A woman with chin-length blond hair appeared on the screen in front of the U.S. women’s volleyball team. She spoke by analogy. She commanded a room, even a virtual one, like no one else. She was a real fury, star forward Jordan Larson thought.
“Who is this woman?” the four-time Olympian asked.
Sue Enquist has become the secret weapon of the U.S. women’s volleyball team. The UCLA softball legend joined the national volleyball team as a cultural consultant ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and helped lay the groundwork for the team to win its first Olympic gold medal.
Now in Paris, Enquist is instilling his leadership philosophy to help the United States win another Olympic title. Much of the team is intact from three years ago, but Enquist’s coaching has helped reinforce the mindset that these Games, which last 17 days with three round-robin games followed by three knockout rounds, are not a “defense” of the championship.
It’s not about being better than any opponent. It’s just about being “bigger than the moment,” Enquist said.
U.S. women’s volleyball players (from left) Kelsey Robinson, Justine Wong-Orantes, Haleigh Washington, Jordan Larson and Jordan Thompson celebrate their preliminary round victory over France at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
(Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images)
“That’s been my biggest asset,” Larson said of Enquist’s influence.
After finishing 2-1 in the group stage, the United States begins the quarterfinals on Tuesday against Poland.
Enquist has national team success. She was part of the coaching staff that prepared the U.S. softball team to gold in 1996 at the sport’s first Olympic tournament. But her five international gold medals as a player and three as a coach pale in comparison to her stellar collegiate career. The first UCLA softball All-American, Enquist was also the first person to win national softball titles as a player and head coach. The center fielder led the Bruins to their first national title in 1978 under the AIAW banner and went on to win 10 NCAA titles as a coach.
She retired in 2006, handing the program over to former player and assistant Kelly Inouye-Perez, who still considers Enquist her “greatest mentor in life.”
“She’s a natural leader,” said Inouye-Perez, who completed her 18th season at the helm of her alma mater.
Enquist immediately captivated the U.S. volleyball players on Zoom at the start of the pandemic. To stay engaged during the lockdown, the team participated in several sessions with high-profile speakers, including Billie Jean King, Julie Foudy and Sue Bird.
Enquist left the greatest impression.
UCLA coach Sue Enquist speaks to her players during a win over Louisiana State in the 2004 Women’s College World Series.
(Jerry Laizure/Associated Press)
“Ego is like gunpowder. When it’s loaded and knows when to throw it, it’s the most beautiful thing to see. If it’s not organized, if it’s not loaded well, you can blow your hand off.”
— Sue Enquist, cultural consultant for the U.S. women’s volleyball team
Larson sent Enquist a personal email after the session and asked if she wanted to join the players on a private Zoom. She had the players do team-building exercises by asking them one thing they liked about themselves as teammates and one thing they could improve on. She didn’t ask about volleyball.
For Enquist, a disciple of legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden, culture starts with people. That mantra holds true whether Enquist is consulting for professional sports teams, college teams or even corporations. She carries that principle through UCLA’s master’s program in transformational coaching and leadership, which she designed.
Enquist observes the members of each team and their relationships. She then studies the system in which they work and evaluates their performance. She facilitates relationship building by guiding the groups in regular conversations.
On national teams, where players are the best in the world but rarely train together year-round, building strong relationships is essential. Talent is never an issue; it’s about organizing personalities to work together. Enquist, as she often does, has an analogy for this.
“Ego is like gunpowder,” Enquist said. “When it’s loaded and you know when to throw it, it’s the most beautiful thing to see. If it’s not organized, if it’s not loaded, you can blow your hand off. You can blow a team up. So ego is one of the most beautiful messes we have in sports. I love big egos and the goal is to figure out how to organize ourselves to let the ego show.”
The Enquist “Sue-isms” that Inouye-Perez still uses with her team underscore the culture of UCLA softball nearly 20 years after the coach left Westwood. Her energy, which USA head coach Karch Kiraly said makes it seem like “every day is filled with sunshine when she’s here,” excited the U.S. volleyball players enough that they reached out to Kiraly about adding her to a more official role ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
Kiraly, the only person to win Olympic medals in both beach and indoor volleyball, and who has won gold medals as a coach and as a player in both indoor and beach volleyball, thought it was a great idea. The coach’s willingness to solicit feedback sets the tone for the team, Enquist said.
“It takes a coaching staff and a head coach who are really confident to say we want these women to have a democratized voice,” Enquist said. “You’re paid to win and you’re going to pass the culture on to the players.”
Kiraly, who is in her third Olympic cycle as the U.S. head coach, is supported by a leadership council that includes Larson, setter Jordyn Poulter and forward Kelsey Robinson Cook. Larson is in her fourth Olympics and Robinson Cook is returning for her third. Poulter, a two-time Olympian and the leading setter at the Tokyo Olympics, wears the captain’s bar on her jersey, chosen by her teammates.
The team has the talent to field multiple starting lineups at the Olympics, Enquist said, but success comes from how each individual balances personal performance and selflessness. Only the best teams with players willing to sacrifice for their teammates while being ready for their own moments can thrive in high-performance situations.
In that regard, the women’s volleyball team, Enquist said, is one of the best she’s ever had, even without his help.
“All I did was shine a light on what they are and then how they wanted to build it,” Enquist said. “They did it.”
