Mary Down’s impact on the sport of volleyball can be measured by the number of deep state tournament runs taken by her Atherton teams in the 1980s.
While she has an impressive resume in that regard, a better barometer might be her impact on the coaching profession.
Nine of her former players became head coaches, with two of them taking Atherton to the state Class C championship game after her retirement in 1986-87. Tracey Berry, a 1976 Atherton graduate, coached Atherton to the 1993 state title. Shannon (Voss) Cumming, a star on Atherton’s 1983 state championship team, coached the Wolverines to the 2000 finals.
“We always had so much fun winning, for one thing, but so much fun just learning the new sport,” Down said. “I was surprised that so many did get into coaching. I knew some were, but I was surprised so many girls did get into it, and some of them in our own conference.”
Others coached by Down who were in uenced to get into coaching were Colleen Colles, Teresa Barnett, Janelle (Beal) Stewart, Nikki (Jackson) Young, Richelle Rhoden, Kate (Baumbach) Kimball and Ashleigh Foutch.
“Mary Down played a signi cant role in my decisions to play collegiate volleyball, to attend graduate school and to become a collegiate volleyball coach,” said Colles, a member of the 1983 state championship team who coached in Colorado. “The lessons I learned playing for coach Down have guided me throughout my life. She was a great teacher and a wonderful role model. I hope, as a college professor, that I too can inspire a few young people to work hard and achieve their dreams.”
With volleyball in its infancy as a high school sport when Down became head coach in 1974-75, Atherton was on an accelerated pace as the skill level elsewhere in the state slowly improved to what it is today. It helped that the Wolverines were learning the game from someone who had been coaching volleyball since 1960.
“Oh, my goodness, I have such wonderful memories of working with the girls,” Down said. “It was just wonderful to work with these girls and teach them something new and help them to just love the game. I love it so much, because I’d been playing it myself. I wanted them to love it like I did; it just happened.
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