Vanessa Walby is the head volleyball coach for Washington University in St. Louis. Those of you who are familiar with Division III athletics understand that Wash U athletics are, and have been for years and years, at the elite levels of DIII. If you coach there, you’re legit.
And Walby is. She came onto my radar after her six year coaching stint at the University of Chicago (another great DIII institution) and the turnaround she engineered with that program. I was pretty familiar with their team pre-Walby, because I used to coach in that conference. What I remember was they were underachievers in a very tough conference. Fast forward a few years and she had gotten them consistently in the NCAA tournament and posting 30-win seasons.
I’m looking forward sharing some of our conversation and I know you’ll enjoy it, too. Here are a few of the highlights:
- On the value of having a plan
- Changing a culture
- Female coaches mentoring one another
I’ll see you next time!
The Vanessa Walby series
Coaches Corner: On Changing A Culture
Coaches Corner: The Power Of Female Mentorship
Join me in a series of interviews with successful coaches. I believe what we learn from our coaching peers can be applied to our teams, our recruiting efforts, and how we behave as professionals. These interviews will be less Q & A and much more philosophical in nature, keep coming back to see who I’m talking to and what they’ve got to say!
