RaShonda Willis’ playing career ended a decade ago, but she has done much since then.

Willis was an assistant volleyball coach for Mexico last season and was promoted to the head coaching role, as was officially announced on June 21, after Mendie Tutt stepped down but will remain a fourth-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary School. The Blackburn College graduate and current Hawthorne elementary teacher has been a volleyball head coach and has led the softball, soccer, track and field, and basketball programs at her high school alma mater Clyde C. Miller Career Academy in St. Louis.

Having all those positions is exactly what Willis wanted as she admits she likes to stay busy. She also describes herself as energetic and wants to pass that on to the Lady Bulldogs.

“Being a cheerleader for them, helping build their confidence and understanding that they need to show explosion (goes into coaching volleyball),” Willis said. “Explosion meaning on the hits, on the passes, in the talking and in everything.”

Athletic director Brandon Schafer said Willis impressed him last season just by how she was coaching on the sidelines.

“As an assistant coach, I got to watch her on the sidelines during games. She did a lot of in-game strategy,” Schafer said. “She was high energy, which is what those volleyball girls need. The volleyball girls responded really well to her every time I watched her coaching. She has a high knowledge of the game.” 

Being an energetic coach is just who Willis is as she said she is talking to her players and walking the sidelines constantly. 

She believes the about 32 girls Mexico currently has in the program are coachable and can come together to win more games this season than the 8-15-1 campaign from a year ago. JacLynn Cline and Emily Moppin will be key returning hitters and Skyler Arnold expects to be the team’s libero.

“I see us at least winning more games, doing a lot of team bonding,” Willis said. “We’re looking to compete this year, for sure.”

At Blackburn, Willis earned a business and administration and economics bachelor’s degree before earning a master’s in business administration from Lindenwood University. She also had plenty of opportunities for team bonding at Blackburn as part of the volleyball and basketball teams for four years and softball for one. She recalls her Beaver teams at that point being good as they were in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament in all three sports. 

Willis said she attended Blackburn for academics initially but then eventually picked up the ball for each of those sports, convincing her she can cover multiple sports as a coach too.

“I was used to (multiple sports) because I did the same thing in high school,” Willis said. “We had our tutors with us, and we were always on the road. It’s just that camaraderie with your teammates and building those friendships that are there 10 years later.”

This summer, Willis said Mexico is working on strength and conditioning in the weight room and in open gyms so the team doesn’t get “bulky” but rather “build our agility and endurance.” She is honored to have the opportunity and is thankful to the district and athletic department for choosing her. 

“We lost a lot of girls, so I'm a bit nervous to mix and match the newcomers and the returners,” Willis said. “But, I’m very excited and I’m honored to be in the head coach position.”