Brian Yue
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Coaching · 2020–24

Student coach

I coached middle schoolers in Beijing for four years while playing varsity myself, and became head coach of two teams.

Role
Assistant, then head coach
When
September 2020 – May 2024
Where
Tsinghua International School, Beijing
Teams
Volleyball, basketball
3
Teams coached: boys' volleyball, girls' volleyball, girls' basketball
2nd
Girls' basketball, ISAC U14 Division III, 2020–21, as assistant coach
3rd
Girls' basketball, ISAC U14 Division IV, 2022–23, as assistant coach
Started as
Assistant coach, three middle school teams
Senior year
Head coach, girls' volleyball and girls' basketball
Alongside
Full-time student-athlete

01The teams

I started as an assistant coach for the middle school boys' volleyball, girls' volleyball, and girls' basketball teams at Tsinghua International School, and in my senior year became head coach of girls' volleyball and girls' basketball, all while playing as a full-time student-athlete.

The Tsinghua International School middle school girls basketball program in Spartans jerseys, posed in the gym with their coaches; Brian Yue stands at the far right in a black polo.
Fig. 1The girls' basketball program. I'm on the far right.
The middle school girls volleyball team in white jerseys in front of the net with their coaches; Brian Yue stands at the far left.
Fig. 2The girls' volleyball team. I'm on the far left.
A girls basketball team posed under a hoop in front of a climbing wall, with Brian Yue standing at the right in a black polo.
Fig. 3With one of the girls' basketball teams. I'm standing at right.
The middle school girls volleyball team in dark jerseys in front of the net with their student coaches.
Fig. 4The girls' volleyball team in their dark kit, with the student coaches.

02What I did

I ran practices, set lineups, gave individual feedback and advice, tracked and analyzed statistics, and managed rosters across multiple teams.

03Results

Both placements came with the girls' basketball team while I was an assistant coach, before my senior year: second in ISAC U14 Division III in 2020–21, and third in Division IV in 2022–23.

Brian Yue, in a white sweater and holding a volleyball, pointing across the court while giving instructions at practice.
Fig. 5Running a girls' volleyball practice.
Brian Yue, in a Spartans coaching shirt, kneeling with a tactics board while players gather around during a timeout.
Fig. 6A timeout: drawing up the next rotation.
Brian Yue talking with a fellow coach courtside, clipboard in hand.
Fig. 7Talking through the lineup with a fellow coach.
The girls basketball bench during a game: players in Spartans jerseys cheering and clapping, with the coaching staff seated at the end of the bench and Brian Yue, in a suit, clapping on the right.
Fig. 8On the bench during a girls' basketball game. I'm on the right, in the suit.

04What it taught me

Coaching is where I first learned to lead, and to break something complicated into small pieces. A play only works once every kid knows their own part in it, so I'd teach it one piece at a time and then put it back together. I still learn and explain engineering that way.

It also taught me to plan for things going wrong, because they always did. Almost no practice or game went the way I'd drawn it up, so I came in with backups and changed things on the fly.

05Skills

  • Leadership
  • Planning
  • Statistics
  • Feedback
  • Time management

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