Haiden Widener, Campus Carrier Sports Editor

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY KATIE O’ROURKE

From player to coach, post-graduation life has treated former volleyball star, Katie O’Rourke, very well. O’Rourke graduated last spring from Berry and decided to stay in Rome, where she was offered a job to teach 4th grade at West Central Elementary School. 

After accepting her teaching position and talking with new Head Coach Caitlyn Moriarty, O’Rourke was offered a volunteer assistant coaching position with the Berry volleyball team. 

“I knew that if I was in Rome I really wanted to help out with Berry volleyball,”she said. 

In her last season as a Viking she won the SAA Player of the Year Award and set the program record for attack percentage. She is ranked in six other program record categories and graduated as one of the most decorated volleyball players in the history of the program.

Even though her coaching job is a volunteer position, she treats it as a paid position and takes it very seriously. She attends every practice and game to help the team improve and spread her love and passion for the game. 

But the transition from player to coach has not been effortless. She said that a major difference between positions is the attitude you have to have. 

“You have to be a lot less emotional [as a coach],”she said. “You need to be really consistent because the girls rely on you to come in every day with a consistent attitude.”

Not only is she transitioning from a player to a coach, but from a student to a teacher as well. In her new elementary math teacher position, she has four class rotations  per day, 112 students total. With so many students comes lots of love, according to O’Rourke. 

“People think teaching is all about the curriculum,”she said. “But really the amount of love you show the kids really makes a difference on how much effort they want to put into your class.”

She said that one of her biggest difficulties has been learning how to balance a full-time job and a new coaching position. Knowing that she will get off of work and be able to spend time with the team she loves is very rewarding, and teaching during the day is just as fulfilling.

 “I am very appreciative of the Berry volleyball program and all of the positivity it brings to these girls’ lives,”she said. 

A few years ago, she admits that she had no plans for her coaching or teaching future, and that, “it just sort of happened.”She credits all of her current success to God.

“It really is funny how God has total control of your life,”she said. “You really don’t know what’s going to happen, but He just takes care of everything.” 

She also had a few words of advice for current Berry students working toward the next step in their lives. 

“If it is something that you want to do, make that a priority in your life,”she said. “You can’t just sit back and wait for it to come to you.”

O’Rourke shows these qualities daily, as her teaching job is very rigorous and still requires hours of work after the school day ends. But she still makes the volleyball team a priority every day. 

She said that she was so excited to coach at Berry because of the core values and positive coach to player relationships in the program.  

“I’ve loved being on the sidelines and seeing what coaches see and seeing that new perspective,” she said. “I love watching the girls bond.”

She and the Vikings will have their next home game against Emory on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.