Becker Steps Aside as Tulane Volleyball Coach
Dec 7, 2004 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 7, 2004
NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans native Betsy Becker has resigned her post as Tulane's head volleyball coach after six years and a 109-81 record, but will transition into a fundraising position, Athletic Director Rick Dickson announced Tuesday.
The Louisiana Coach of the Year in 1998 and 2003, Becker said the move into fundraising will allow her to spend more time with her five-year-old son, while presenting new professional challenges.
"I still love coaching and I am leaving with a passion for coaching volleyball," Becker said. "But I'm excited about the new challenges and am very happy for the opportunity to stay here at Tulane, a place that I love. At 24, I started as a head coach, and today I am starting over in a new field as a fundraiser. The rewards may not be as immediate as they are in coaching, but now I have an opportunity to impact 320 student-athletes and not just 12."
Dickson said he welcomed the opportunity to move the energetic Becker into the fundraising arena, where she will work on the goals of the Perpetual Wave Campaign, a $65 million, five-year effort currently in its second year.
"Betsy Becker has been a valuable member of our athletics staff since her arrival at Tulane six years ago, and we appreciate the job she has done building our volleyball program," Dickson said. "I have no doubt that in her new role, she will have even more to contribute to Green Wave Athletics."
Becker has spent the last 10 years as a head coach in the city, as she arrived at Tulane in 1999 after four seasons at the University of New Orleans. Her career record of 187-139 includes a pair of 20-win seasons at Tulane in 2002 (21) and 2003 (25), which marked the first time since the 1986 and 1987 campaigns that the Green Wave won 20 matches in back-to-back seasons.
Becker turned a team that suffered through four consecutive losing seasons prior to her arrival into a squad that made a seven-match improvement in 1999, finished .500 in 2000 and then posted four consecutive winning seasons. In addition, players she coached hold 44 percent of Tulane's single-match records, 33 percent of the single-season records and 37 percent of the school's career marks.
Tulane is coming off a 17-12 campaign in 2004 that saw the Green Wave finish tied for sixth in Conference USA. The university will begin a national search to find Becker's replacement.
-- Roll Wave --
