Players
Recognize the preparation, coverage, communication and improvement that the box score misses.
Volleyball · A Vegas Thrill idea from Dawn Weir
Build each other up. Play the next point.
Compliments for Change teaches volleyball players, coaches and team staff to give a compliment that is specific and sincere, and how to receive one. It’s recognition you can feel, built into everyday team life: practice, match night, and the hard days in between.
Players
Coaches & leaders
Team staff
Arena & fans
An independent idea, shared in good faith.
Dawn Weir built this page to show the Vegas Thrill what a recognition program could look like. The team hasn’t partnered with or endorsed Compliments for Change, and no partnership is implied.
Who it’s for
A team is more than the names on the scoreboard.
Specific, sincere recognition belongs beside honest feedback and high expectations. Everyone in the building has a contribution worth noticing.
Coaches & leaders
Pair recognition with clear expectations, and correct a mistake without crushing the person who made it.
Team staff
Notice the trainers, equipment staff and front office people who make practice and match night possible.
Arena & fans
A warmer welcome at the door, with separate, optional training for the people who greet every fan.
Swipe
Illustrations are Compliments for Change concept art, not photos of real players or teams.
In the game
Make the compliment as specific as the play.
“Great job” fades by the next rally. Name what the person did and why it mattered, and they’ll remember it after the match.
The formula, from the C4C at Work workbook
What I noticed + the difference it made + the quality it shows.
These are examples to shape with the coaches, not quotes from real players.
Serve receive
“You controlled that pass and gave our setter options.”
“Three perfect passes in a row on their toughest server. You took the pressure off all of us.”
Why it works: it names the exact skill, and the difference it made to everyone else.
Defense and coverage
“You stayed in coverage and kept that blocked ball alive. You gave us another chance.”
“You read that tip before anyone moved. That dig changed the rally.”
Why it works: coverage almost never makes the highlights. Saying it out loud proves someone was watching.
Communication
“You called the assignment early and clearly, and everyone got organized.”
“When you called the ball early, the rest of us could settle into our spots.”
Why it works: it rewards the talking that keeps a team calm, so you’ll hear more of it.
Bench leadership
“You spotted their pattern from the bench and told us. That’s how we stopped the run.”
“You never stopped talking to the court, even when you weren’t playing. We heard you.”
Why it works: the bench is part of the team, and this tells them so.
After an error
“You stayed available after that error and called the next assignment.”
“You got back to base and wanted the next ball. That’s what resets a team.”
Why it works: it doesn’t pretend the error didn’t happen. It recognizes the reset, and that’s the part a player controls.
Team accomplishment
“We carried the adjustment from practice into the match.”
“Everyone had a hand in that set, including the people who never touch the ball.”
Why it works: it shares the win across the whole team, staff included.
Dawn’s five compliment families
Five ways to say “I see you.”
Every sincere compliment fits one of five families. Here’s how each one sounds in a volleyball season. In sport, keep it about actions and effort, never bodies or looks.
I Notice You
An action worth seeing.
“You were first to every free ball in drills today.”
I Appreciate You
Thanks for what someone gives.
“Every ball was ready before we walked in. We never had to think about it.”
Accomplishment
Progress and wins, shared.
“We did it. Three weeks ago we couldn’t run that, and tonight we ran it in the fifth.”
I Believe in You
Belief grounded in real effort.
“You put in the reps on that serve all week. Go get it.”
I Am Proud of You
In words they welcome.
“I’m proud of how you kept talking to the back row when it got tight.”
Interactive · Try it now
Is your compliment ready for the locker room?
Type a compliment you could give a teammate, a coach or someone on staff. This quick check uses Dawn’s four tests: Is it true? Is it specific? Is it free? Would you say it about them when they aren’t in the room?
Nothing you type leaves this page.
Room for the person behind the athlete
A happy heart has a place in the game.
Professional sport asks a lot of people. Alongside preparation, competition and demanding schedules, there should be room to feel appreciated, enjoy a moment of connection, and remember why you love the game.
A sincere compliment can make the heart happy: that feeling of being noticed, valued and supported. We can’t remove every pressure. We can practice recognizing the people carrying it.
Support also means making room for difficult days. No one has to look happy to belong.
Small recognition. Meaningful connection. Room for joy. “Happy heart” describes a feeling. This program doesn’t claim to strengthen the heart medically or prevent illness, and it doesn’t replace healthcare, rest or recovery.
