Sharlene Ramsey, the volleyball coach of Smoky Valley, was chosen as the Salina Regional Coach of the Month for October. The Vikings are one of the top teams in Class 3A this season.

“First of all, we are so blessed to be with so many outstanding young ladies each day,” Ramsey said. “They care about each other, they push each other and they also want to hold each other accountable.  In addition, their level of volleyball IQ is phenomenal and it makes it so fun as a coach to explore options and figure out game strategy.”

Ramsey has been the head coach at Smoky Valley for four years, but has coached previously at Salina Central in the 1990’s. Once she and her husband decided to start a family, Ramsey got out of coaching for a period. She is also the principal of Smoky Valley Virtual Charter School.

“I think coaches have a tremendous opportunity to impact players in ways beyond the court experience,” Ramsey said. “While I know our job is to produce a competitive team, I think our biggest job is to help these young ladies be better people, better friends, better teammates than what they were before they joined the team.”

While the Vikings have had a successful season, Ramsey acknowledged the 2020 season has had its share of challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think probably every coach would tell you this year that the most challenging aspect has been the unknowns,” Ramsey said. “We try to look just at the week ahead of us, knowing that at any time, we could be in quarantine.  We try to remind our girls to celebrate every opportunity we have to compete since we don’t know what the next day may bring and we want to make sure we have no regrets.”