Set (up) for success: Notre Dame volleyball coach chases more than championships
CROWLEY — Tara Young knows a lot about volleyball. She's been coaching the sport since the late 1990s, and she's got five state championships under her belt, plus three more appearances in state finals.
But what she knows even more is how to build a team, how to impact players in a way that will follow them off the court and into life after high school.
"I think some things Coach Young instilled in us, like to never quit, helped me to continue my education," Alexandra Miller said.
Miller, 25, played for Young at Notre Dame High School from 2010-2014, a tenure that included a three-peat of state championships. Now she's months away from completing her doctorate in physical therapy, which will add up to eight years of post-secondary education.
"I'd remember those days when I thought it was too hard, and I never quit," Miller said.
Taylor Simon, 28, feels the same way. Now she teaches math to third-graders at Ross Elementary in Crowley and sees the classroom as an opportunity to instill the same lessons in her students.
"I learned to give 110%, to never give up on yourself," Simon said. "To play sports you have to believe in yourself, but also remember to always have fun."
'Coach the kid, not just the sport'
She remembers Young rewarding the grind in practice with special trips to Frosto or playing games in practice.
"She made it fun," Simon said. "We knew when to work and when to have fun."
Simon played for Young from 2008 to 2011. The team lost in the state finals in 2009 and came back the next year to win it all, but winning isn't the reason she still keeps in touch with Young today. It's everything else she remembers — the annual themes, decorations and team-building activities.
"A lot of people ask what's behind our success, and I say it's her ability to pull us together as a team," said Brad Petry, who has coached with Young for more than 20 years. "If I would be head coach it would be volleyball all the time. I'm the X's and O's guy. She brings a different perspective."
The team dressed up in Mardi Gras attire for an annual Halloween weekend tournament as the "Krewe de Pio" and entered the gym as a second line. She decorated and planned activities according to the 2021 season's theme, which came from the children's cartoon Bob the Builder: "Can we build it? Yes, we can!" She based Senior Night on the popular Harry Styles song "Golden."
"She really does an amazing job with team-bonding — activities that didn't necessarily deal with skillset (volleyball) but help motivate," said Lauren Carrigee, who coached with Young from 2009-11. "She did so much to coach the kid, not just the sport."
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It was the first job coaching high school or volleyball for Carrigee, and she's taken what she learned then into her current job coaching volleyball and softball at Teurlings Catholic High School.
"As a coach we are supposed to help mold kids, their character, time management, setting priorities — all the intangibles that help them be a productive citizen and successful in their lives after that season or that sport," Carrigee said.
'We're like a family'
In addition to Petry, Young's coaching staff includes her son and a former player.
Waylon Young, 28, grew up playing sports and tagging along to his mom's games. He's enjoyed getting to interact with her players through the different stages of his life, from being the ball boy to their peer when he was in high school and now as a coach and mentor.
"I've been in a gym since I was 4 years old," Waylon said. "I can't imagine my life without the relationships that have come through volleyball. I can't imagine myself doing anything else but being in the gym."
He's known Petry since he was 6, and Young looks at Petry's kids like her grandsons.
"We're like a family," Young said.
That family now includes Hannah Rosinski, who graduated from Notre Dame High School in 2019. The 21-year-old brings a recent player's perspective to the coaching staff and often helps with communication between Young and teens on the team.
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"It's awesome when you have kids come back and help at school or with Rice City (volleyball club)," Young said, clearly touched. "It's a testament to what I'm trying to do."
Road to success
Together the coaches balance one another, combining their strengths of strategy, team-building and experience to produce success.
The Pioneers, known better as Pios, have won state championships in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2021 and made to the finals three more times (2009, 2013 and 2017). They were 32-9 in 2021.
Miller reached out to Young to congratulate her former coach on the latest championship. Miller says they sporadically keep in touch, sending random "I miss you" or "I love you" texts over the years.
"I appreciate her now so much more," Miller said. "I look back on things she taught us, how much she cared about her players. You can ask her about teams and players from 2006 and she would have fond members of each player.
"You may think 'I didn't play that much,' but I guarantee there's something Coach Young remembered about you."
Contact children's issues reporter Leigh Guidry at Lguidry@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @LeighGGuidry.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Notre Dame High volleyball coach serves up championships, life lessons
