Of course, I have seen many examples how team equals family at Wingate University. We have (and have had) coaches and administrators who understand the many dynamics of college athletics. Most recently, I had the privilege to observe how a team is a family as the Bulldogs’ volleyball team won their first-ever NCAA Division II Southeast Region championship and a historic berth in the NCAA Elite Eight.
Shelton Collier’s mom Joan died Saturday night, Nov. 20 as Wingate was competing in the semi-finals of the regional tournament on its home floor. His younger sister Jane alerted the Wingate University Sports Network (she is one of our biggest fans) the next day…by saying “I am watching with an angel on my shoulder tonight as our mother passed away last night after a long illness.”
Jane Collier knows how her family is a team…“one of my favorite memories is my mom in the stands all those years…clapping and yelling her heart out for her boy.” (Shelton Collier was an award-winning setter for NCAA powerhouse Ohio State University.) “I hope I can replicate her very distinctive clap tonight as the Bulldogs play Flagler for the title.”
Current assistant coach Melissa DeLuca (Bahama, N.C.) knows her team is a family. “I have known Coach Collier for almost seven years now…I have gained so much respect for him over the course of playing for him and now working with him,” DeLuca says.
“I can’t explain how much more respect I gained for him since the regional weekend,” DeLuca says. “He had so much going on personally. For him to compartmentalize (his life) and put the team above what was going on in his world…I thought was really amazing.”
DeLuca believes Collier understood the moment and what it meant to the Bulldogs. “He did not want to take away one ounce of what this team has dreamed of achieving since the 2009 Regional Championship match,” DeLuca says. “He is so much more than one of the best volleyball coaches in the country. He is an amazing and caring individual who goes to great lengths to help those closest to him. I know his mom must have been really proud of him.”
“It was very rewarding to be a part of our team achieving such a special goal of qualifying for the Elite Eight,” Collier says. “Mom was always so supportive of me with athletics and coaching. I am confident her wish would have been for me to ‘coach them, help them win it and then have some time for me.’ This is exactly what I did.”
A team is a family. Wingate senior captain Rebecca Bloemer (Louisville, Ky.) knows this. “During the regional weekend, Coach Collier was able to hold everything together and be the coach our team needed,” Bloemer says. “Coach Collier is not only an amazing coach, but he is also such a strong individual.”
“We all gained even more respect for coach (during the regional weekend) as he was able to stay so composed and focused on our game,” Bloemer says. “He did not want to take anything away from what we achieved. He wanted to give us time to celebrate. How much he cares for this team really showed during the regional tournament weekend.
How did Shelton Collier find Wingate University? Family…his fiancée DiAnn Gorham Collier had moved to Charlotte to accept a captain’s position with the Charlotte Fire Department. The couple had to make a decision…which person would move when they became man and wife. The highly successful Georgia Tech coach picked up stakes and moved to the Tar Heel State with his future bride. Family paves the way for him to take the open volleyball head coaching position at Wingate University in the fall of 2002.
“I had no idea how things would unfold when I accepted the position at Wingate eight years ago,” Collier says. “In many, many ways it has far exceeded my expectations.”
“Initially, I was thinking perhaps I could develop a decent volleyball team here
and have a fairly rewarding experience; however, it has truly become much more than that in many aspects,” Collier says.
“Winning is fun, for our players and for me as a coach, but what has really made it special for me is the number of players we have and have had who really have exceptional and remarkable personal qualities,” Collier says. “They have had such a positive impact on my life perspective.”
Team equals family…the two are one.
(David Sherwood is the Assistant AD for sports information and game operations at Wingate University. He earned a B.A. degree in Communication Studies from Wingate in 1985.)
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