The Road to Rio
Denise Sheldon (SJS ’93, SHP ’97) will serve as Head of Delegation for USA Volleyball As the world gears up to watch the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games with national pride and excitement this August, St. Joseph’s and Prep alumna Denise Sheldon will be living out her dream as the Head of Delegation for USA Volleyball’s women’s national team. The 2012 Sacred Heart Athletics Hall of Fame inductee is headed to her first Olympics with Team USA and will manage all the logistics for the players and coaches, so they can solely focus on game preparation, recovery, and competition. “It’s a thrilling position, as it always feels like you’re making an impact,” she said. “I am excited to attend my first Olympic Games and experience Olympism at an international level firsthand. The goal of Olympism is to ‘place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promote a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.’ “The opportunity to contribute to a more peaceful society free from discrimination through sport is awe-inspiring to me, and it is what motivates me every day in my work.”
(Center, with arm raised) Denise Sheldon (SJS ’93, SHP ’97) celebrates Team USA’s gold medal victory at the 2015 FIVB World Championship.
Sheldon credits her Sacred Heart experience as foundational, not just in volleyball but life.
bolstered by her experiences helping coach St. Joseph’s teams and “interning” for SHP’s Girls’ Athletic Director Dawn Hemm during her time at Sacred Heart.
“I say all the time that I received the best education in the world at Sacred Heart Prep. SHP taught me how to think critically. I learned how to question the world and how to consider details and make decisions that have tremendous impact comfortably. Sacred Heart equipped me even more for the challenges I would face in life and how to navigate those. It’s something that could be really easy to take for granted, but I credit Sacred Heart for a lot of that.”
“I took a job at a brand new Catholic high school in Watsonville that was starting a volleyball program for the first time.” Along with coaching, Sheldon was a school administrator and taught psychology, all while founding a non-profit volleyball club. “That experience taught me a tremendous amount about administration, and I discovered I loved that side of things even more than coaching.”
She fondly remembers the bonds she created not just with her volleyball teammates, but the entire community—citing Spirit Week as one of her favorite memories.
Her passion and goal to expand her reach with the sport she loves guided Sheldon to start coaching USA Volleyball High Performance National Team programs—the program she would eventually take over and currently directs. In this role she works with the top youth and junior national players, helping develop and evaluate the talent for the future of Team USA’s men’s and women’s national teams.
“I have so many incredible memories from my time at Sacred Heart. Winning back-to-back state championships as a volleyball player was a really unique experience and I definitely did not realize at the time what an accomplishment that was. I learned a lot about life from that experience, and about what kind of coach, administrator, and person I want to be. “Some of my most fun memories are from Spirit Week. The students and faculty were so close during my time at Sacred Heart, and those relationships are what made my education at SHP so special.” Following her graduation, Sheldon accepted a scholarship to play volleyball at the University of Nevada and played professionally overseas, before returning stateside to begin her professional coaching career. Her transition from athlete to coach was
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“I set a long-term goal to work for USA Volleyball as the National Governing Body—I had no idea that a position would open up so quickly. I took the job with Team USA in 2011 and quickly fell in love with the nationwide impact I was able to have on the sport of volleyball in the United States.” Since 2014, Sheldon added an additional role with USA Volleyball, working with head women’s national team coach Karch Kiraly as the Head of Delegation at several international tournaments. Since then, Team USA won its first-ever FIVB World Championship in 2015 and will look to carry that success to Rio and accomplish another first—a gold medal in women’s volleyball.