Podcast #1 – Life of a D1 College Volleyball Player

What’s going on. Welcome to the pro day podcast. I’m your host Josh Jackson, and today we have an awesome one. We’re actually interviewing someone today, so it’s not just me. I will be interviewing Macy Blackburn. She is nominated for the Tulsa all-world player of the year. She’s also known as the hammer to those that are a little bit in her closest circle. She’s played literally every position on the volleyball court and she’ll be attending the university of central Arkansas all around Macy’s. Just an all-around awesome person and killer athlete. So what’s up Macy? Hey guys, how are you? I’m good. How are you? I’m good. How are you? Nervous. Yes. Yeah, that’s all right. Don’t be, we’ll get through it nice and easy. So let’s jump into some of it. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So you graduated from, what high school? Tell me a little bit about yourself, I guess, what high school that you go to? I know I already said you’re going to central Arkansas, but elaborate a little bit for me about this and Sports Performance Training Tulsa. So I went to broken arrow high school, kind of still in that stage of being a senior and I’m going to graduate hopefully in the date of June. That’s what they have set right now because of all of the stuff going on. Yeah. But yeah,

it’s weird with all covert stuff. Oh yeah. How’s senior year been? How’s it been with all this stuff going on? Online classes are interesting. Especially I do, um, concurrent that means, so I take a class at a local college. Yeah. And it also counts as college credit and high school credit. So I get both at the same time. So right now I’m doing that online, which is way different from lectures and tests. So have you been doing zoom meetings? I have been doing some zoom meetings with my club teams and with my future. Have you had any classes, any school on zoom or no, that’s lucky. I can’t imagine doing zoom meetings at school. No. Yeah, no. Yeah. So when are you going to school? And I mean, I guess tell them the school you’re going to, why you chose that school? I guess. Cause, I mean you’re a really good volleyball player, so you had options. So give us a little insight. I chose UCA because they had, Oh you’re good. Don’t worry about it.

They have a lot of opportunities for me. The coaches were really invested in coming and watching me play more than the other coaches were. And that stuck out to me a lot. Um, they always invited me to come to their campus, watch games, stay with the girls just to see what life would be like. And that was something I didn’t get to experience with the other colleges when looking into the best Sports Performance Training Tulsa.

So they’re just really involved with you? Yes. That’s cool. I didn’t know all that. So that’s like what did it for you? You had a bunch of other options, but they were the ones that at least, um, made you eager enough to be interested, which is awesome. Very cool. So crazy good volleyball player in high school. Going to go play in college, going to be awesome in college. So take me a little bit, the goal of this whole podcast I guess is going to be a few fronts. Get to know you a little bit. And then on top of that give people kind of insight. So like let’s say I’m an eighth-grade volleyball player and I’m looking for a future, like when did volleyball start to become a thing where you’re like, I think I could play this at the next level. Do you remember like when you kind of flip that switches to like, Oh okay, this is something that I could do?

Well, I mean throughout my high school career and even in middle school, my coaches, they always, well I played up a lot so I guess I had kind of like a, a standard put on me like Oh yeah, she’ll go play college. She plays up, she’s really good. And so I don’t really have a time where it clicked. Like I want to play college. I just, yeah, I just took it in as, yes, that’s a part of me and I will just because I had the talent and I’m going to use it for the best Sports Performance Training Tulsa around.

So you, you’re always gifted. So the coach has just kind of instilled in you that idea that you are going to take it to the next level. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. When did, did you ever have to flip a switch where cause it’s different for everyone. I mean for myself I had to flip a switch and be like, alright, it’s time to actually put the work in that it’s going to take to play in college. Obviously there are people that are very athletically gifted. You being one of those do. Was there a time where you were like, I got to go put in the extra time, the extra effort. A lot of people think that in my last podcast I talked about this like, or I guess maybe two ago, but it ends at practice and so they practice then they’re done. But for the people that really Excel in their sport, typically it takes work outside of just what school practice or club practice you have.

