By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Getting the opportunity to come home to Hayden as a school counselor wasa dream come true for Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy.
Corrinne (Stringer) McGreevy, who helped lead Hayden to its first Class 4A state volleyball championship in 2007, has been named the Wildcats' head coach. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
And now the 2008 Hayden graduate will get the chance to guide the Wildcat volleyball program she starred in, which is icing on the cake.
"I love being a school counselor,'' McGreevy said. "I love this job so much, I can't say that enough, but now that I get to coach on top of that, too, and be a part of the game I love is just so exciting for me.''
McGreevy led Hayden to its first Class 4A state championship as a senior in 2007 after a pair of third-place state finishes and went on to play college volleyball at Kansas, Pittsburg State and Washburn.
McGreevy was coached her final three seasons in high school by Jesica Farmer-Walter and Carrie Schmidt and said the two coaches strongly encouraged to take on the coaching role.
"One hundred percent,'' McGreevy said. "They've been so positive and uplifting with it and they really encouraged me to take it. They just kept telling me all these positive things, how I could really make an impact on these girls, and they talked about how I know what it takes to win a state title and because I went here they said, 'It would be a great fit for you.' ''
McGreevy said that she's known for a long time that she wanted to coach someday.
"Absolutely, because I love the game,'' she said. "Just being around it and being immersed in it is just so awesome for me, so I always knew that I wanted to coach.
"I come from a family of coaches and just growing up around sports, I may not be able to play the game anymore but what better way to be in it than coaching. I just love being around the game of volleyball. I'm very passionate about it.''
McGreevy's uncle, Tom Stringer, is a Hayden coaching legend, leading the Wildcats to a pair of undefeated 4A football state championships, while her husband, TJ, is the head baseball coach at Topeka West after being a multi-sport star at Hayden and a standout pitcher at Wichita State.
Corrinne and TJ, a physical education teacher at Robinson Middle School, are the parents of sons Tate (7 years old), Tyson (6) and Tucker (4) and a daughter, CJ, will turn two in less than a month.
Corrinne said she went back and forth on whether or not to accept the Hayden coaching position and it was TJ who finally convinced her that the couple could handle the added responsibilities of her coaching career.
"It's going to be a new role for dad,'' Corrinne joked. "He was so supportive of it, he's excited for me. He loves the Hayden community, too, and TJ knows how much I love volleyball and he loves coaching and he was like, 'You've got to try it.'
"Being a wife and mother is first to me, but he was the one that was finally like, 'Corrinne, you have to do this. It's your calling and you love the game of volleyball so I think you can do this. We're going to manage and I'll be playing more daddy daycare now.' ''
