New Coach at LWHS

The new Kangs VB coach was introduced to the team yesterday. Maddie participated in the interview process and had positive things to say as they begin open gyms...it's not much, but a little volleyball is back with spring! It's been a long boring winter without Club, so this is welcome news. Congrats to Stephanie and WELCOME!

Head Coach: Stephanie Wayt

Stephanie was most recently head coach of the Sammamish Totems.  She has over eight years experience coaching 3rd through 12th grade volleyball players and has conducted skills camps.

Raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Stephanie had the unique opportunity to develop her passion for physical fitness at an early age.  Along with enjoying outdoor sports such as biking, and hiking, she competed competitively as a figure skater, swimmer, triathlete, and was a member of the American Heart Association's Jump Rope Team in younger years.

As a high school athlete, she excelled in volleyball, and helped lead her team to win State, Regions, and Conference Championships.  Stephanie received many athletic honors such as Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Alaska, and All Tournament teams for State and Regions. As a Junior and Senior, she participated in and won the Ms. Service Bodybuilding competition.

After High School, she went on to receive a full ride athletic scholarship at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID where she received the All- Academic team award and majored in Kinesiology.  Stephanie transferred to Seattle Pacific University after her sophomore year, and received a bachelor’s in Exercise Science.  While in College, she worked as a personal trainer for “In-Home clients”, was a trainer for Acceleration Alaska, ran conditioning camps for volleyball players, and continued to coach. She currently is a Certified Personal Trainer / Lifestyle Coach for Custom Fitness Now.com

Back to Volleyball

It's not Club. Didn't have to fly to Vegas or drive to Spokane. Didn't cost anything. But it was Volleyball. It's been tough getting texts from my Volleyball Dad friends while their DD's continue to play Club, but at least we got a bit of volleyball back last night as LW held their first open gym. Maddie reports that about 20 girls showed up, including the returning Varsity Six and that a fine time was had by all. It will be a challenge this year with a (yet to be hired) new coach and 6 returning seniors. (One complaint from last year was a blind loyalty to upper classmen, which means no sophomores were on the team. This may lead to a separation between the 6 returning seniors and their 6 teammates with no varsity experience whatsoever.) On the other hand, we're dropping down to 2A which will not help during the regular season (still play Juanita, Sammamish, Bellevue, MI, etc) but will help if we make the playoffs. But all in all, on a cold first day of March, Maddie seemed pumped that volleyball was back.