Who’s that coach?: Ashley Sutrick

The newest addition to the coaching staff of the Scots volleyball program is a long way from home, but she is quickly settling into the swing of things here in Maryville.

Ashley Sutrick, originally from Abrams, Wis., just north of Green Bay, was added to the coaching staff this past Aug. to work with head coach and athletic director Kandis Schram. Sutrick’s main focus is coaching the middle-hitter position.

She also helps Schram with filming, scouting, stats and practice planning. In the small town of Abrams, Sutrick went to high school at Oconto Falls High School.

After graduating in 2004, she continued her volleyball career in Milwaukee at Cardinal Stritch University, a NAIA division II institution, majoring in Sports Management. In the events after graduating college, Sutrick began her first job at a small racetrack called the Milwaukee Mile. In the fall of 2009, she landed her first job coaching volleyball at Martin Luther High School where she coached for one season, and then began working at a gym called Fitness 19.

Sutrick spent two years working at Fitness 19 until her fiancé, coach Ian Harris of the Scots football team, got transferred to Columbus, Ga., where she got another coaching job as an assistant at Northside High School. Finally, after a good deal of travels and different jobs opening and closing, Sutrick found herself at MC in August of 2012. Sutrick is part-time on the coaching staff at Maryville, but she wants to work at a local gym and eventually start a coaching club in the offseason.

Even though Sutrick is busy with volleyball, she also enjoys doing other activities when she isn’t coaching or game planning. She says on Sundays you can find her watching either her favorite NFL team — the Green Bay Packers — or NASCAR, which would explain the job at a local racetrack right out of college. She also enjoys being outdoors and camping. Her favorite color is yellow; also primary color of her favorite team, the Packers. Her favorite foods are pizza and popcorn.

Sutrick considers herself to be a very confident person, which is something she wants her players to be, as well.

“I am someone that looks at a challenge not as a hard time, but as growing and just finding ways to overcome that challenge,” Sutrick said. She wants the players to see all of the trials she has been through. The one thing Sutrick wants players to take from her is the ability to get past challenges, just like she was able to.

“I am hoping that they can go away from this and also have that ability and to be able to fight for everything they want.,” Sutrick said. “I have come a long way and had a lot of hardships. I definitely had to have fight and overcome challenges. So I am hoping they will be able to look at that and just know they also have that ability if they are strong and independent girls.”

Sutrick is a coach that not only wants to make an impact for the players performance on the court, but she also wants to impact the lives of the players in the competition of life after volleyball is no more.