ROCKINGHAM — New Richmond Senior volleyball coach Shellie Wimpey doesn’t want to dwell on the past.
Instead she is focused on the present and the future. Wimpey wants her team to do the same.
As the Raiders’ fourth coach in as many seasons, Wimpey understands it has been tough for the players in the program having different styles and voices each year.
“I want to build a successful program,” said Wimpey, who spent the last two seasons as the junior varsity coach. “I know it has been hard on them to adjust to different coaches each year.”
The Raiders missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006, posting a 3-11 overall record and a 2-8 mark in Southeastern Conference play.
Wimpey believes the team is ripe to turn things around and return to the postseason. Only three players on the 11-man roster are back from last year’s squad, with six making the move up from junior varsity.
“We only lost two conferences games last year in JV,” Wimpey said. “Hopefully we can get that enthusiasm to move to varsity. Varsity is a much faster game than JV, but the girls have so much dedication and are hard workers. They want to win as much as I do.”
With the Raiders coming off a losing season and having little varsity experience across the board, Wimpey plans on honing in on small victories which could lead to big wins on the court.
“I want us to play the best we can and not worry about the other team,” Wimpey said. “If we play the best we can each night, I will be happy with that. And if we do play like we can, we can beat almost anybody.”
Richmond will participate in today’s jamboree at Jack Britt before taking to the court in the season opener around 6 p.m. Monday against Union Pines at home. The junior varsity squad will begin its season at 5 p.m. Monday with the Vikings.
— Sports editor Shawn Stinson can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 14, or by email at sstinson@heartlandpublications.com
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