differently and I think in this case with so many different broadcasts being on peacock and USA and NBC and E there was so much going on this Olympics it was the way to do it so they could house everything in one spot and still be able to to get the games out it was it was pretty amazing that's great so so what did you learn from the experience was there any I mean you've been around as a coach as a player and and and doing uh broadcasts for many many years was this a highlight was this unique what was special about this oh it was it was a highlight for sure I mean it's the Olympics and and you want to be in the Olympics we came away with a gold right I mean sorry silver in the women's and and a bronze and the men so it was it was an awesome showing for the USA teams um but really just just being a part of of those matches you know calling a gold medal match like it really I was just doing the matches and I do my thing but it hit me yeah like this is crazy this is a really big deal there a lot of people listening a lot of people watching so you know the magnitude of it you know didn't really Escape me it was it was awesome and and the production of it like I said right all the pieces involved all the all the times that we're we're calling a match and it's we're doing it live and we're doing it for the reair and we're doing it for peacock all at the same time which is a totally different animal our producer was amazing she is a rock star I'll give her producer Pat a shout out right but it was it was just awesome so so what about when when you know you look and and you've you were the captain of the US national team for a few years uh You've Won multiple national championships as a coach both at Penn State and at Texas uh you've played at the highest levels of the game and you're one of the most decorated athletes um broadcasting does it does it does it give you the intrinsic Joy that you did as a player or coach you know it's it's different but it you're still involved and so for me as a coach the way I see it I like to scout the games I like to watch film when I went into broadcasting my husband was like wait a minute I thought you were taking a step back back and now I'm scouting more than I ever had um but to really get that across to the viewers right it's just like someone turns on a football game you want to know what's going on you want to hear it you want to hear it at a high level right I want people to understand it but also know that it's a pretty intricate game yeah and so to hear it at a high level so for me it it was a great transition I loved doing it and you could be competitive without actually worrying about who won at the end I could go home and sleep at night it wasn't my team wasn't your team yeah well I I have a prediction I I you know I think that you're going to be involved more in in coaching these teams the national teams going forward and that's just that's just my my my gut uh feel with without any kind of inside info that's for sure but um you know to have you come to Becoming Head Volleyball Coach at Notre Dame Notre Dame is a really really big deal and in fact uh we have somebody in our our team who uh uh was a player uh back in her day before you got here and she was playing professionally uh in Hungary when the announcement was made that you were coming here and uh this is what Hannah had to say I remember Landing in Buddha Budapest after a late night flight from Italy and getting a Notre Dame volleyball alumni email announcing the new head coach it featured a video of someone walking but didn't reveal their face just the sound of their voice which I immediately recognized as the voice of Sela Rockwell I was in complete shock Sela is so big in the volleyball world and I couldn't believe we got not her but then again it's Notre name and this is what we do at that moment I knew what it meant to be a proud Alum I knew our program was in great hands and from The Budapest International Airport thousands of miles from Notre name I let out my most heartfelt go Irish what a what an amazing tribute for from a former player uh tell us about that move to leave yeah br and to come back to coach and to coach it Notre day yeah I it was uh it was an interesting time because I wasn't planning on it you know I I'd gotten out of coaching for a little while was was starting that path and um you know Missy Missy called me Missy Conboy she called um over and over and over again um but I was doing the national championship matches I was calling all those games and and trying to prepare and get my head right but um but coaching was something I always new deep down that I would want to get back into right um because you you just don't have that same level of of impact and uh influence and mentorship all those things I try to do through the broadcast Elevate the sport Elevate the women involved but it's different than having that impact so so when it came up um it was just one of those jobs that has always been very intriguing you know when you're when you're a volleyball coach you you talk to your peers about jobs oh what do you think if that came up that's a job where you could get it done I don't know if that if they really fund this program well um Notre Dame's always been one of those yeah so it kind of was just the more I talked about it the more I talked to my husband and my family about it it was making a lot more sense and it once I talked to Jack and Missy and the how serious they were about elevating volleyball at Notre Dame I knew they were serious and they wanted to invest and then I met the oh I met