Nathan Emrick has been the Head Volleyball Coach at Carterville High School since 2020, and has been a High School volleyball coach for 10 years. In his first non-COVID season at Carterville, he led the team to a 34-6 finish and a trip to the Super-Sectionals. We took a moment to ask Coach Emrick about both his teaching and coaching career. 

 How does it feel to go to the Super-Sectionals in your first postseason as a coach at Carterville? 

 This year was a pretty incredible experience. It is always rewarding as a coach to see your team come together as ours did and, on top of that, have post-season success. Anytime you can say you were the last River-to-River team standing, you had a really good year. I am so proud of this team’s accomplishments, but I’m even more proud of our players and how much they have grown this season.

 How does your program prove to be successful? 

 My hope for this team’s success is more about how we develop people. Winning is always fun and makes things more exciting, but if all we are concerned about is winning, then I am not doing my job as a high school coach. I want people to see our team and recognize that we are great volleyball players, but more importantly, I want them to recognize that we have great people who do things the right way, treat people really well, regardless of who they are, and love and care for each other. 

What made you have an interest in volleyball? 

I really liked the speed and intensity that comes with great volleyball. It is a fast-paced game that is so easy to get hyped over when kids make big plays, and when your team is good and you are playing another good team, big plays happen all the time. I also saw it as a challenge to learn something new and see if I could be successful in a different sport.

How have you adjusted to teaching/coaching at a new school?

At the end of the day, I’m still teaching and coaching high school kids who are not that much different from where I came from. The biggest adjustment was the size of the school, the number of kids and making new connections, and building new relationships. 

Why did you decide to become a coach?

Because I couldn’t play anymore. I loved competing and working and I realized very quickly I had the chance to make a huge impact on kids and help them become successful adults. 

How has volleyball changed your life? 

I don’t know if it has necessarily changed my life, but I would say it has definitely brought people into my life that I now consider some of my best friends, as well as 100’s of players that I have been able to watch grow up and move onto the next phases of their lives and that, has been really fun to see!

What are you looking forward to the most? 

I would say I’m looking forward to continuing to build our culture here at Carterville with a great group of players coming back and seeing how we can come together again and grow as a team.