Not All Volleyball Powerhouses Come From California

Far from the sunny beaches of volleyball-mad California, Sheron Watson rules a girls’ scholastic dynasty in southwestern Pennsylvania where schoolboy football is the familiar king.

Her Norwin High School team has won 10 of the last 14 state titles and finished second twice, all without a player taller than 6 feet. Her career record is 569-10; six teams had perfect records; seven others lost one game in a season.

Among the sneakered set, her dominance impresses like a thundering spike.

“If I had a daughter living in Pennsylvania, I would move to Norwin to get her into that program,” said Shelton Collier, the former girls’ volleyball coach at the University of Pittsburgh who was hired to coach the San Francisco entry in a women’s professional league that is expected to be based in that city.

“Of all the volleyball programs I’ve seen, Sheron Watson does the best job of anyone in preparing her players for college volleyball,” Collier said. “Every Norwin player I’ve ever met has special qualities of maturity, discipline, teamwork and respect. A lot of her graduating seniors are more sound fundamentally than Division I college players.”

Watson, 40, a graduate of Slippery Rock University and a former assistant coach at the University of Arizona, gets little publicity and little pay for her work.

A health and physical education teacher, she gets $1,792 beyond her regular salary for coaching the senior high; another $1,100 for doubling as junior high coach.

Her rewards come from promoting volleyball, which ranks second behind soccer as the world’s most popular sport but is burdened by the stereotype of a pickup game at backyard picnics and beach parties.

“I’m doing what I want to do. If I had a chance to do anything I wanted, I would coach volleyball all day long,” Watson said during a recent interview at the suburban Pittsburgh school.

Norwin became a volleyball power on basics. Watson’s grueling practices stress passing, serving, setting up the hitters, discipline and hardwork. The team, at times, practices 90 minutes before school and three hours afterward.

“I try to teach basic skills. No matter where the girls go to college, they can build on those skills. We try not to make unforced errors. Primarily, at this level, we stress ball control,” Watson said.

Watson’s teams finished second in the state her first two years. Beginning in 1976, Norwin won eight straight state championships. Her teams have won more state crowns than all the other sports combined at Norwin.

“It’s a big dynasty. Nobody wanted to be on the team that lost. That’s a lot of pressure, but we enjoyed it. She gets the best out of each one of her players,” said Lori Barberich, a former player.

Barberich, who was Norwin’s tallest player at a quarter of an inch below 6 feet, attended Penn State on a scholarship and was an assistant coach last year.

By Watson’s count, 35 of her players got full or partial scholarships to play in college. At least one, Charlotte Gillespie, played professionally in Europe. Ten of her players are coaching at the college or high school level.

Norwin is a working class, bedroom community 20 miles east of Pittsburgh on the fringe of a former steelmaking valley.

There are no youth volleyball programs to polish prospects, and no laid-back beaches to lure players. Teen-age girls have other interests, so Watson sifts for talent through cheerleaders, majorettes, band members, swimmers or softball players. One potential gem, a 5-foot-11, left-hander, opted for the color guard this year.

“In California, they play at the beach. They play in school. It’s the most popular sport in the state. Just like boys play football here, kids out there play volleyball,” Watson said.

Norwin opponents won’t find much slack in the program, however. This year’s team had only four seniors on its 25-player roster but won the state title.

“It was a surprise more than anything else,” said Watson. “It was almost as if they were destined to win.”