I was granted the opportunity to interview Northern Kentucky University’s new Volleyball assistant coach Randi Raff. This isn’t Raff’s first coaching job since she graduated from Southern Indiana 2005 she has been coaching. During grad school at Purdue University she was the assistant strength and conditioning coach. After graduating at Purdue, Raff went on to become the assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State University for the next two years, followed that by two years at Christopher Newport University where she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.
Raff was honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s “30 Under 30” Award, which recognizes young up-and-coming coaches among all NCAA divisions in both men’s and women’s volleyball.
Raff played collegiately at Southern Indiana where for three seasons she as an outside hitter. She played in 40 matches over her career and averaged 1.6 kills and 1.4 digs per game. While at USI she helped the team record 93 wins including two NCAA Division II Tournament berths. Raff was a team captain her senior year when USI went 24-7 and won both the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament championship.
JT: Since you started coaching right after your playing career when did you know you would interested in being a coach?
Raff: I didn’t pursue volleyball as a career immediately after undergrad. I was drawn to the field but was hesitant because a number of my friends were entering the field. I felt the feeling that I wanted to coach may have just been me not wanting to give up my playing days. I decided to enter the field of strength and conditioning coaching because I had studied exercise science and felt it would be a good utilization of my degree. I was fortunate enough to earn a job as a graduate assistant strength coach at Purdue University. Throughout those years, I continued to work summer volleyball camps. That’s when I realized I enjoyed teaching volleyball much more than weight lifting and conditioning. I decided to give coaching a try and took a job at a high school as a junior varsity coach. Even at that level, I enjoyed sharing my love of the game and seeing kids improve and find confidence in competition. From then on I knew I wanted to eventually make coaching my one and only full time occupation. Coaching sport as opposed to strength and conditioning seemed much more hands on and exciting. It felt much more impactful to the lives of the athletes I dealt with. The simple answer to your question is an excitement for teaching a game I love. I also really enjoy how each part of the year there is a different endeavor (summer camps, in-season, recruiting, continuing education, spring season, etc). It never gets boring.
JT: During your playing career you were fortunate enough to make two ncaa tourneys. What was your favorite memory during either one of your tourney runs?
Raff: My favorite memories involve bonding with my teammates and becoming a tighter group while enjoying the success of our season. We were a very goofy group (which seems to be very common among volleyball teams) so there was never a dull moment. To this day, some of my best friends were college teammates.
JT: With this year being NKU’s first year in D-1 what do you think will be the biggest challenges for you and the other members of the coaching staff?
Raff: I think the biggest challenge for us as a coaching staff will be learning the styles of play of the new conference opponents. When you have been in a league for years you have a good basic idea of what each team will bring to the gym. We will have to be diligent in studying all our new opponents from week to week. It is a very exciting time at NKU. I think players as well as coaches are excited to show the A-Sun what Norse are made of!
JT: You won the “30 Under 30” award that is an amazing honor how did you get the news? Were you totally surprised or was it something you knew was coming your way?
Raff: I was pretty surprised by the news. I received the news via email I believe. I think my former boss, Lindsay Birch was behind the nomination. She was an awesome leader who knows how to get the very best out of not only the players she coaches but all the people she works with. I was very flattered and honored to receive that recognition.
JT: You have had quite a few coaching jobs since graduating USI. Do you see yourself being a head coach in the near future?
Raff: No. A head coaching job is not something I am interested in for the near future. I have been fortunate to work for head coaches who value my opinions and insights and therefore have been able to achieve great satisfaction in being an assistant coach. I know I have much I can learn as an assistant and I plan on continuing to do so for at least the next few years.
Good luck to Raff and the Norse as they head into the 2012 Volleyball season.