you I met lots of people uh involved met at the I think it was was the fiesta bow right oh we met at the fiesta B the fiest B you were they were in high recruitment mode at that time that was crazy town and no one knew so I was like hiding in the in the sky box and the cameras weren't on me and no one saw that I was there because nobody knew except a small handful of friends but I yeah it it's about the people here at Notre D and and everyone says that but it really came down to that so you know when when you think about you're coming from two giants right that have won national championships in Penn State and in Texas um and then in the broadcast World working with all of the top programs uh what did you make the right decision I mean you you got two years under your belt right if you didn't don't worry we'll cut it out of this program um you can say no and we'll just edit uh but but no genuinely um two years in you moved your your your husband into Suns up here to Southbend Indiana you you've totally uh thrown yourself into this program what are your thoughts after two years there is zero doubt in my mind that this was the right decision I mean this place is incredible and and I think my biggest fear coming here was that it wouldn't be as as magical as you would imagine it from the outside right I grew up with it in my living room with my dad watching Notre Dame football and you know it just has this Mystique about it and after I accepted the job and I was like what what if it's not that what if it's actually not that and it's that plus everything more um the place is amazing the people are incredible and I just I'm excited about the future of Notre Dame I love it here I'm not going anywhere I'm not even looking thinking about anything else we love it here as a family and you know my team they're my joy I love them and I'm excited about the future and excited about what we're building here so well it's incredible Building the Team’s Foundation not only um tell us a little bit about the the team itself and you know in year three my understanding is volleyball players commit at a young age they do they used to commit really young like all the other sports and luckily the rules have changed so now it's you know June 15th of their sophomore year going into the junior year is when you can communicate okay got it so not until that point so it's a little later now which is good yeah but still might seem early I don't know but um so you're recruiting a couple of years out so when I got here we the cupboards are kind of bare which I understood right because the players here didn't know what was going to happen they had to make decisions um where are they going to go so the init the first year was was challenging right um and you learn more um you know it's a high Academic School everybody knows it's name yeah but you don't really know they try to get people in you're like wow this is uh this person could get in at all the other top programs right yeah everywhere and these aren't like average students this is a big deal so I you know I had to shift gears quickly and think okay what is this going to look like what are what are my goals what am I doing first so it's about culture establishing what we're going to be an identity how hard we're going to work all of those things with with whom we could get and and really fill a roster um and I'm so grateful to everyone that that that came and all of those student athletes that that help build what the foundation right so it's like this is who we are this is what we do this is what it looks like and now we keep getting better and better with that base and that Foundation that's everything right so so it won't crumble it's so funny that being around here and seeing all the construction over so many years it seems like it takes a long time when they dig the hole and they lay the foundations and it seems like for ever before that building starts to come out of the ground but once it starts to come out of the ground boy it moves fast and in the first couple of years you've been laying the foundations for this program uh the type of student that you're recruiting student athlete the the um the culture that you're you know you're instilling here um so year three are we is this going to be a breakout year is it year four I mean it it takes a it takes a while to build it takes a while it takes a while um you know and I have to be real cautious because while I'm super excited about what I'm seeing in preseason right now it's awesome yeah but so is everyone else right so our conference is super strong one of the best conferences in the country now we've got Louisville and pit that are consistently in the final four now and Florida State and Georgia Tech that are top 10 and now we're adding Stanford who multiple National Champion so it's a it's a tough conference so the reality of it is we are focused on getting better every single day we are focused on the progress and the process of getting to where we need to be if we are training at a high level if we keep our standards at a certain level then we can we can be where we need to be I I we're going to be better than last year right um talented I it's going to be a lot of fun to watch can can a um you said you have a very highly recruited class that's coming in here can they really make an impact their first year uh does it take a little bit longer to develop them or can I'm sure any great player can in the first year but I mean typically speaking right well it depends it really does depend so some some are even more developed than others right