Sand volleyball’s Laurel Weaver attends forum to foster coaching career

Laurel Weaver is still undecided about what a future playing volleyball will entail – whether it’ll be spent touring through different indoor courts in Europe or playing on the beaches of California.

What the sophomore UCLA sand volleyball player is certain about, however, is that she wants to make it a point to give back to the sport of volleyball.

Weaver is a student-­athlete participant at this year’s NCAA Career in Sports Forum – a four-day event open to all student-athletes in NCAA member institutes. The Bruin representative said she will be using this opportunity to cultivate skills that will help her contribute to her sport.

“I was really taken under the wing by a lot of volleyball figures, so I think it’s just really important,” Weaver said. “And that’s what I’m hoping to do with this trip: Learn how to use sports as a platform to reach out to people.”

Weaver was first introduced to the annual forum by Ric Coy, associate director of academic and student services for UCLA Athletics, who sent student-athletes an email asking interested student­-athletes to meet with him personally. It was there that Weaver, who transferred to UCLA earlier in the year, made a big impression.

“Sometimes with transfers, it takes them a while to acclimate,” Coy said. “I always forget that with her, because she just hit the ground running. She absolutely acclimated well – she takes charge. She has a pretty good vision of what it is she wants to do, and she was very excited to see her not only apply for it but be accepted for it.”

After receiving Coy’s nomination, the transfer student from Nova Southeastern University had to fill in an application with questions regarding the role of sports in society in order to vie for a spot at the June 4­-7 conference in Indiana.

“It’s an opportunity for people to come together, but most of all it’s an opportunity for kids who wouldn’t necessarily have the opportunity to go to college,” Weaver said. “Or even just to keep them off the streets or out of trouble. It’s an opportunity for them to channel their energy toward something positive.”

Although the NCAA’s Career in Sports Forum caters to a wide variety of professional aspirations within the sporting world, Kyle Leach, the assistant director of NCAA leadership development, said the forum will give participants a chance to chart career paths as well as learn from professionals in the sporting world and network.

But for a student­-athlete participant like Weaver, whose aim is to develop a coaching career, the forum introduces specific concepts, such as different behavioral styles.

“What we try and do is have them go through an assessment of themselves. Everyone has a different learning style,” Leach said. “Identify yourself, then identify ways of communicating with different personalities that are existent in sports and in life.”

At this point of her career, Weaver manages to give back to the volleyball community by spending her Sundays volunteering at Elite Volleyball Club in the San Fernando Valley, organizing clinics or providing guest coaching.

Weaver said she hopes to expand her coaching role once she graduates. She plans to increase the number of hours she spends coaching at either UCLA or another location in Southern California in order to supplement a professional career.

But for now, she’ll continue to inspire her contingent of new UCLA fans at the Elite Volleyball Club over the weekends.

“Everyone has at least one UCLA (clothing) item when I go coach,” she said. “It’s awesome.”