A lot of it I had to work on was mental stuff just because volleyball is a very mental sport. Yeah. And I know like during my junior year for sure I everyone, I had this pressure that I had to be good and I had to be a leader on the court like with points and everything. So it was hard mentally trying to get, get out of your head, like focus on the next ball. So I did a lot of that and I focused on that outside of practice as well. But I’ve always been a player that was driven and worked hard every time they got. So I always worked hard at practice and I did all the workouts that were I was supposed to do outside as well for the best Sports Performance Training Tulsa by far.

Yeah. So you just put in all the work necessary to get there, which is awesome. That’s exciting. So what are your feelings now about transitioning to college? Like high school? High school is weird cause you to get into it like your freshman year you’re nervous. You have to like figure all this stuff out. You’re about to enter freshman year all over again. It’s going to be the same thing. Your, what are your feelings at that?

I’m excited. But it is kind of intimidating because you have in your mindset and you’re like, Oh, college is going to be so hard. Like college volleyball, like everyone’s good there. You know, in high school it’s like just high school volleyball. But I remember having that same thought process whenever I was a freshman, I’m playing on varsity. I was like, Oh my gosh, this is like, yeah, everyone’s so good. So I feel like looking at the past and how I got through that, I feel like if I just take it one day at a time it’ll become normal and just

for sure. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. I mean that’s how like everybody goes through all of that. You go from being the best to low man on the totem pole and you don’t know if you’re going to be the best anymore. So like with that, would you say it’s more like nerves involved with it or just like anxious to get it going, get it started or all of the above?

Kind of all of the above. And it’s definitely a weird time right now with not being able to like I can touch a ball and do it. Yeah. I like you can do it on your own like at your house and stuff. But can you not like, but going to a gym and being with a team and getting a coach’s perspective, all of that I would have liked to have more of with all this time off. It’s hard to get outside and doing it. So is that like a [inaudible] thing or is that alike NCAA type thing where you can’t enjoy a better Sports Performance Training Tulsa, well it’s based on coven and a lot of rules had to be put in. Oh, so the rules in play? Well, okay. I didn’t know all that like I hadn’t been. So there are rules that don’t allow you to go like a train with like a private trainer or coach or something it volleyball related.

We’re not allowed to be in jams with anyone. It’s supposed to open up, um, in may sometime. But there’s a lot of restrictions. So we’re hoping that we get to at least get in the gym and get touches on the ball with some other players that are going to play college. So, I mean that’s something going into the college experience that everyone’s going through. So everyone right now we’re not able to get in the gym and get the reps we want. So I guess that’s comforting that it’s not only me. Yeah.

But it’s still difficult that like, I mean it’s, this is your like big moment per se. You’re going into college and it’s like, sorry, you can’t touch a ball. That’s crazy. So do they do that to level the playing field? So the kid with the private gym in their house can’t train or do you know like,

well right now it’s only off of Corona. So if I had a gym at my house and it was only me, then I could do as much as I wanted. Like yeah, we’re going to buy a volleyball net and set it up in our backyard and I’m going to go outside and hit the ball and roll with my sister. So it’s just, right now it’s kind of a, you work on yourself kind of thing, but it’s hard to know is this actually helping me and all of that. Yeah,

that’s crazy. That’s, I didn’t know all that. I wonder how many sports that is in play for, which is and saying, so do you know if that’s like a college thing or if that’s alike an all volleyball, like the US volleyball,

whatever is saying that right now I’m pretty sure all sports are kind of on hold. I know that our high school, a lot of our seniors didn’t get to play their senior season and they haven’t been able to go to a lot of the parks and things are closed down too. So soccer, they can’t go out and play, pass a ball with others. And tennis has been kind of open because it’s so, they’re far away from each other. So I know that some courts have been open for them, but it’s just weird when they can’t play the sport they love during high school with a sweet level of Sports Performance Training Tulsa.

Yeah. Especially when it’s like his, I can’t imagine we have a bunch of soccer players that train here that were seniors and it’s like it’s crazy. I don’t know how you would be able to deal with not being able to play like no senior night. No. Any run for a championship of any kind. That’s crazy. Crazy, crazy. Cool. Okay, so moving into a little bit of different stuff now let’s go like with your perspective, helping out other people. So let’s say that a lot of eighth-grade girls are listening to this, even freshmen, any age or guys that are wanting experience and what to think when they’re moving up in grades and in level. So what would you give advice wise to somebody that’s like a freshman in high school or an eighth-grader about to be in their freshman year? What do you wish somebody would’ve told you? I mean, I know you talked about the mental stuff, but like what do you wish you would have been?

