Title: From the Ashes: The Rise of the University of Washington Volleyball Program
Author: Frank Zaccari
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781453731130
Pages: 119, Paperback
Genre: Sports/Non-Fiction
Reviewed by: Gary Sorkin, Pacific Book Review
Book Review
When Frank Zaccari’s professional career took his family to Seattle, his personal interest in woman’s volleyball sought an opportunity for him to get involved with the program at the University of Washington – the Huskies. In From the Ashes, Frank Zaccari discusses in great detail the sequence of events leading toward UW’s volleyball success, as noted in the subtitle The Rise of the University of Washington Volleyball Program.Frank Zaccari was not the typical spectator in what is a spectator sport. From the early days of bringing his daughters to local woman’s volleyball competition, he realized the dichotomy of skill levels between institutions involved in the sport. He describes the miss-match of having a PAC-10 team, which is the best volleyball conference in the world, pitted against a mere college team was analogous to bringing lambs to the slaughter. What makes a team become so superior? This question brought Frank Zaccari’s professional problem solving techniques, used so successfully in business, to life as a sports advocate.
Cleverly and with a minutia of detail specifically geared to the UW women’s volleyball team, Zaccari begins his outline of philosophies designed to ultimately bring the UW team to the championships. One of his theories, titled the Hedgehog Theory is when using new or different tactics result in continued failure, due to not addressing the problem, as excerpted below:
The fox is a cunning creature, able to devise a myriad of complex strategies for sneak attacks upon the hedgehog…The hedgehog is a dowdier creature…spends his day searching for lunch and taking care of his home. The fox plots and plans a complex series of daily attacks, while the hedgehog focuses solely on what it deems important. When the fox leaps out to attack, the hedgehog simply rolls into a perfect little ball. It becomes a sphere of sharp spikes, pointing outward in all directions. The fox is forced to retreat and continues to plan and plot its next failure.
Frank Zaccari points out everything starts with having the right leader. One capable of articulating his/her vision, inspiring the group, having keen wisdom in selecting the right people for the proper tasks and always keeping focused on the “goal.” This is true in sports, life and business.
From the Ashes is written for a niche audience, particularly focused on the college woman’s volleyball competition. In fact, a generous donation from book sales will be given to the UW volleyball program. The book is laden with details regarding the players, coaches and competition history of the events of UW and other teams, so in my opinion the general public may find this book of parallel interest only if one is a devoted sports fan. However, for those involved in college sports, From the Ashes becomes required reading and you can apply the themes, strategies, and suggestions to your own life; I truly believe you will find they help you along your journey toward success. As the legendary coaching of Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers football team and Phil Jackson of the LA Lakers basketball team would subscribe to the principles brought forth in From the Ashes, Frank Zaccari packs a lot of words of history, reason and motivation into his inspirational book. To all UW women’s volleyball players, we holler, “POINT! HUSKIES!”
