For a high school athlete who’s concluding his or her senior season, a trident begins to form in the road.

Most people believe only two routes exist: to continue into college or club sports, or to throw in the towel and call it a career.

But a third path beckoned for Julia Barnett, an ACC student: coaching.

Barnett’s life with volleyball stretches further back then her schooling days. As a youth she would watch her older sister play, and once she entered kindergarten her own playing career began. Over most of a 16-year span, Barnett has been a spectator and player.

But she recently took on a new role.

After her playing days passed, her passion for the sport carried her into coaching young girls.

“It’s always exciting to see the girls improve,” Barnett said. “I get the joy of seeing how these girls are learning to understand form and technique and pushing themselves to get better each day. That is what brings me joy.”

Barnett played volleyball at Douglas County High in Castle Rock. After high school, volleyball continued to play a major role in her life. She held private lessons with 13-year-old girls, and began youth coaching.

After a couple years, she seized an opportunity to become her former school’s junior varsity coach. While she was a player, she didn’t have the level of respect for coaches that she has learned to appreciate now that she is a coach herself.

She had always thought her coach’s decisions for sitting her down or punishing her were personal. Through coaching, she has learned that decisions are made solely based on the effort and skill displayed in practice during the week, rather than the common theory of being disliked by coaches. It truly does take one to know one.

Barnett has become an expert at giving feedback to her players through coaching, a skill she can harness and hold onto for the rest of her life.

“In life, it has definitely made me slower to speak,” she said. “Usually I will give a response right away but when coaching, you have to slow down and think about the best way to get your point across. It has taught me to speak kinder as well.”

Barnett also said the role-reversal has humbled her when superiors give constructive criticism.

Albert Einstein once said, “If you can teach it to a 6-year old, then you’ve truly mastered it.”

Barnett said it’s safe to say she has mastered the game of volleyball through coaching.

“It has given me a better understanding of how to explain to the girls what needs to be done so that they can improve their skill,” she said.

Going into this week, her squad is pushing for a .500 record (5-6) — not bad for a coach who’s adjusting to the skill and competition jumps in her first year on the job.

Between coaching, school, and her full-time other job, Barnett acknowledges her schedule can get tricky. She has had to leave class early multiple times in order to get to practice on time.
On game nights, however, she can stay the entire class because games start later than practices.

She has become a wizard at working with her schedule.

“I just make it work,” she said. “I can’t really tell you how I do because there are times that I don’t even know how; but it seems to be working out.”

As the great Bobby Caldwell once sang, “What you won’t do, you do for love.” It is evident that Barnett has had a lifelong passion for volleyball, and she turned that passion into a purpose.