By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Angelica Rivera is no stranger to coaching, but her ascension to head coach of the Del Rio Queens volleyball team isn’t about wins or losses, but more about changing the culture in the program.
The Queens, who earned their 11th win of the season Tuesday night, have struggled in recent seasons. They haven’t reached the playoffs since 2017. Last season, the team notched just one district win.
After former head coach Elo Valdez stepped down, the school district advertised the vacancy but did not receive any applicants. Athletic Director Frenchey McCrea Jr. reached out to Rivera in January about accepting the position, but she declined. However, she asked if they would discuss the matter in the spring, giving the position more time to find applicants.
In May the two revisited the idea. Rivera was already serving as the middle school’s female athletics coordinator and knew that the new role would mean leaving the campus she’d called home for her career for the high school and a new, albeit familiar position.
“I asked him, ‘Why me?’ He said he wanted someone who could bring a positive change to the program. He was looking for someone to change the mentality of the girls in the program and help boost their self-esteem. What made me want this job was that all these girls were mine at one time at the middle school. I felt that helping to change things would be easier because these girls would know what my goals were and I knew what my expectations of them were,” Rivera said. “I have no regrets about taking this job. All of these girls have been super supportive.”
Rivera is a product of Del Rio High School. She played volleyball, basketball, softball and competed in track and field for the school. After graduation in 2003, she played two years of softball at Ranger Junior College before transferring to Texas College and playing two more years there.
She returned home in 2009 and went to work for the school district as a seventh grade physical education teacher. In 2013 she was named the female athletics coordinator at the middle school where she oversaw the girls’ basketball, volleyball and track and field programs. She’s also served as the eighth grade head girls basketball coach and has been an assistant for the Queens softball team.
Changing the culture for the volleyball program didn’t start on the court, but in the lockerroom. She and members of the team and their parents helped organize a bake sale fundraiser and used that money to renovate the lockerroom.
“My biggest idea in regards to girls sports is that it’s a sisterhood. Yes, sisters fight, but they fix it and love each other. That’s what I wanted the lockerroom to reflect. So we posted the word ‘sisterhood’ in big letters and filled the place with lots of positive messaging,” Rivera said. “We just got our first shirts in and they carry my motto – ‘Be the Change.’ That’s not just an idea for volleyball, but I want these girls to understand that they should try and be the change in someone’s life. I want them to do something for someone that they will always remember for you helping them out.”
Those lessons off the court are having an effect on the team on the court. Rivera said the players’ confidence in one another has increased and there is no longer that appearance that one loss means the end of the match.
“These girls are fighting to the last point. In San Angelo, we were down 24-18 to Plainview and we came back to win, 26-24,” Rivera said. “They’re giving 110 percent effort. They know you can’t have five girls laying out for the ball and not have one making the effort and that has been working.”
The Queens made their home debut Tuesday night and swept Crystal City in three games. Rivera said the excitement leading up to the first home match of the season built every week since the team began practicing. She added that the dynamic of having an equal number of juniors and seniors on the roster has helped build a stronger bond because the girls don’t separate themselves based on which class they’re a part of, but rather work to motivate and lift each other up.
“You can already see a difference in their attitude. When one girl is not on she’ll gladly step aside for someone else that can help the team. They’re perfectly okay supporting each other. That shows their maturity level this early in the season. They’re all in it for the same reason. I can coach them all I want, but they know it’s up to them on the court. They want that playoff visit, but they know that’s on them and that pushes them to be better,” Rivera said.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