now or or can can provide more uh in the point scoring opportunities right now and some will have it's the speed of the game that's the biggest jump and it's probably with with most sports um how quickly can they adapt to the speed of what's happening in front of them are they physical enough yes are they talented enough yes but it it'll take them a little time and that's the thing we'll be we'll be an interesting mix we're going be really young and really old we've got a couple fif fifth years we've got some seniors that are going to play um and then some freshmen that are G to that are going to contribute so it'll be interesting to see yeah you know how that how that plays out and um but I am confident that we're going to be exciting to watch there's going to be some stuff that you haven't seen you know the in in years past right we you know maybe a Tim like Louisville walk in the gym and everyone in the crowd's like wow they're way bigger not anymore not anymore we're big that's fantastic we're big we're physical um we just got to get it done you know that's great so um you've also been building yes a really Volleyball, Community, and Team Culture welcoming here in in the the the purcel Pavilion and play in the same court uh well they move in a different Court here where the men's basketball and women's basketball team play and um you've been building a crowd a base how have you gone aside from putting a better and better product each year out here what have you done to build uh the crowd size well I think there's a couple of things it's it's the culture and the vibe of the program that started it I'm telling you the first year we'd lose a match you know whatever playing hard the next weekend we had more people and we were just astounded but everyone that talked to us was like it's so much fun to watch you guys draw people in and it's I like that that combination of we're never going to give up right ever right we are working as hard as we can we are all over the place all over the ground but we're having fun yeah while we're doing it and I think that kind of resonates with people they're like that was cool I'm coming back so there's that um and then just getting out in the community you know our our student athletes do they're out in the community in the schools that's what I love about you know it's it's about family it's about the community and that's a big point of focus for us um and for myself just just speaking in front of people and just saying hey this is this is me this is who we are and this is this is where we're headed so what were your crowd sizes like when you started and where are you at now and where where do you hope to go to because cu the story of like Nebraska selling the the the women's volleyball team selling out the whatever 77,000 or something that they had attend a game the volley the sport of volleyball in particular women's volleyball is is picking up steam I I imagine the Olympics is is only going to you know add to it there's so much talent globally is this something we can expect to see this place sold out oh yeah eventually yeah oh yeah I I I am fully confident that I it's it started as you know maybe under a thousand you know just coming to check it out and then it grew to a little bit more and a little bit more where we have a few thousand and if we can get this lower bowl full this year like I think that would be huge for us and and keep going but I think the more people we just get in the seats yeah it's I am bias because it's volleyball it's so much fun to watch people newcomers are like I have no idea yeah and you want to keep coming we just need to get you in the door the first time and this place will be full it'll be just like women's basketball so talk to the the the folks cuz many 2024 Fall Season people watching will be back for football weekends and you play you have a lot of home matches around football weekends Friday nights before a game Thursday night if they're in town um when when does the season actually begin when's your first yeah so we start the end of a two weeks is our first game but we're we're away for the first two weekends so we're in Santa Clara the first weekend then Mississippi State okay uh the second weekend and then we're home right so whatever weekend that is yeah um so we start um September yeah and we play Friday nights and we try to do it generally around 6:30 I think it's a good time for families it's a good time for people that are think about going out later you know we try to find that sweet spot um and then we play Sundays as well so then we're in one o'clock in the afternoon on Sunday so it's a nice you know we can kind of book in the football game yeah and people are excited about seeing you know Notre Dame win and then they get to see football and they're more excited they want to come back so it's fun it's exciting it's an awesome environment our our in-house events you know Mike and and his team has gotten things going to the point where it's fun and we're doing trivia on the board and there's giveaways and there's there's all the things that just make you want to be here and a part of it's an event within the event that's what you want to I must say that you know not to put any heat or pressure on you but Jack sck before he left and his role as ad he said watch Sela as many have she's going to bring a national championship uh to Notre Dame and and everything you can see right now is building toward this team getting stronger and stronger you know every day every year uh which is really exciting so you were an All-American Setter um