Christine Phillips has found a way to bring volleyball to life and to bring life to volleyball. The ex-UTPA player and coach has done “everything you can imagine and more” around the volleyball sphere.

“Do your passion,” she said. “Don't do things for your parents. Don't do things for your friends. Do things for yourself because things will burnout. You need to do it for you and nobody else.”

That's what the current Director of Beach/Totz/Mini Programs & Social Media at the Texas Advantage Volleyball Club, located in Dallas, said has been one of the biggest lessons she's learned after a 20-year volleyball career.

Phillips' athletic career started at an early age. She practiced soccer her entire life before deciding to focus on volleyball as a junior year at Long Beach Poly High School. She had been playing both sports since middle school, as her older sister was an outstanding soccer player, but her father helped her realize that volleyball was her real passion.

“My dad was the one that really liked soccer, but he was like, 'you miss this too much. Soccer will always be there for you, but you love volleyball, so you should play volleyball,'” she said.

And that's what she did. After graduating high school, Phillips joined the volleyball team at the local college, Long Beach City College, after trying out at several different colleges during the spring semester of her senior year of high school.

During her sophomore year at LBCC, the team made it to the NJCAA National Championship and finished second in the country. That same season, Phillips was selected first team All-American and Most Valuable Player of the South Coast Conference.

Phillips will be inducted into the Long Beach City College Class of Champions on Friday.

After LBCC, Phillips made her way to the Rio Grande Valley and joined the University of Texas-Pan American for the 1997 season.

“It was basically my first trip to Texas, but I loved Texas when I came. It was completely different,” she said. “I loved the area. I loved the people. I really went there just to play, have a good time and enjoy the last two years of my career.”

During her first year at UTPA, Phillips helped the Broncs achieve a 19-15 record, which is still the program's record for most wins in a single season. Phillips was also in the top-20 in the NCAA for service aces for seven weeks and holds the school record in service aces with 10 against Northwestern State.

Phillips earned many honors at UTPA, including several All-Tournament Teams and UTPA Female Athlete of the Year.

After her senior campaign, and while she worked on finishing her Kinesiology degree, Phillips worked as student assistant for the Broncs and did an internship in the UTPA Sports Information Department. Two days after earning her bachelor's degree in the spring of 2000, Phillips was hired as the first volleyball assistant coach in UTPA history.

In 2001, the program tied the record for most wins in a season with 19.

“I was very proud when we tied the record for the most wins since I played on one team and then coached the other,” she said.

Phillips helped organize what was then known as the Lady Bronc Volleyball Camp, which still takes place every summer. During that time, she also helped start the Kaepa Valley Elite Volleyball Club and eventually took over the club for two and a half years.

After five years at UTPA, Phillips returned to LBCC and served as head coach for three years.

In California, she participated in volleyball projects such as the Association of Volleyball Professionals and at the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club before taking a job as Foundation Director at beach volleyball gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana's Digs 4 Kids foundation.

Two and a half years later, Phillips and 2004 and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Misty May-Treanor started doing clinics around the United States with a project called M2. The M2 volleyball clinics are currently on hold until after May-Treanor returns from this year's Summer Olympics in London.

At Texas Advantage Volleyball, Phillips is the beach director, the tops director, the mini director, the social media director, and coaches the 12-blue and 15-blue teams.

“Once M2 starts again, I will be taking a little bit more of a back seat in the coaching area and start travelling with Misty again,” Phillips said.

YOUTH PASSION

Throughout her career, Phillips has worked on cultivating volleyball in young athletes by trying to inspire love for the game in children, and help them understand that passion for the sport is what drives good results.

“The youth is the next generation,” Phillips said. “They're the ones that are going to carry on legacies. You can instill a passion in these kids and teach them fundamentals and let them have fun at the same time. I love kids because of their passion. They want to be there. They want to learn. They want to know everything about you. They want to be part of your life. They want you to care.”

For that reason, Phillips and her “kids,” as she calls the children she has coached, develop long-lasting relationships that go beyond the court. She becomes a mentor and enjoys seeing them succeed in volleyball and in real life.

“It's amazing. Some of my kids from the Valley are married. Some of them have kids and are doing jobs all over Texas and all over this country,” she said. “It's a nice connection.”

One of those long-lasting relationships was created with outside hitter Michelle McNamee, a graduate from LD Bell High School in Colleyville, Texas. McNamee recently completed her freshman season at UTPA.

“I met Christine at a Volleyball camp that TAV was hosting, she was working on the court with a group of us and the seniors had to wear what college they were going to attend,” McNamee said. “I had UTPA on my tag, and I was doing really badly that day, so she pulled me aside and she said 'C'mon! I know you can do it.'”

After that 2011 camp, McNamee and Phillips got to know each other a little better. The coach told McNamee that she was going to be a coach in a sand program and invited her to join.

McNamee had never done it before, but she decided to give it a try. That summer, McNamee won the USA Junior Beach Tour Texas Open with partner Tadam Mergener.

McNamee described Phillips as an “awesome” coach, making an emphasis on her positive energy and the way she approaches the athlete with constructive criticism that motivates the player to fix the issue and perform better.

ABOVE AND BEYOND

But it's Phillips' life off the court that makes her very special for the players and the volleyball community.

“Besides on the court, off the court she is amazing. She's not only an amazing coach, but she is a really good friend,” McNamee said. “I think that's why a lot of people like her, because she's really nice.”

Although she was an outstanding volleyball player, Phillips said that having the opportunity to be a sports information intern and an assistant coach at UTPA helped her realize that there was more to volleyball than just playing.

“I love to take the back seat of it. Sometimes I forget I play. I really don't think about it,” she said. “On the court was great, but it's just a part of the puzzle. There's more to life than playing volleyball, but you can still play volleyball and get through the life.”

And UTPA is definitely a piece of Phillips' extensive volleyball puzzle. According to her, doing an internship that allowed her to learn to write, research, and promote, as well as being an assistant coach and making connections with people who have the same interest in volleyball as her, made UTPA the catalyst to becoming the professional she is today.

“UTPA is such an important part of my journey,” she said. “It was a very crucial part and I would not be who I am today if I did not go to Pan Am.”

For a younger player like McNamee, seeing Phillips succeed off the court ignites the hope that she can make volleyball part of her life after graduation.

“I know she loves the game,” McNamee said. “She loves it so much that she's still in the community helping. I look at her and she really loves the game, and it makes me think that, in the future, I hope I can continue volleyball some way in my life, even if I don't play.”

The key, Phillips said, is to never give up and to find your passion. Stick to it and enjoy the ride.

“Don't give up. Don't ever give up. You never know what the future holds. Look at your options. Just because you're not being recruited by UCLA or Texas doesn't mean there isn't a place for you to play that fits for you,” she said. “Because it's not all about volleyball. If you get hurt you still have go to school, so enjoy where you go.”