Laura Bindon Named AVCA Division III National Assistant Coach of the Year
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Calvin College assistant women’s volleyball coach Laura Bindon has been named the AVCA Division III National Assistant Coach of the Year.
A native of Holland and a graduate of Holland Christian High School, Bindon has been with Calvin Head Coach Amber Warners for the past nine years, and Warners calls her a “co-coach” in many areas. Since she joined the coaching staff, the Knights have recorded a 289-56 (.828) record while winning their first ever national championship a year ago. She is a well-rounded person off the court, leading service projects for the student-athletes working at Habitat for Humanity and planning activities for joint ventures with local minority high school students and their athletes. In addition to her role as assistant women’s volleyball coach, she serves the Calvin Kinesiology Department as an assistant director for athletics and well as an instructor in the department.
This fall, she was a part of a Calvin team that fashioned an overall record of 33-1 and held a number-one ranking throughout the regular season. Calvin’s only loss came to eventual national champion Wittenberg in the NCAA III Regional Finals.
In 2009, she was honored by the AVCA as a recipient of its “30-Under-30 Award.” The award honored 30 up-and-coming volleyball coaches nationwide under the age of 30. See: Laura Bindon 30-Under-30-Award
Bindon is a 2003 Calvin College graduate. As a senior in 2002, she was a first team All-MIAA selection at setter on the Calvin women’s volleyball team. The following fall, she joined Warners as an assistant coach. She has also served as a head high school volleyball coach at Hudsonville Unity Christian High School.
The AVCA will formally present Bindon’s award at the 2011 Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, December 15. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 2011 AVCA Annual Convention.
LAURA BINDON QUOTES:
*- I’m excited and extremely honored to receive this award. It is a testament to the years of mentoring and trust that Amber has invested in me. We have coached together for nine years now, and from day one she empowered me as her assistant by giving me a major role with the team both on and off the court. Amber’s confidence in my contributions is both rewarding and motivating - I know that she trusts me and what I have to offer the team and so I am challenged to continue grow as both her’s and the team’s assistant.
*- I think it’s crucial for your team to know that the head coach and the assistant coach are on the same page and in sync with each other. After nine years of coaching together I think it’s pretty easy to see that Amber and I have a great partnership. Just ask the team how many times we approach the huddle separately during a timeout but deliver the exact same message - sometimes word-for-word! The team usually laughs and winks as soon as they realize we are just repeating each other without even knowing it!
* - I’ve been extremely fortunate to work under Amber for most of my coaching career. Not only has she been critical in developing me as an assistant coach, but I’ve learned volumes from her about the importance of mentoring relationships off the court.
*- I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to coach amazing, Christian women year after year. They are obviously very talented on the volleyball court but also remarkable young women. As an assistant coach, one of the things I need from the team is respect - respect for my role, and respect for what I have to offer. Every year they buy in to the things I teach and the things I have to say and that is very powerful validation. I am grateful to each of them for the ways they have, through their compassion and understanding, helped me become a better coach and a better person.
AMBER WARNERS QUOTES ON LAURA BINDON
*- It has been a huge benefit for our program to have an assistant coach for nine straight years - especially when that person has the capability of being a head coach elsewhere but has chosen to stay at Calvin because it is the place she loves.
*- She brings so much to our program and I have felt very fortunate to not only work with such a great coach but also to call her my friend. She has grown so much since her first year right out of college and I am so proud of the job she has done over the last nine years.