I mean this is something that I had been told many times that it’s going to fly by really fast and I didn’t know how fast it would have gone, especially with it being cut short, but just, I don’t know, don’t take advantage of like what you have, be thankful for every day. Even if it’s whoring. Right now all we’re in quarantine but just be thankful for every day, especially whenever school I’ve been back up going to see your teachers, see your friends because someday, one day maybe you’re not able to see them and it changes everything.

Yeah. I mean speaking from somebody who like I’m 24 now so I’ve been out of any organized school for two years now and that side of like it’s weird cause you don’t have the friends you go see every day and stuff. I feel like that’s a big part that’s looked over along those lines and even when it comes to like basketball practice, like I mean to think back and be like, dang, like I don’t get to go practice with my team anymore. Even though you think it sucks at the time when it comes to your new level Sports Performance Training Tulsa. It’s actually more enjoyable than you, I guess realize which is interesting.

While you’re in it and you’re doing all the things, you don’t realize how much you’ll miss it whenever you’re out of it. Yeah, for sure. So that’s looking into the past. Um, what, uh, have you been told anything about what to expect going into college now? Has anybody given you advice on that end? I mean, I haven’t really, I mean like asked for advice on what college is, like my sister’s in college, so I’ve just seen her, she studies hard and I know that when I go in, I’ve been told that you are an athlete, um, in college and it will be harder. So yeah. Yes, they say that, um, if you do college athletics that your is your job. But I don’t want to think of my sport as my job, but I’m sure doing what I love and also getting an education at the same time. So I think that’s what I want to focus on.

Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s very cool. It’s exciting stuff. It’ll be interesting to see. I’m pumped to see your college career. So getting into, I guess a little bit like a deeper thing maybe, what are your goals like when you look to the future and like, I mean, I know this, even if you won’t say it like you think it would be awesome to play like on the U S volleyball team. That’d be cool. Yeah, that’d be awesome. So I don’t think that’s intangible for you. I think that there are chances for everything. So is there anything else, like, I mean that’s obviously huge. Are there any other goals that you have going forward or not really?

Well, I mean I’m kind of a kind of if you’d say go with the flow, but I mean I’ll go wherever the Lord leads me. So I’m kind of going on that path. So let’s say if the Lord wants me to, like if I get the opportunity to play pro volleyball, I mean that’d be awesome. And if things line up to where it seems like I should be going that way, then that’s how it’ll go. But yeah, I mean, I always have thought of myself as like, I want to get home and raise a family. So it just depends on where my life is at that point for sure. But right now, obviously, I’d say if you so cool, if I could play pro and go to the Olympics,

yeah, definitely. I mean that’s, that’s cool. And yeah, day by day, like I, I understand that for sure. But that’ll be fun to see. So, um, I’m trying to think of any other questions I had. Do you have any other thoughts of anything or anything that you want to bounce around? Anything like that? Uh, actually, so while you’re in your sport with a new level of proper Sports Performance Training Tulsa services, there are times that it gets really hard or you’re hurting because of the punishments or whatever you’re going through, but you just have to keep the mindset of this is now, you won’t always be in this hard time because of course there were times in volleyball when I was so tired, worn out, but then the next day you look back and you’re like, that wasn’t even that bad. Why was I thinking that? So don’t overthink like the future things you’re going to have to go through or like tests of strength of anything that you’ll have to do because that’s just a moment of your life and then you’ll look back and just realize how small it was compared to the big picture.

Yeah, I mean perception perceptions, Kia at the end of it all, there’s a finish line and that finish line changes for everybody. And you won’t know the finish line probably till you get there. But when you start looking at these super successful athletes, a LeBron MSCI yourself, like I mean the stuff you do, like they still haven’t reached the finish line. They still put in the work. And I think a lot of people think that like, I mean I know people think this, I think stuff gets handed to you. They think that LeBron was just, he was born a different human than everybody else. But at the end of the day, it has a lot more to do with what does LeBron done to get himself there. Cause if LeBron didn’t put forth any effort, he wouldn’t be where he’s at. And the same with you.

