Near the end of last school year, the Lady Titan volleyball team had a new coach. But, it was a short-lived partnership. Coach Jeni Britton resigned from her position unexpectedly for personal reasons two weeks before the team entered into the Sectional tournament. With little time, the administration had to find a new coach quickly, and former coach Emily Schmitt stepped up to the plate to finish the season.
“It was no problem at all,” Schmitt said. “It is like riding a bike. I have coached for almost 20 years, and a lot of these girls have played for me for the three previous years, and I know a majority of them. When they were in that bind, I was like ‘Absolutely, no problem.’ It was not even a second thought. They are good kids, and we want to give them the best experience that we can.”
Athletic Director Nick Hart was lucky to have an experienced coach working inside the school.
“We were fortunate coach Schmitt was in the building,” Hart said. “When coach Britton gave her resignation, we went to [Schmitt] to see if she would be willing to finish off the year. Thankfully, she said yes. We are very fortunate to have her here to finish off the last couple of weeks of the season.”
The varsity volleyball girls were slightly hesitant after hearing about Britton’s resignation. But, after learning Schmitt was stepping back in, there was comfort with her familiarity.
“There was relief just because we knew coach Schmitt from previous years,” senior varsity player Rhylanne Bittner said. “Everyone knew her coaching styles, so there was not any uncertainty happening and how practices would be run.”
When Hart told the volleyball girls who would be helping them finish out the year, they were happy.
“When I informed them about coach Britton’s decision and then told them that coach Schmitt would finish out the year, they were excited because it was someone they knew and were familiar with,” Hart said.
Coach Schmitt knew the older girls’ skills but had to figure out the freshman girls’ abilities. It was not a hard transition for Schmitt after the girls had been with a different coach this season.
“It was a little different with the freshmen because I have really never seen them before,” she said. “But, as far as everyone else, I know their strengths and weaknesses … So, I met with freshman, JV and varsity; I asked what was going on. Afterwards, I met with varsity, and I said, ‘So, I haven’t been to a game this year, I don’t know what your lineup is like right now.’ The girls wrote out their lineup and showed me what we had practiced the day before and how they would like to start tonight.”
At the end of the day, Bittner was glad she had the experience of a new coach with varied knowledge and different ways of doing things.
“She was very positive and she definitely left an experience for us,” Bittner said. “She taught us some valuable lessons on how to stick through and just try to make the best of the situation.”
