No matter how long Payton Bledsoe has been involved in volleyball, her knowledge and love for the game continues to grow. 

The Mexico and Westminster College graduate has been coaching beach and club volleyball for several years, and for this upcoming year following her senior year, Bledsoe will be an assistant coach at Battle High School in Columbia to mark her first season as a high school coach. 

“I think it’s really cool just because I’ve coached that age group in club before,” Bledsoe said. “I just really like that level of play. It feels like it coincides really with what I’ve learned through playing college. I think it’s really cool too because, honestly, I’m not a whole lot older that these girls so it’s cool I get to have a good solid relationship with them but also coach them too.”

After graduating from Mexico High School, Bledsoe became a Blue Jay at Westminster in Fulton and, not too long after that, began her career with the Club COMO team in Columbia that eventually was renamed Alpha Omega. She said she has coached for Alpha Omega since 2019 after playing for them from 16-18 years old, leading boys from October to February and girls from November to April or May, The club has teams at varying skill levels that either play in the area or nationally from ages 10-18, and Bledsoe said she is coaching the 18U area boys and 18U national girls.

Bledsoe said she has enjoyed coaching kids at these ages because it’s nice to see what future goals they have in mind, whether they want to play in college or not, and see how they improve. The growth isn’t limited to the individual, she said.

“Usually, by the end of the season, you created a team out of players that sometimes have never played before to have this team that finally works well together,” Bledsoe said. “Just seeing how they grow as a team and individually is always my favorite part.”

Coaching has much to love about it, which is what Bledsoe learned earlier in her life as a player. She said Brian Plunkett encouraged her to start coaching a 13-year old club team bringing her on as a player with Alpha Omega and Westminster. Bledsoe said she had some instructional experience in high school at camps but hadn’t seriously considered being on the sidelines and was admittedly hesitant at first.

Before that first season, Bledsoe said she was uncertain of how qualified she was and was intimidated but soaked up information during the season as the coach under the head and assistant coaches. 

“After that season, I found that I really loved coaching,” Bledsoe said. “Every year after that, I just get more confident in my abilities as a coach. It’s just become one of my favorite things really.”

Building up confidence happens every year even after someone steps away from being a regular player, Bledsoe said. She learned that as a senior at Westminster, which ended up being her best as a Blue Jay as she was named a conference player of the week and was awarded the college’s senior female athlete of the year. The man at the center of her improvement was Jerry Chambers, who she is coaching with in club ball for a second year.

“He was the cool, calm, collected kind of coach,” Bledsoe said. “He is somebody I feel like wants to get to know you as a person first rather than just an athlete. He doesn’t come into a practive immediately trying to just tell you what to do. He tries to build this rapport and respect with you, which has been super influential for me as a coach in reaching athletes.”

Chambers was an assistant at Westminster during Bledsoe’s senior campaign and was the person who could reach the seemingly unreachable players. He had a big effect on her as well.

“I remember coming in my freshmen year coming to play college and felt like I was confident coming in knowing the game of volleyball, but I realized it’s so much more,” Bledsoe said. “You not only have to have confidence in your ability as a player but also confidence in general. It took me a long time to be confident like that. I would say actually until my senior year I thought I was always the player who could play but just wanted to be there to cheer on other people’s success.”

Chambers’ effect on her demonstrates perfectly how a coach should be, Bledsoe said, as he didn’t condemn her urge to cheer on other but rather convinced her she deserves and can achieve success too. 

It is nice when a coach can be more than a coach for an athlete as Bledsoe said Chambers is one her best friends now. This involves sharing matters that don’t relate to volleyball hut can still effect the player on the court as the 22-year-old Bledsoe believes being close to her kids’ ages helps.

“You want to build a relationship with your athlete first because, by doing that, they know that, even after you’re done being their coach for that one season, they can still reach out to you,” Bledsoe said. “Just the other week, I had a girl who I had coached the previous season who told me she didn’t want to play volleyball anymore and just wanted to focus on school. She still reached out to me because she was having an argument with her parents and didn’t know what to do.”

It is more than just volleyball and volleyball is more than just the physical. Being mentally secure is vital to success. Bledsoe believes this as while it isn’t terrible to suggest athletes push through issues, it would be wrong to not extend a helping hand to guide them through some issues that are affecting them mentally. Being constructive instead of belittling is also important to her.

Another player was surprised to see Bledsoe still playing at the Show-Me State games in Columbia this year, but she hopes that positively impacts her players. She tries to improve even after the end of her playing career and admits to even watching film of herself to teach the girls incessant improvement leads to team success.

“I want to watch players individually because my idea if I can tweak this one thing that you do, it’s going to improve the team’s success,” Bledsoe said. “Trying to fix things on a smaller level that a lot of people don’t recognize makes way bigger impacts than you would think.”

Coaching has changed from an activity Bledsoe was uncertain about to being something she said she isn’t sure she can live without. Now she doesn’t see herself stopping anytime soon.

“The more I do it, the more I think there is no way I can stop,” Bledsoe said. “It keeps me close to sport I love, and I’d had a lot of athletes who have told me that I’ve brought the love of the game back to them. That is probably one of the biggest compliments I could receive.”