Written by Elizabeth Chung
For the 2016-17 school year, Gunn welcomed a new volleyball coach. Coach Praneet Nanda has been coaching in the Bay Area for the past four years. “I started coaching at Santa Teresa High School’s JV program in 2010, and a er two years, I moved up to the varsity program and coached there for two years,” Nanda said. “I decided to coach at Gunn because I am very familiar with the competition in our league and within the Peninsula.”
Nanda doesn’t have a lot of new plans but wants to make sure that things are done the way he likes them. “Tradition is a big part of the program and I don’t want to break any,” Nanda said. “For the most part, I want to focus on being competitive at all three levels while trying to create parity amongst the program.” Nanda has big expectations for this season, but he doesn’t want to give too much hope before the results come out. “From a coaching standpoint, I like to underpromise and overdeliver,” Nanda said. “We do have some goals of winning our leagues this year, because it will promote us back into the upper division next year. e most important part is staying competitive.”
As a coach, Nanda believes that he has a big role, and if the teams follow his lead, they will be successful. “Winning comes along with teaching,” Nanda said. “As long as you focus on the value of teaching, then I think we’ll be successful. Winning makes things easier, but it’s all about teaching and teaching the process up to that point.”
Although winning is an important factor of the games, Nanda doesn’t want the students to focus too much on victory. “Games are won or lost in practice,” Nanda said. “You don’t win or lose within the match itself. As long as you are practicing correctly and being hard on yourself during practice, there is no need to worry about winning or losing during the games. One thing I like to emphasize with all of my players is that perfect practice makes perfect.”
Gunn’s volleyball team had a hard season last year, winning only two games in the whole season. This year, the team is ready for a new start with a new coach. The team has already won their first game against Hillsdale High School. Senior Iris Huang looks forward to having a great year as it is her last. “This year I am looking forward to playing as a more cohesive team, have fun and hopefully win more games,” Huang said.