Workbook-based training
Learn it. Practice it. Use it.
Dawn’s programs come with her own workbooks, written by Dawn and filled in by you. For a volleyball team, Dawn would add volleyball pages to the workbooks below, built with the coaches.
For players & staff
C4C at Work
What a real compliment is, receiving one without brushing it off, Look, Notice, Say It, and the 30-day compliment challenge.
Look inside →For coaches & leaders
Correct Without Crushing
The Dawn Method (Notice, Ask, Believe) for giving hard feedback that makes people want to do better, not quit.
Look inside →For one coach or leader
Leader Shadow Coaching record
Dawn spends a practice or workday beside one leader, then debriefs privately the same day. The record is theirs to keep.
Look inside →For game-day staff
The Art of Personology
Reading faces and moods, and turning what you notice into a warmer first 30 seconds with every fan at the door.
Look inside →The volleyball pages are planned and would be written with the team. The four workbooks above already exist and come with Dawn’s programs.
Why Dawn wants to do this
“I want ‘it’s a thrill to be here’ to describe the everyday experience.”
Dawn Weir · Founder, Compliments for Change
I love volleyball. The energy and sense of belonging around Nebraska volleyball inspired me to help grow that same connection in Southern Nevada. My ambition is a place where people feel seen, from the players on the court to the people welcoming fans through the doors.
What’s free and what’s paid. This page is my gift while I start the conversation. Custom training, workbooks and ongoing coaching are paid services with an agreed scope.
How it would work
Four steps, leaders first.
Recognition sticks when leaders model it, so the coaches and front office go first. Then the whole team, then the habits that keep it going.
- Step 1
A conversation
A short meeting with ownership and the coaches about the team, the season and what a win would look like.
- Step 2
Leaders first
Supervisor Training for coaches and leaders, with the Correct Without Crushing notebook.
- Step 3
The whole team
Sessions for players and staff with C4C at Work and its volleyball pages, including a day-1 and day-30 check.
- Step 4
Make it stick
Optional Leader Shadow Coaching, a compliment walk on game day, and a follow-up visit.
How pricing works
A team quote is built from Dawn’s published programs, such as Supervisor Training from $1,800 and the Four-Week Series from $2,400. It’s priced per person, with a program minimum that’s agreed up front, so there are no surprises.
Questions
Good questions, honest answers.
Is the Vegas Thrill part of this program?
Not yet. This is an independent idea from Dawn Weir, prepared to share with the Vegas Thrill. The team hasn’t partnered with or endorsed Compliments for Change. The Vegas Thrill name belongs to the team, and for team news the official Vegas Thrill page is the place to go.
How does this fit with the team’s sport psychology and medical staff?
It works alongside them and never replaces them. Compliments for Change teaches everyday recognition and communication. It isn’t therapy, medical care, injury rehabilitation or a return-to-play decision. The team’s own professionals lead on all of those, and Dawn would coordinate with them.
For a player who is injured, a sincere word from teammates can help them stay part of team life, always within medical guidance and their own wishes.
What research is this based on?
Research on supportive communication and athlete well-being shaped this approach. These studies look at broader principles or at different programs and groups, so they don’t prove results for Compliments for Change. Any team program would be evaluated with the people in it.
Mental health in elite athletes: the International Olympic Committee consensus statement (2026)
An experiment on coaches’ and athlete leaders’ competence support
A UNLV study of a separate optimization program for athletes
Does everyone have to take part? Is there a leaderboard?
Recognition is always voluntary. There are no compliment leaderboards, no positivity scores and no pressure to look happy, and nobody is ranked against a teammate.
Can the team use the Compliments for Change app?
Yes. The app is free, with public compliment walls anyone can use. A private team space would only be offered once its privacy and moderation are tested. Private player information never goes on a public wall.
What about merchandise?
One idea for later: Wear their number. Share their strength. Players could choose a positive word to pair with their jersey number. It’s a concept for discussion only, with nothing for sale, and it would need the team’s and the players’ permission first.
Start the conversation
Bring recognition to your team.
Tell Dawn about your team or organization. She’ll get back to you about where to start and what it would cost, whether you’re a pro team, a club or a school program.
Rather talk? Call Dawn at 702-808-2305.
Please don’t include any medical or health information about players.
Make everyday recognition part of the game.
One specific, sincere compliment at a time, from the court to the front door.
