COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The NJCAA Volleyball Coaches Association has recognized two individuals who will join its Hall of Fame for 2014.
This year’s inductees include Northeastern (Colo.) athletic director Marci Henry and Rita Schroeder, former head and assistant coach at Southwestern Community College.
Induction ceremonies will be held during the NJCAA Division I Volleyball National Championship, Nov. 20-22 in Casper, Wyo.
Praised for contributing over 700 victories throughout her coaching career at Southwestern, Schroeder has been a notable asset to the volleyball program for over 26 years. She served as the program’s head coach from her start in 1986 until 2009.
In 2010, she rejoined the Spartans program once again to take over the role of assistant coach to Melissa Blessington – a former player of Schroeder’s – for two seasons.
Some of Schroeder’s accolades include being named an NJCAA district coach of the year five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999). Throughout her extensive coaching career, she had five NJCAA DII National Championship showings and was a five-time Region 11 champion.
Schroeder also has had several teams achieve academic honors, including the 1993-94 squad that was named the NJCAA Volleyball Academic Team of the Year. Despite numerous awards and achievements, Schroeder boasts that her proudest moments are seeing some of her career 350 players go on to become coaches themselves.
As a coach, she strived to instill hard work and strength into her players and her coaching not only taught her athletes how to be successful in the sport, but also how to be successful in life. Her dedication and commitment to the Spartans volleyball program was recognized in 2012 when the Southwestern volleyball court was officially renamed the “Rita Schroeder Volleyball Court.”
Currently serving as the athletic director for Northeastern, Marci Henry enters the hall of fame with over 16 years of coaching experience – including nine seasons as head coach of the Plainswomen volleyball program.
In 2003, Henry coached the Plainswomen to a Region 9 championship and an 11th-place finish at the NJCAA DI National Championship. In 2003, she was named the NJCAA DI District F Coach of the Year.