Legacy 18-Elite’s national championship was a long time coming for Rick Cottrill
The 2019 AAU national championship for Legacy 18-Elite’s Rick Cottrill was a long time coming for the veteran volleyball coach. While the program won a title in 2013, that squad had Rick’s wife Jennifer as the head coach while he…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingThe 2019 AAU national championship for Legacy 18-Elite’s Rick Cottrill was a long time coming for the veteran volleyball coach.
While the program won a title in 2013, that squad had Rick’s wife Jennifer as the head coach while he was the assistant.
In 2016, Rick was the head coach of Legacy 16-Elite, which found itself playing for the AAU 16U National Championship against A5 Mizuno 161. After splitting the first two sets, Legacy looked to have the title within reach with a 14-11 advantage in the third, only to see A5 score the final five points to win 16-14.
“As a coach, you never know if you are going to get back to that point again. In 2016, we lost 16-14 in the third set of the national championship. We were up 14-11 in the third and lost 16-14. To this day, I still haven’t watched that film and haven’t watched that match,” Cottrill said.
The Legacy coach was able to move past that moment last month when Legacy 18-Elite cruised to a two-set win over Mizuno Northern Lights 18-1 in the final.
“I never knew if I would have another opportunity to coach a national championship team. To be able to coach this team and get back to a final, I just really wanted to be in the moment and enjoy the experience with my team. It was awesome for myself, for Jen and for the club to be part of that. Above all else, I was just really happy for the girls,” Cottrill said. “They have to put up with me all season and that’s not easy. We are intense coaches, so I was happy to see them get to experience it all, especially the joy of winning a national championship. I got to get something back that I lost years ago.”
Coming into the 2019 club season, Cottrill knew he was going to have a talented team, but he wasn’t sure just how talented they would ultimately be.
“We knew this was going to be a really good team on paper coming into the season,” Cottrill said. “When you looked at the roster and the talent at every position, you really had to feel good about this team. But, as a coach you know that it doesn’t always work out as you hope. Chemistry is a big part of success and these girls just really took to each other right away. After just two or three weeks of practice, Jen and I knew that this team could be really special. They just played off each other so well and all had a tremendous work ethic.”
Not even Cottrill, himself, could have foreseen Legacy putting up a 72-4 record throughout the year, winning eight of nine events. Aside from earning the top ranking in any 18U national poll, Legacy 18-Elite has an argument for being one of the top teams in club history.
“This is by far the best team I have ever seen,” Cottrill said. “Jen and I have coached some great teams at Legacy, but for me, for this team to have won Triple Crown and AAU Nationals and also winning eight of nine tournaments, speaks for itself.”