Freedom, we say. Freedom for the coaches.  That is all the Florida high school volleyball coaches wanted. The reedom to stand and deliver -- in their cases instruction and ncouragement to the players who are so agonizingly close, yet perhaps out of hearing range.

Well, the coaches this season in the Sunshine State got what they wanted on what is still an "experimental basis" in terms of leniency from the national scholastic rule requiring the team directors to sit on the benches while a point is ongoing. Thus, they can join their brethren from other sports, where coaches stomp, parade and pace along sidelines.

The Florida High School Athletic Association, at least for now, has set its volleyball head coaches free.

"The new rule has been a long time coming," Edgewood High coach Jeff Worcester said. "The last few years have been frustrating for most coaches, especially while we watch basketball and soccer coaches stalk their sidelines and practically step onto the playing area to make themselves heard amidst a rowdy crowd."

Now the scholastic coaches can behave like others do in most advanced levels of volleyball from college to club. Many, particularly the young ones, now find themselves inches from the sideline during play - a testament to the faith in their reactions and abilities to get out of the way of a wayward ball or scrambling player.

"I love being able to stand while coaching," Rockledge's Paige Buckey said. "It is tough sometimes because I want to jump into a play, but it makes communicating with the players much easier."

"It's all I can do sometimes not to play a ball that comes near the sideline," Merritt Island coach Angie Patrick said. "It's good when you can be a foot away from a player if you need to tell them
something between rallies."

Some, of course, are still learning the limits of sideline wandering.

"Last night, one of my girls accused me of doing a rock star 'power slide' when we won a point," Worcester said.

Being able to coach up close seems natural to a sport such as volleyball, where frantic play during competition can replace well-scripted drills from practices. It is often a reaction sport, and coaches probably need the avenue to vent, agonize and rejoice without being glued to a chair.

"In the past, I had a player on the bench assigned to keeping me on my seat by holding my shirt tail," Buckey said.

"I personally love the new rule," Titusville High's Eileen Serridge said. "In years past, I had a tough time sitting down for the whole match. I remember once someone called it 'The Seatbelt Rule.' I used to have a girl on my bench be my seatbelt. I used to tell them to grab my shirt if I jumped out of my chair."

In fact, all coaches contacted by FLORIDA TODAY said they liked the freedom of coaching expression they are permitted this year. Palm Bay's Troy White called it "beneficial." Melbourne Central Catholic's
Bonnie Priester said, "It works out great. The way the court is in each gym, I can be 10, 20 feet from the sideline (when seated). I can get really close and give direction."

The new rule can still be abused, Priester said. Another coach at a tournament MCC played at this season received a yellow warning card for abuse and had to sit the rest of the match. There is, apparently, still a line -- in volleyball's case, the sideline -- that can be crossed over.

"Overall, I like it," Patrick said. "I used to push, pinch, lean into and hit my assistants during an exciting moment. Now all my emotions can be physically expressed at a safe distance."

The toll was evidently not confined to assistant coaches' upper arms.  My clipboards are very excited about the new rule," Eau Gallie's Calandra Harding said. "With me standing, I'm much further away from the chairs, so it's more difficult to hit my clapboard on the chair in frustration. I haven't broken one yet this season."

Yet in one biological way, the relaxing of the sit/stand regulation could very well be named for Viera High coach Sarah Sykes.

"This rule couldn't have come at a better time," she said. "I am six months pregnant and can't sit for more than 30 minutes without being uncomfortable."

FLORIDA TODAY • September 25, 2008