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Coach Chris Sheppard put Williamstown volleyball on the map

He won his 400th game as a head coach just last week and wanted to make sure everyone remembered what they had accomplished together.

Coach Chris Sheppard with his Williamstown volleyball team at a match against Shawnee.
Coach Chris Sheppard with his Williamstown volleyball team at a match against Shawnee.Read moreKAIT MOORE

It was nothing too extravagant or urgent. It was a simple thank-you.

Chris Sheppard was the creator of a group text that went to 180 former players and parents who have been through the Williamstown volleyball program since 1998. That was when he took the job. He won his 400th game as a head coach just last week and wanted to make sure everyone remembered what they had accomplished together.

"I let them know, 'Hey, even though you're probably not thinking about Williamstown volleyball anymore since you're a 35-year-old mom and you're dragging your kids home, you're still in my mind since I was the guy that was here to start,' " Sheppard said.

It wasn't always volleyball that Sheppard pursued. A part-time physical education teacher and part-time bartender at one time, he wanted to secure a full-time teaching job at his former high school. It wasn't easy.

"In February [of 1998], I quit my bartending job, because I wanted to volunteer here as a coach," Sheppard said. "I played soccer, baseball and tennis here. Baseball is my passion, and I wanted to volunteer for our baseball team. I went to our freshman coach at the time [Bill Hunt], and he's, like, 'Shep, not that I don't want you, but I already got a guy to help. But, check with the [junior varsity] coach.' So, I went to the JV coach, who was, like, two years older than me, and he had two guys already."

Sheppard then went to the varsity softball coach at the time, who had his own volunteer. He finally caught a break after Karen Dilmore, then the junior varsity coach for softball, wanted Sheppard to join as an extra set of eyes. He joined, opening up a whole new world in a sense.

"I never thought I'd coach girls' sports because I played guys' sports," Sheppard said. "So, it opened my eyes. These girls work just as hard as I ever did in any of my high school practices."

Sheppard's goal stayed the same: get that full-time job. Near the end of the softball season, he was told by the athletic director at the time, Roy Fennimore, that the Monroe Township Board of Education approved a girls' volleyball team in the spring of 1998. Not knowing much about the sport besides playing some intramural in college and in the backyard with his friends, Sheppard knew this was the only way of him becoming a full-time teacher.

"I told [Fennimore] I don't want to do a disservice to the kids," Sheppard said. "I said, 'Listen, I'll put 100 percent into this, but if there's someone more qualified, I don't want to screw the kids.' [Fennimore] says, 'Maybe you're not understanding. Our board has approved it, and nobody [else] has come to us.' "

Sheppard had hopes of a soccer or baseball position opening up sometime. But by then, both the boys' and girls' volleyball teams had been doing so well that the available positions weren't a thought anymore.

Now, 20 years later, Sheppard has brought three state titles and 15 first-place finishes in the conference to Williamstown for the girls. They are ranked No. 14 in the state and stand at 19-4.

"To me, we call the Williamstown Braves family," said Sheppard. "It's not about me. It's about expanding to the kids and families and everyone who comes through here."