O’Quinn ready to lead Pelham volleyball

She thought it was over. The former Pelham junior varsity volleyball coach turned in her resignation papers, thinking she had coached her last game for the school.

“I thought I was done,” said Haven O’Quinn, Pelham’s newest varsity volleyball coach.

One phone call, however, changed everything.

“I got a call in late May,” O’Quinn said.

On the other end of the phone was Kim Kiel, assistant athletic director for the Panthers. Kiel informed O’Quinn that the team’s head coach, Tien Le, was leaving to take the same position at Briarwood Christian. Kiel wanted O’Quinn to fill the position.

“I took it,” O’Quinn said.

After nearly three months on the job, O’Quinn is busy preparing her team for the season opener against St. Paul’s Episcopal on Aug. 19. The transition from the junior varsity level to coaching the varsity team, O’Quinn said, has come with excitement.

“(As the varsity coach) you get to do exactly what you want to do,” O’Quinn said. “You don’t have to sit back and watch the girls anymore. I enjoy the faster-paced game.”

The final decision to accept the job, O’Quinn said, didn’t come without much deliberation. “I talked to my husband for a few days,” O’Quinn said.

O’Quinn teaches first graders at an elementary school in the Pelham area during the day. Under Le, the varsity team started practice early in the afternoon, well before O’Quinn’s job at the elementary school ended.

With such a tight schedule, O’Quinn wasn’t going to be able to take the job without a change in the practice schedule. “I asked Coach Kiel if we could start practice at 4 p.m.,” O’Quinn said. “I have to fulfill my obligations (at the elementary school) first.”

Kiel obliged, and O’Quinn was happy to accept the job. “There’s no way to turn that down,” O’Quinn said.

As for the expectations that come with being the head coach for what O’Quinn calls “a volleyball dynasty,” the coach knows they come with the territory. “That’s usually the first thing out of everybody’s mouths — Is the tradition going to continue?” O’Quinn said. “I’ve told the girls from the beginning that we can’t win being superstars. We have to play as a team.”

O’Quinn is following in the footsteps of one of the most acclaimed high school volleyball coaches in Alabama in Tammy Richardson, who spent 26 years at the helm for the Panthers before retiring after the 2006 season. Richardson came out of retirement in 2009 to take the head coaching position at Oak Mountain, an area foe of the Panthers.

The shoes left to fill by Richardson were hardly small.

The Hall of Fame coach ranks third all-time in victories in the state with more than 1,100. Richardson led the Panthers to 17 state tournaments, reaching the finals four times while capturing the Class 6A state title in 1993 and 1997.Richardson also played an integral part in bringing the Elite Eight state tournament to Pelham.

O’Quinn is aware of the work done by her predecessors. However, she isn’t interested in making history. The new coach just wants to keep the program’s momentum going.

“We want to keep the tradition (at Pelham),” O’Quinn said. “We still want Pelham to be a solid volleyball program. It’s been a dynasty.”

SportsPlus

Columbiana

Buie, Arnold shine in sub-regional win for Shelby County

Calera

Calera boys, girls soccer dominate Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa in season-opening road battles

280 Main Story

Chelsea advances to seventh-straight Sweet 16 after downing Calera

280 Main Story

Briarwood defeats Valley behind historic performances from Crawford, Kerley

280 Reporter

Westminster OM secures pair of multi-goal road wins over Montevallo on opening night

280 Main Story

Chelsea cruises to 10-goal opening win over Mortimer Jordan

Calera

Honduran immigrant arrested in Calera for attempted burglary

News

Wilsonville man arrested for sexually abusing minor

Harpersville

Harpersville announces Timothy Dennis as new chief of police

News

Pelham enhancing northern gateway on Highway 31

News

Pelham City Schools Foundation hosts Pelham Mardi Party

News

Pelham announces 2025 street paving plans

News

Pelham moves forward with Greenway Trail project

280 Main Story

Girls soccer preview: The biggest questions ahead of a hotly-anticipated 2025 season

280 Main Story

Boys soccer preview: Previewing the biggest storylines on the pitch

Alabaster Main Story

TMS Dance Team earns first place in Junior High Kick at UDA nationals

Alabaster Main Story

THS dance team, band win third Game Day Live championship

Alabaster Main Story

THS Wind Ensemble delivers evocative performance at AMEA Conference

Calera

Calera police searching for suspect after armed gas station robbery

Alabaster Main Story

Thompson claims victory in tight game with Prattville

280 Main Story

Shelby County outlasts Briarwood to win area title for first time since 2020

Montevallo

Montevallo beats Selma on the road, wins area title in first year as Class 5A

280 Main Story

Chelsea claims area championship for 2nd year in a row

Alabaster Main Story

Wasabi Japanese Sushi and Bar to open Feb. 10