Belle Volleyball Camps
Head Coach
Chuck Waddington | Head Coach
Waddington, who will begin his 15th season as head coach in 2022, has guided the Belles to ten-straight NCAA South Central Regional Tournaments and a historic run to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2016. In that time, the Belles have won four regular-season LSC Titles and four LSC Tournament Championships. He’s been named the LSC Coach of the Year five times and has helped 20 players earn AVCA All-American status. He also guided Meghan Parker to the program's first AVCA National Freshman of the Year award. He owns a career 343-111 record as head coach of the Belles, good enough for a .756 winning percentage.
He has accumulated 343 overall wins, 190 Lone Star Conference victories, 14 straight LSC Tournament appearances, and multiple All-Conference and All-Region performers. “I think we are progressing in the direction to be a national contender every year,” said Waddington, who is ASU’s fifth head coach since the program was started in 1976. “We are a program approaching the level where we will be competing for national championships year in and year out. We want to start moving up the national ladder and become a consistent program always in the top-10 and competing for that top spot.”
In the 2021 season, the Belles went 24-5 overall, winning the LSC regular-season championship with a 16-1 record in LSC play. Three Belles – Kailyn Gilbreat, Baleigh Allen, and Sophia Berg – earned conference superlative awards, with Gilbreath being named the conference’s player of the year and offensive player of the year, while Allen was the LSC Defensive Player of the Year, and Berg was the academic player of the year. All three would earn AVCA All-American honors, while Berg was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-American.
In the shortened Spring 2021 season, the Belles won their division of the LSC with a 10-2 mark and eventually won the LSC Tournament with wins over Midwestern State, Texas A&M-Kingsville, and UT-Tyler. They then went on to win the AVCA DII National Championship and finish the season as the top-ranked team in the country.
Previous to his success in San Angelo, Waddington spent five years as the assistant coach at Florida Southern College. He helped guide the Moccasins to five-straight NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances and a top-five national ranking.
ASU reached its first NCAA Tournament with Waddington at the helm in 2011 – an accomplishment the program had not experienced in 19 seasons. The Belles beat St. Edward’s at the South Central Regional (in Warrensburg, Mo.) for its first national tournament win in 20 seasons. They have advanced to the LSC tournament every year since he arrived in San Angelo.
Angelo State has consistently improved and excelled in conference play under Waddington. The team went 8-5 in LSC play in his first year in 2008, 10-3 in his second year, 12-2 in 2010, 17-3 in 2012, and 14-2 in 2015. The team has consistently competed for both LSC and NCAA Regional titles since 2011.
“I want our success to be looked at as business as usual but also for it to be remembered as an enjoyable time,” Waddington said. “That’s the approach I have to winning in the postseason and want our program’s mentality to be. We will never lower our expectations because we are afraid we can’t achieve something. We’re just going to work that much harder to achieve it.”
Waddington began his coaching career with a one-year stint at Fulton-Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, N.Y., before serving six years as the head coach at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, FL. During his tenure at BVHS, the volleyball team went 127-58, claimed five district titles, advanced to the Class 3A semifinals, and he earned the district’s coach of the year all six seasons.
It was from Bishop Verot that Waddington took his coaching passion to Florida Southern. The Moccasins were 136-44 during the five years the Belles’ head coach was there. He mentored 20 All-Sunshine State Conference honorees, 15 all-region selections, 10 All-Americans, and six academic all-district performers.
Also an experienced club volleyball coach, Waddington coached Junior Olympic Club Volleyball for six years in the Fort Myers area and was the club director for the Lakeland Area Volleyball Association in Lakeland, Fla. In the summers of 2006 and 2007, he was involved with the Team Florida USA Volleyball High Performance Program, coaching some of the top players in Florida.
Waddington is an accomplished volleyball player both indoors and on the beach. His indoor teams have finished as high as 11th in the USA Volleyball Open National Championships. He has won several AA and open levels tournaments on the beach, including a co-ed 4’s national championship in the mid-1990s. In 2006, Waddington was named the USAV Florida Region Outstanding Adult Male Player, fueled by an attitude he strives to instill in his teams.
“I would like my players to learn that the pursuit of excellence is not just something that happens in the gym,” Waddington said. “It carries over into everything that they do. I want them to understand the importance and challenges of building and maintaining relationships with their family and friends. I would also want my players to leave with a sense of self-confidence to help them achieve whatever goals they may set for themselves.”
During the offseason, Waddington serves as the director for the Belles Volleyball Camps, which runs the first week in June and the final week in July. The camps are for aspiring volleyball players ages 9-17 and provide instruction to all skill levels.
Waddington uses everything as motivation – from the challenge of coaching at Fulton-Montgomery, where two of his seven players had never played before – to feeling the disappointment of the Belles falling short by just two points in the NCAA DII regional final in 2015.
Blending those past challenges and successes comprise Waddington’s coaching philosophy and the rising program he is guiding at Angelo State.
“I want our kids to work hard, be disciplined and have fun,” Waddington said. “As much as I take a business approach to coaching, it is important that our players are happy and enjoying playing volleyball while here at Angelo State. We work hard every day but also enjoy what we do daily.”
A native of Johnstown, N.Y., Waddington earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) in 1993. He added his master’s degree in education from Florida Southern in 2006.
Waddington and his wife, Mandi, have two daughters, Bailey (23), who played volleyball for Division I Central Arkansas University, Riley (9), as well as one son, Jaxsen (16).
