In his first season at the helm of the Angelo State volleyball program, head coach Chuck Waddington guided the ’Belles to a 20-14 overall record, their first winning campaign since 2004.
Having inherited a squad that had won only seven conference matches over the three previous seasons combined, Waddington also guided the ’Belles to an 8-5 conference record, which tied them for fifth in the standings.
“I am very pleased with the progress that we made,” Waddington said. “I am quite proud of the commitment those young ladies made to achieve our goals of a 20-win season and a berth in the conference tournament. I believe that we are headed in the right direction and I am very excited about what the future holds for ASU volleyball.”
The one constant theme Waddington instilled for the 2008 season was winning when it counted the most. While the longest winning streak the ’Belles had was five matches, they never sustained a losing streak of more than two matches and that happened only twice.
The ’Belles also learned how to put an opponent away, compiling a 17-3 record when winning the first set and winning 11 of those matches in three-set sweeps. At the end of the season, ASU placed three players on the all-conference team.
“I want players who have competed at and against a high level of competition in their high school and club careers,” Waddington said. “I also want players that are competitive and want to win. Those players raise the level of those around them.”
Waddington arrived at ASU after a five-year stint as an assistant coach at Florida Southern College, one of the top volleyball programs in NCAA Division II. He helped guide the Moccasins to a 136-44 overall record and five straight trips to the NCAA D-II National Tournament. The Moccasins also boasted 20 All-Sunshine State Conference honorees, 15 all-region selections, 10 All-Americans and six academic all-conference performers during Waddington’s tenure.
Prior to his time at FSC, Waddington was a successful head coach in the high school ranks. He spent six years as the head coach at Bishop Verot High School (BVHS) in Fort Myers, Fla., and led his squad to a 127-58 record. The Vikings claimed five district titles in his six seasons and reached the Class 3A semifinals in 2002 with a 25-9 record.
“Put simply, my coaching philosophy is ‘work hard, compete and have fun,’” Waddington said. “I want my players to enjoy the game while, at the same time, being disciplined as they compete. I think that even more than the game itself, I like to see the nervous freshman turn into the confident graduate four years later. It is such a huge transformation and I feel lucky to be able to be a part of it.”
Waddington was named the district Coach of the Year each of his six years at BVHS and produced 14 all-state players. In addition to his coaching duties, he also taught science and was named the school’s Key to Excellence Teacher of the Year in 2001.
Also an experienced club volleyball coach, Waddington coached Junior Olympic Club Volleyball for six years in the Fort Myers area and was the club director for the Lakeland Area Volleyball Association in Lakeland, Fla. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, he was involved with the Team Florida USA Volleyball High Performance Program, coaching some of the top players in Florida.
“I would like my players to learn that the pursuit of excellence is not just something that happens in the gym,” Waddington said. “It carries over into everything that they do. I want them to understand the importance and challenges of building and maintaining relationships with their families and friends. I would also want my players to leave with a sense of self-confidence to help them achieve whatever goals they may set for themselves.”
During the offseason, Waddington serves as the director for the ’Belles Volleyball Camps, which run the second and third weeks in June and the final week in July. The camps are for aspiring volleyball players ages 9-17 and provide instruction to all skill levels. The opportunity to put his stamp on the San Angelo area is what attracted him to Angelo State.
“I would have to say opportunity,” Waddington said. “ASU has the best facilities in D-II, receives tons of support from our administration, provides a great place to raise my children and has all the tools in place for success.”
A native of Johnstown, N.Y., Waddington earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) in 1993. He added his master’s degree in education from Florida Southern in 2006. It was at RPI that Waddington got his start in coaching.
“I was playing a lot of volleyball after college and a local junior college was looking to restart their program after not fielding a team the four years prior,” Waddington said. “I stopped in to speak with the AD, who had actually recruited me out of high school to play basketball there, and he offered me the job. We made it through that first season with seven players, two of whom were foreigners that had never played before.”
Waddington and his wife, Mandi, have a 10-year-old daughter, Bailey, and a 3-year-old son, Jaxsen.
