Championships. They aren’t the end all, be all for high school players and coaches. Plenty of great athletes and those who coach them never win a title of any kind. Then there are few fortunate souls who seem to be title magnets. They win no matter where they are, no matter what they do. Calvary Christian head volleyball coach Cassia Roper is one of those individuals. During her playing career, she won three state championships and one national title. As a coach, she has won a fourth state title and finished runner-up three times.
That’s not a bad resume, especially considering that Roper isn’t even a full-time volleyball coach. Her daytime job? She’s a cosmetologist at a local salon. Her resume is impressive for a coach who has been in the sport for 20 or 30 years. But for a part-time coach who works as a cosmetologist – you’ve got to be kidding, right?
Coach Roper grew up in Columbus. For her first three years of high school, she attended Christian Heritage Academy, where she had the privilege of playing with three of her four sisters. While at CHA, she picked up two state titles and a national championship. Her senior year, she moved to Calvary Christian School, where she helped guide her new team to a state championship.
Coach Roper received a scholarship to play volleyball at Queens University in Charlotte. During her club season before she reported to college, she blew out her knee and was unable to continue her career. Instead, she opted to attend Auburn University, where she began coaching at Calvary Christian School. After three years at Auburn, she transferred to Columbus State to be closer to her volleyball team. Roper graduated from CSU in December with a degree in English literature. She is about to begin working on her master’s degree and she hopes to one day teach. At the moment, though, she is working at a local salon and coaching the Calvary Christian volleyball team, something she has done for the last six years (two as an assistant, four as head coach).
The key to Calvary Christian’s consistent success is, according to Roper, the work ethic of the kids in the program. “We don’t have the tallest or fastest kids out there. But our kids want to work. Almost all of them play club ball and are on the court year ‘round. That’s really benefitted the program,” she says. Calvary Christian won its last state title in 2011. In 2010, 2012, and 2014, the team finished runner-up in the state. At the time of this writing, Calvary Christian was 9-3 and competing favorably with the other teams in the region. “I feel like that, as much as our girls push themselves, we will have a chance at the end of the season. Our team is young but driven. We’re going to have a shot,” she says.
Over the years, Coach Roper’s approach to coaching has changed. Of course winning is definitely a goal but that’s not necessarily what she stresses. Instead, Roper approaches her craft with a point of view that she learned from former Auburn volleyball coach Liz Underwood. “I heard her say something two years ago. She said that coaching is about teaching the kids to compete at their best and to perform on the court. I tell them that I want them to go out there and play their best and give it everything they have. If they can walk off the court satisfied with how they played, I’m OK with that win or lose. But if they go out there and play as hard as they can, the wins will take care of themselves,” she says.
As for what the future holds, Coach Roper takes things year by year. Given her work and class schedule, everything is up in the air and subject to change at any minute. However, she loves being at Calvary Christian and would like to stay for there for as long as possible. “It’s like a family here. They welcomed me as a senior and they’ve done the same thing for me as a coach. I’m not at all opposed to staying here at all,” she says.
Coach’s Corner/Columbus Valley/October 2015
Cassia Roper
Calvary Christian School
Phenix City, Alabama
Robert Preston Jr.
Calvary Christian volleyball coach has championship resume as player and coach