and uh you know I've always been prone to the libero then until 10 minutes ago I was calling libero but but we won't won disclose it either way the libero okay and and so um I always thought that the libero was more important than the Setter and you're saying that this is is not bias that you played the position but you think that the center is really critic no so you you keep using the word importance they're all equally import all of the positions the setter is just different the setter is the one you thought the Lio was running the offense or in charge of kind of that and it's really the setter so the setter is the one telling everyone where they're going to hit the plays you're going to run they're in charge of all of that so so they're the ones making it go in that sense now the Libra your favorite position they're doing all different uniform right they different uniform yes so you you'll know who they are um but they're they're doing all the Dirty Work they're digging all the balls they on the ground they're rolling all the way around diving into the the stands and you know it's fun so so both of the of them are equally as important but different positions very politically correct right now well done okay good good um so um what when you look you've got Stanford now as new to the ACC this year um as and and obviously one of the top maybe the top program in the country right now what there's the two other programs that are joining right now I should know right off handal Cal and SMU and and I imagine are they also really strong programs so it is it is one of the top this is going to be a really tough without question competition I mean see look at the the Big 10 is very very topheavy you know they're really really good um theyve they've been the premier conference I would say for a while Pack 12 pack 10 pack whatever it was right way back in the day used to be and then it kind of shifted towards the Midwest and now the ACC I mean it's just incredible like what the programs have done you talked about Cal and SMU SMU has they they're going to be really really good they they they have the ability to get a lot of U transfers so you're going to see a lot of the kids that left the state of Texas that want to come back and they're just scooping them up these are physical kids that can bang the ball so they're going to be really really good um so yeah I would say even top to bottom you look at the middle of the pack I mean Duke in North Carolina and like we're not Miami it is no joke so there's no off night no no no no no there's no and that but that's what you want right that's why you do you get better that's right you don't want to just roll over people I mean it's kind of fun to do that but so so how do you how do you sell Notre Dame to recruit group what do you know they Recruiting for the 4 For Forever Notre Dame Experience have so many great choices and and uh is Marcus Freeman will often say you know choose hard yeah you know that it's it's harder here in in many ways in terms of living in a single sex dorm uh you know the the academics as we talked about and so forth um how do you sell it for me it's an easy sell I I think there's so many unique things that Notre Dame offers that no place else in the country offers and I think once you talk to the parents and you talk to the student athletes about the the connections the Alum the for for forever yeah the what is what is Notre Dame gonna do for you what are we doing for you right and when it when it turns from okay what are all the things you're going to do for me to help me win this right how can we help you become this amazing human and person for the rest of your life and I think all of the elements that surround what what is Notre Dame when you start pulling in all that they see they can see the big picture um and for me you know I we know the X's and O's we know we know volleyball we need to match the talent but the right the right people yeah not everyone's built for Notre day right they're not they're right and it's it's pretty obvious and apparent and there are people that are motivated by their academics they know what they want to be they they want to be elite in everything right that's that's the fit that's what you want you know these these incredible human beings that that get that get the whole thing and and and that was there the Notre Dame part was there before you came here but now there's a confidence that you can compete at the highest level that's it and and you can win it all I mean if if if that's not there you're not going to get the top right and you know what it takes you know what it looks like I mean I don't have to I don't like selling myself to them you know and but it's talking about the history is what you when you look at a school yeah you know there are some coaches that are in programs that have history but the coach had nothing to do with the history yeah it's literally the school right you know now you're here I'm a coach that can train you I can get you to this place you want to be on the national team we can do this you want to play professionally you will have the ability to do this I know every you know everybody that agents all of all of it for later in life and then when that drops you don't have anything to worry about like you were prepared you were set for life so I think I think the whole package does kind of sell itself it's still a challenge but it's it's good so what kind of goals do you set for the team Setting Purposeful Goals here I know that you know the coaches speak which is like you know we're only focused on