For the past eight years, Head Volleyball Coach Angie Potts has poured her heart, time, and energy into the College Place High School Lady Hawks Volleyball program. During that time, her impact has reached far beyond the volleyball court, beyond the wins and losses, and beyond the practices and games that fill a season.
Coaching is about so much more than teaching a sport. At its very best, coaching is about teaching young people how to believe in themselves, overcome adversity, work together, and grow into the best versions of themselves. It is about recognizing potential in a young person, sometimes long before they recognize it in themselves. Coach Potts has embraced that responsibility with genuine care, unwavering dedication, and a heart for the young women she has coached.
Along the way, her leadership has brought tremendous success to the Lady Hawks Volleyball program. Under her guidance, the Hawks captured multiple league championships, a District Championship, and earned three trips to the WIAA State Volleyball Tournament. Her dedication and leadership were also recognized by her peers, as she was named SCAC Coach of the Year twice during her tenure. These accomplishments reflect years of hard work, sacrifice, and the competitive standard she helped establish at College Place High School.
But as impressive as those accomplishments are, they tell only part of the story.
Over the years, Coach Potts has invested countless hours into developing not only volleyball players, but confident, resilient, and capable young women. She has celebrated their successes, supported them through challenges, and reminded them that their value extends far beyond their performance on the court.
What makes a coach truly special isn't simply what they teach their athletes about the game. It's what those athletes carry with them when the game is over. The confidence to face something difficult. The courage to keep going when things don't come easily. The understanding that being part of a team means caring about something bigger than yourself. And perhaps most importantly, knowing that someone believed in you and wanted the very best for you.
The true measure of a coach's success cannot always be found on a scoreboard, in a season record, or in a trophy case. Sometimes, the greatest victories are the ones we never get to see. They happen years later, when a former athlete faces adversity with confidence, leads others with compassion, or believes in herself because a coach once helped her discover what she was capable of becoming.
Coach Potts, we hope you know just how much your time, sacrifices, encouragement, and commitment have meant to our school and community. The relationships you've built and the lives you've influenced represent something far greater than any single volleyball season.
On behalf of College Place High School, our athletic department, our student-athletes, and the many families who have been part of this journey, thank you for eight years of leadership, mentorship, service, and unwavering dedication to Lady Hawks Volleyball.
Thank you for believing in our young women. Thank you for investing in who they are and who they can become. And thank you for giving so much of yourself to something that matters so deeply to our school community.
The seasons will come and go. The players will graduate. The games will eventually be forgotten. But the way you made young people feel, the lessons you helped them learn, and the confidence you helped them build will live on.
That is your legacy, Coach Potts, and it is one worth celebrating.
Sincerely,
Kenneth James
CPPS Athletic Director