She gets up at 5:30 a.m., drives 30 minutes to school and teaches for seven hours, but that doesn’t stop her from coaching volleyball. Lauren Sanders is succeeding Wendy Mabon as the new 2022 Junior Varsity and Varsity volleyball coach. Sanders was previously the head coach at Carrollton High School for two years. Sanders learned coaching strategies during her time at Carrollton.
“Those two years at Carrollton definitely helped me get the administration role and figure out what I need to do parent-wise,” Sanders’ said.
Sanders has a lot of experience with volleyball, she was a four-year starter for the LaGrange Volleyball Program and a team captain for three years. Sanders enjoys seeing her students learn throughout their years of high school.
“Seeing them grow, especially academically and on the courts as well. Just because you see them as a freshman up to their senior year,” Sanders said.
Sanders put time into her team, she was named Region Coach of the Year by her peers. The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association also named her Region Coach of the Year. Sanders currently ranks as the fouth all-time for most career assists for the Panthers. Sanders hopes her students take what they are given and become better athletes with the skills they learn from her.
”So it’s just an amazing thing, how much they can grow in just the short amount of time you’re with them for four years. So that’s probably the best thing about coaching student-athletes,” Sanders said.
She was named Region Coach of the year by The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association and by her peers. Sanders is a new coach this year being a first-year coach all over again can be a challenging experience. Sanders pushes her girls more and expects more from them to make them better student-athletes. The girls have been very accepting of Sanders and good at welcoming her to the team.
“So that is challenging, just seeing how the girls were with Mabon and trying to live up to the expectation, The McIntosh expectation,” Sanders said.
Sanders is an off-campus coach. She is a fourth-grade teacher at North Fayette Elementary School. Every day there is a practice she drives to McIntosh.
“Not being able to see the kids in a classroom setting and not being able to be here, figuring out if you know, if they are getting into trouble, keeping up with their grades is definitely tough just because I’m not here,” Sanders said.
She hopes the players will take on challenges and will succeed to the best of their ability. She really hopes they become better people and better players because of this team.
“We are a talented team. We’re a very gifted team, but the leadership roles have been difficult this year. Just because we have six seniors and that’s hard,” Sanders said.