our next opponent and all that kind of stuff like that and it makes a great deal of sense but do you set goals like we want to finish in the top three in a very competitive league we want to make it to the NCA tournament we how how do you goal set especially in year three for team that that is developing well I think when you when you're building your goal setting looks a little bit different when I talked about the process let's say we're we're wanting to be competitive with the teams that make it to the NCA right so what we do I'll look at okay statistically what are they hitting what is there you know so like a batting average kind of so what are the outsides hitting what are what are the midds doing how are they serving how are they receiving the ball what is that range can we be in these ranges because if you can get yourself through training right and everything that we're doing here in those ranges the rest of it takes care of itself and and you need to be careful early on right I'm really excited about what's going on but I I don't I'm not sure yet yeah I'm not sure where we're going to fall and this is going to take some time being at this level to know really what does that mean within the context of our our conference so so for them it's a little bit more parameters let's see hey let's let's take this let's limit our Errors By this amount if we can be in these ranges then uh so it's a little bit different that's how I'm approaching it um to to keep them processed if they're not they get too far ahead of themselves and and if you're only focused on the outcome you forget about everything else that's happening in the meantime okay one of the things that shocked me watching the uh the Olympics both on the men's and women's Side Y is the serve there were so many heirs in really critical games on the serves and it seems to me that they're they're if they if they serve up a soft one the team is doomed uh you know for the return so they there the margins of what they're trying to do in placement speed velocity and all that stuff are are just are so critical that there's there's still a lot of uh you know errors that come that's a really good observation look at you but it's real it's real and especially on the men's side you see it a lot if you watch a lot of highle men's volleyball I mean because like you said if it's an easy serve it's over it's over it's over no matter what you have to you have to take some chances you have to risk the risk gets a little bit lower depending on your level and where you know where you're at but it's it's the only closed chain skill right it's the only one where you're by yourself you have control of the ball you're in your own head this is this is what I'm doing this is how I'm controlling the ball yeah and so it's tough you have to serve tough but it's not just as hard as you can yeah because there are different ways to serve there's a jump Top Spin yeah there's a float that's kind of like a knuckle ball baseball right so it's got you hit it that center now it's moving if you can perfect a really good float and it's hard to track it can C the bottom will drop out of it right so do many of your players have different like a like a great pitcher different serves in their repertoire want them to we have we have a couple we have a few the jump spin with enough speed and velocity velocity is really hard okay that's really it h it can't be just like I'm standing there hitting an easy ball because that ball generally doesn't change trajectory got it right so if it's coming right at you it might as well be someone just doing that right so it's easier to perfect a float yeah than to really rip a hard jump surf you're going to see a couple of them this year we got two that can rip a jump surf so so do you do you feel it's to your advantage more to serve or return it's more to return Isn't it you got a better chance of make it a point on the return no no because you you score points either way yeah right yeah but I mean I'm not sure if I understand the question okay so so like most times like in in tennis it you know you get to the professional level anyways the serve is an advantage it's hard to break the person this case it seems like the advantage almost is to the the the team that's returning the serve because you got the first chance to set up you're saying I see what you're saying is that accurate or not um no not entirely and it's supp because your defense depending on your team right your block the size of your block how good are you as a serving team you can completely knock them off the net out of system so they're not at an advantage it would be it would be easy to be an advantage if you were serving easy right so let's say that's how the game worked that's right um and they can do whatever they want but if you have a really good serving team yeah and you can create a situation with a ball that's coming back over is easier right now you're in the advantage in transition that's a transition play right so that's a little complicated so all right so what are your needs what what what can we do people that want to really support there's so many changes Support and Resources going on right from when you played and coached to now the transer portal nil uh for every um collegia sport a lot a lot of change going on what support do you need to move this program forward yeah you know fortunately I have incredible support by the athletic department I mean they really have stepped up to the point where it's like hey we need to be competitive with the top teams in the country so that's huge yeah