13 Years..
This year’s freshmen were only 1 year old when I started at St. Edward Central Catholic High School. Only one thing so far I’ve committed to for 13 years. 13 senior nights, 13 homecomings, 13 years of season openers, and 13 years crying in the locker room after our last match. Only once did I end a year with a win. 2008 we won the 3rd place match at State. People always say, there’s only 1 team to win their last match.. not true in Illinois.
Tonight was my last night of coaching high school girls volleyball. It’s time for someone else to live out their coaching dreams. I don’t have the mental or physical strength to do it all anymore. For the first 7 years, I had 15 daughters for 3 months out of the year. Then it was my turn for my very own. I value all the time my girls got to spend in the gym. It’s something special to raise your kids along side your volleyball teams and the school community. Gracyn learned to walk, using the ball cart to keep her steady. Brook would shag the all the balls during drills and take them to the bleachers and try to count them, made it easy for the girls to shag balls since they were all in one spot. They think Uncle PJ and Trainer Chris really are their uncles.
The memories will last forever. Frank thinking I was a player my first day of practice, the trips to state, the 3 times St. Eds beat St. Francis, camping trips, calendar shoots, pumpkin patches and trips to the city. I had teams help me move, make boxes for my wedding centerpieces, team 08 lining up special for my dad to walk me down the isle, and surprise baby showers. Regionals of 2009 I was on the phone coaching the girls as I was being wheeled up to labor and delivery. I would talk to kids during timeouts, knowing exactly what they were doing wrong. I’m so blessed to have coached some of the greatest people I know. Some are now nurses, pro basketball players, teachers, CEO’s, business women, trainers and young ladies living out their dreams. I hope to take the positive aspects of all these kids and instill the traits in my own girls.
Here are some of my favorite calendar shots.
If you don’t know the story about my wedding.. here’s the short version. Team 08 was not performing to their full potential. One night at Steak n’ Shake in Effingham IL, we decided to make a small wager. If we went to State, they could be in my wedding. At that point, I really didn’t think they had it in them and I was welcoming any kind of motivation, so I made the deal. This deal was never brought up again until I was walked on the bus after we won Super Sectionals – Hey coach, I’m a size 8, when do we get fitted? Uhhh.. Let me think about that one! Later on we decided that they would be considered the guests of honor and would line the isle for the wedding party to walk through. State runs and weddings rank up there pretty high on a coaches list, so I wasn’t at all annoyed by it. (Sidenote: Tim coached a St. Eds sectional baseball game on our wedding day. It’s in our blood, it’s why we work.)
I’m not sure I could leave the program without hand picking the next coach. I’m not one to just hand over the program to just anyone. St. Ed’s and the kids there are too special to me. If I didn’t trust Mattie, I wouldn’t be leaving. This was my program. I built it my way. I added 2 state trophies to the trophy case and had 264 career wins. I coached a lot of amazing kids on and off the court. Life happens and it’s time for me to take a break and be a mom. I hope to help out a bit when I’m needed, and will always hold Johnny GreenWave very close to my heart.
A few more pictures of some special kids and times over the years.. The Brieger’s who have always been a good support team to us, the last practice before I had Gracyn and the girls all wore pink. Pictures from Prom, Katie Ayello’s match that she served 25 straight points and my boys. Last but not least.. Dominique setting a new career kill record today with 996 kills.
That is all for now, St. Eds. I love all my athlete’s and the St. Edward community. Things just aren’t as easy as they used to be, and I have another team that I’m in charge of. It will be strange to not have to be in 2 places at once, or doubling my coaching bag as a diaper bag. It’s time for me to start my next chapter, and it might be harder than I think.
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