Shelby Martin-Parker holding state champion trophy

Shelby Martin-Parker Coaches Team to North Carolina State Volleyball Title

Former UCLA volleyball star serves as Asst. Director for Triangle Volleyball Club

Less than a year after helping the UCLA women’s volleyball team to an NCAA playoff berth and a pair of postseason victories – ‘22 UCLA Transformative Coaching and Leadership (TCL) program graduate Shelby Martin-Parker found herself back in the championship swing…

Serving as an assistant coach for the varsity girls volleyball program at Millbrook High School (Raleigh, NC) this past academic year, Parker’s Wildcat team compiled an eye-popping 28-1 record en route to the North Carolina State 4A title match, a contest Millbrook won in straight sets (25-21, 25-14, 25-12) over regional powerhouse Sun Valley (Monroe, NC).

It was the school’s first State Championship appearance since 1995.

“It was definitely an adjustment from being a player at the highest collegiate level, to coaching junior varsity in high school, not even a year apart, Martin-Parker says. “I struggled at the beginning of the season with how to plan and progressively develop the players as individuals and as a team.”

As Milbrook’s season progressed, the UCLA TCL alum found herself re-reading the writings of John Wooden: “It gave me peace of mind as I remembered what success looks like,” Parker explains. “I also had to learn to give myself grace since it was my first year and I still have a lot left to learn. 

The Dallas native points towards a relationship-based approach to her coaching as the foundation for her team’s success.

“Teaching the fundamentals of volleyball is just one, small aspect of coaching,” she says. “The culture of the team determines everything. 

“Culture and attitude means even more than I imagined as a player and I now understand why Wooden emphasized these intangible attributes– they infiltrate every aspect.”

UCLA graduate Shelby Martin helped guide the Millbrook High girls volleyball team to a North Carolina State Championship this past year. Courtesy photo

Martin-Parker, who earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Criminology at Kansas State University is currently Assistant Director for Triangle Volleyball Club (TVC) in Morrisville, NC. She is also the head volleyball coach of Triangle’s Junior Girls 15U National Team. The Triangle program serves over 300 youth athletes in the greater-Raleigh area, hosting regular camps and clinics as well as regional junior volleyball tournaments each weekend. 

“I’m very fortunate that I’m able to apply what I learned in my TCL studies to my coaching on a daily basis,” Martin-Parker says. “But the lessons you learn via transformative leadership are applicable in everyday life. Learn from your professors, read your books, and absorb all the information you learn, it will all truly lead to success.”

While an athlete at UCLA, Parker received Pac-12 Honorable Mention and AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention honors after leading the Bruins with 1,199 assists and ranking fourth in the Pac-12 with 10.52 assists per set in 2021. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, Heath.

Learn more about UCLA’s Transformative Coaching and Leadership Master of Education program.