If you didn’t put forth the effort, if you didn’t push through the times, that sucked, you wouldn’t be here. And I think that’s a huge misconception that people, they see the super-athletic people and they don’t necessarily see what they do or have done. And a lot of times like when you get to the point in LeBron’s career, you don’t have to do the things that somebody that’s just got drafted has to do. You have to do a lot more. So figuring out that balance and figuring out, I mean tying back to like your goals, like what do you want and every, it changes for everybody. Some people enjoy sports as a hobby. Some people want sports to be their life and if you want it to be your life, then that’s where the kind of the job aspect comes into play. But everything’s going to be work with a solid level of Sports Performance Training Tulsa.

Even when you get the job that you love, there’s still work involved. Even if you love like these NBA, NFL guys that look like, Oh, they’re at the top of everything. I wish I was them. They still work because they’re doing some stuff that they don’t really enjoy. Like anybody running sprints or doing anything crazy doesn’t enjoy that, but it’s what the outcome is. So I mean that’s awesome that you’re on the path of just seeing where everything takes you, but also sitting back and moving to like, I want to do, I want to go all out in my athletic career and see where everything takes me

along with the hard work and everything. It is easy to sit here and see where someone is now and say, yeah, they got handed everything, but you don’t see all the behind the scenes stuff. Because I know when I was in eighth grade, my mom was one of the coaches and I always had to tell myself I need to work harder than them. I don’t want them to think that I’m in this position because of my mother, because she never got involved in anything of like if I got pulled up, she never had a say in it and she never wanted anyone to think that. And so I always worked harder just so that people wouldn’t say, Oh, your mom’s a coach and all of that. So it’s easy, easy for someone to say now that, Oh you ha you got handed scholarships and everything, but it was a lot of hard work coming up to this. Yeah,

nobody’s handed anything. I mean, I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but like it like takes 10 years to get overnight success. Like people see these people and they’re like, Oh this person just got, and now they’ve been putting in stuff for a long time and I mean I can be the first to test for you. I see the stuff that you do outside of that, I see your mindset and how hard you are at yourself. Like back there playing pickup, volleyball, eat away at you if you messed up. Even when it was just fun, like there’s, in my head it’s like, Oh this is just pointless. But for you, it’s like no, there is a point behind it, which is that mindset that it takes to be successful. Then you’ve got a hole in the wall and I think, all in all, it’s still on the wall.

But I did block you too. So I just want you to remember that. Yeah. So when you’re playing on the US volleyball team, just picture my face with my arms out blocking your hit and then just remember the feelings that went along with, yeah. Yeah. No that’s awesome though. I am very thankful that you were wanting to sit down and do this podcast and I hope that that gives insight to other people and to a bunch of different things. I think that it’s going to be important for people to see, cause I know to deal with a lot of younger kids that go to the same school, you go to like eighth-graders and stuff, they look to you as like LeBron you are. I mean I like, yeah it’s crazy. But it’s awesome. And it’s like you have this influence, you have this say in what people do with a better level of Sports Performance Training Tulsa.

And so the fact that you can sit here and say like, this isn’t just something that like, Oh, you’re lucky to be tall and something happens so you can hit. It’s like, no, like, sure you’re lucky to be tall, but at the same time, you’ve put in all the work that it takes to be there. Just because you get one thing doesn’t mean the rest comes. So for everybody out there that’s thinking like, I can’t do it. There’s no opportunity. You can a hundred percent anybody can literally do whatever you can do whatever. Exactly. And there’s, I mean there are obvious limitations, but for everyone, like you can do what you set yourself to, which is cool. So I’m glad that you can come on and tell them that the process kind of, you go through it, like your people kind of see these other people and don’t think of them as human, but like you get nervous, you do all the things that everybody else does. Like right now you’re nervous because you’re on a flight. No, that’s awesome. That’s very cool. Thank you so much for doing this. Um, if you all have any questions, comments, any topics you want us to cover in the future, uh, shoot them our way, message us, email us, whatever, and then like, subscribe, comment, and do all that fun stuff. Thank you, Macy. Yeah, of course. We’ll see you all next time. See ya.