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Springwood’s volleyball program has hired its second head coach this summer after their first hire decided to take a job elsewhere. The former Point University athlete is preparing to lead Springwood’s volleyball program into their inaugural season. 

Earlier in the summer, Springwood hired a new volleyball coach to take over the program. That coach ended up leaving to take a job in a different school system.

About a month ago, Springwood hired Linda Schiller to be its new volleyball coach. Schiller recently graduated from Point University, and she had been an integral part of their volleyball team for the past two seasons. 

Originally from Germany, Schiller has played in 26 matches for Point’s volleyball team over the past two seasons. Now, this late in the summer Schiller will look to revitalize a brand new program at Springwood. 

Schiller currently has around 15 girls showing up to practice. That’s up a good bit from the six girls that were initially interested. Despite the challenges of building a new team right before the season, Schiller has still enjoyed the process. 

“It’s been fun actually,” Schiller said. “It’s been really fun. Every day [a] new girl comes by, and she’s like ‘hey I have a friend, she’s trying to play volleyball can she come?’ Then, obviously we let her in and let them try out, and then just everyone gets together and plays volleyball.” 

Schiller began playing volleyball when she was in third grade. She lived in Germany up until she moved to the United States two years ago to play for Point University. 

Many of the volleyball players are learning to play the game for the first time. 

Schiller may not share that experience, but she did have to learn how to live in a whole new country and culture. The hardest part of all that for her was the weather differences. 

“It was very hot because I’m not used to the Georgia weather,” Schiller said. “Obviously, coming from Germany, it’s never getting that hot back home and that humid. So, I’m glad I was playing an indoor sport.” 

According to Schiller, adjusting to the food we have in America was different.  Mac and cheese and fried chicken was not something she encountered in Germany. The support of her teammates at Point made the adjustments more enjoyable. 

Now, Schiller is relying on the support of Springwood’s administration to make her first experience as a head coach more enjoyable. 

“Oh, they’re great,” Schiller said. “I remember when I went to HR and got my paperwork done and all of that everyone was, ‘oh you’re the new volleyball coach, we’re so excited for the program.’ I feel like it’s a really cool community at Springwood, and they’re all super welcoming.” 

Schiller understands that adding a new sport to the program could take away from some of the other sports. She noted that Lisa Sampson, the boys and girls basketball coach, has already shown her support. 

Being so young could be seen as a disadvantage to some people, but Schiller believes that her recent college playing experience will help her as a coach. 

“I definitely know where the players want to go to, and what they’re trying to achieve,” Schiller said. 

According to Schiller, the passion for volleyball was much greater at Point University than it was while she was in Germany. She also believes that she sees that same enthusiasm in her current players. 

“They’re really like as passionate basically as the college girls I just played with,” Schiller said. 

Many of the girls have not played volleyball before. The first thing that Schiller is working on is teaching the girls how to serve. The players have learned quickly, and many other aspects of the game has come naturally for them.