now is it everything no so you know there's some things down down you know the road certainly with our new facility um which is really exciting that is in the works and that's going to take some time that's going to take a lot of money to to build and and to get a facility that that compares to other volleyball only facilities right so this is an amazing basketball facility that volleyball plays in correct um a little bit smaller more intimate where we have everything in house we have the weight room you have your own nutrition you have your own you know things that you can top volleyball programs have yeah so that would be probably one of the big priorities um sure and and we're always looking to you know Notre Dame's big on studying abroad and that's a huge thing and and we want to take the foreign tours as we are allowed um every four years so that's something to kind of keep on the radar uh for us that I want to provide for our student athletes which would take some outside help as well can can you envision a day when this team is filling Notre Dame Stadium playing the game yeah I think so well I think it's similar okay it's not similar to Nebraska but it's similar in some ways that it's kind of this is what it is and if the community is in and people are all in you can get that many people that want to see something really cool that's what Nebraska did they put the court down and everybody just showed up they're like let's go to this really cool event at the football stadium I I think it's possible I don't I don't know when I mean that's that's ambitious but you start selling this place out first and and then we'll take that next step um how about any closing words any any A Vision that Prepares Student-Athletes for Life um anything you haven't had a chance to share that you think would be helpful for people to know about your philosophy about the program um about the future sure of Notre Dame volleyball well you know I think our program is is built on you know I call it that whole growth mindset yeah right and I think my job and my my goal is to encourage our student athletes to see everything as a challenge yeah and to really work be open right which is which is tough with a lot of student athletes that aren't used to failing right they're not used to not being the best at a lot of things so the cool thing that I've seen over the last few years is that shift in mentality hey we're working on this we're drilling this it's okay if we make errors in fact it's almost encouraged because you're you're working on what we're trying do so seeing that growth and watching them get to the other side of something that's a challenge in their face I just think prepares them for life and I'm not sure with a lot that's going on in society with social media with so much that that they're always getting that got it and so it's just a fun so so that's interesting you you bring it up so getting them more comfortable with faing so as a coach when somebody gets up and and drills a serve MH uh that they're they're really trying to master into the net how do you handle that are you like come on or or how are you you you're supportive how do you deal with that well I usually ask them for their own feedback like what did you feel there what did you see there yeah what were you going for right and what did it feel like and then they'll talk to you a little bit through it say okay let's let's make those adjustments I mean it's the only it's only way especially when you're practicing and you're training there's times where you hey it's Match Point Let's let's serve like a Let's Groove this ball right that's that's different but when we're learning the learning process has to be about education it has to be about all right now we're doing it now you feel it now you're doing it over and over again so yeah no I'm not it's a for me it's effort it's effort if the effort's not there that's a totally different story right then that's when you'll you'll that has to be there that's right effort and attitude right those so so um one final question is I go on here but the um you look like you could still play you look like you're still in playing shape do you when you're coaching do you get out and mix it up with the with them somewhat or did you just like stay so I okay I did you did but there's a couple of things I can't jump that well anymore this knee doesn't really work that well so you know as you said I'm a Setter so if they give me if they toss it right to me or I move within a range I can but you know my killes has been sore I don't want to do that cuz that will happen in a hurry um but I'll you know we'll hit balls we'll be involved in initiating Trolls but but playing yeah no that ship sailed count me among the many who are really excited about this season and really excited about the energy and and the expertise and the uh that you're bringing to this program and the type of student athletes that you're recruiting to under name so we're really really grateful for your leadership we're so excited to see this program continue to develop and and and take on the the Giants of the day and and uh and beat them eventually so we always close these programs and and invite anybody wherever you are to join us in in a prayer to Our Lady uh the the the patroness uh of Notre Dame so uh together we say Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus holy Mary Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death amen take care God bless go Irish and come see a Notre Dame women's volleyball game this fall we'll see you here in the prel Pavilion