It started at a volleyball camp in the summer of 2022. It was an athletic skills camp where kids learned the ins and outs of volleyball and worked with experienced players. Courtney Gorum and Mallory Stone, two former UW-Madison players, coached together at a Badgers camp, teaching middle schoolers.
Stone had recently begun coaching volleyball at Madison College and approached Gorum with an idea.
“I was looking for an assistant coach. I asked her what she was doing because I knew Courtney wasn’t playing. She was interested, and we pulled her along here.”
In the fall of last year, they started coaching for the WolfPack women’s volleyball team — Stone as the head coach and Gorum as an assistant.
Taking the job three weeks before the season, Stone’s first year posed a few challenges, with four incoming players but no returners.
Without enough players during the practice sessions, both coaches filled in during drills, repetitions or as players. Gorum fit right in with the other players, blending well as a teammate and a leader.
Under Stone’s coaching debut, the WolfPack was impressive. The coach and her team made confident strides with the program’s first 20-win season since 2017, finishing with a 20-12 record.
Seeing how well Gorum played with the team, Stone developed the idea of Gorum’s possible volleyball return. But it was more of a bantering joke. Eventually, the imagined scenario became more of a possibility.
Stone started researching any playing eligibility for Gorum. As it turns out, eligibility was not an issue.
Because Gorum had never played for various reasons — being redshirted, undergoing COVID-19 and medically retiring, she had plenty of eligibility left. However, the qualification did not fall under the Division 1 NCAA umbrella, as her eligibility clock for Division I has run out.
The good news was she had plenty of time left with the NJCAA level, where she is allowed two years to play.
“I was like, I’ll do it — if it’s legal, why not? Coaching here made me miss it [playing].”
As an athlete, Gorum is also a student, taking courses in the Addiction Studies certificate program, enhancing the psychology degree she earned at UW-Madison.
Being away from the game since 2020 posed few challenges for Gorum. Already in shape, as a former athlete, she returned to the rigorous volleyball conditioning and training she learned from the Badgers.
Complementing her conditioning, Gorum’s muscle memory from volleyball helped launch her return.
Last month, she suited up and joined the WolfPack, playing a variety of positions. The excitement of returning, especially during the first game, allowed her to be present and have another perspective.
“It was fun looking back at it. I didn’t feel nervous. I didn’t think about it. I was most excited that I got to play again. Because I know a lot of people don’t get this chance.”
Being a coach has raised her volleyball IQ, and she uses that edge as a player and teammate. Through coaching, she realizes it’s very different on and off the court, allowing her to see from both sides.
“I have that third-person point of view when I play now that allows me to identify systems. Or what other teams are trying to do to us to find their success.”
Her ability to recognize the other side’s game plan helps her with team communication. She can convey her perspective so her team can understand. She believes this point of view has made her a better player than before she retired.
Stone feels Gorum’s journey reflects their coaching collaboration, where Stone strategized, and Gorum encouraged team building.
“We balance each other really well. Courtney allowed me to do a lot of practice planning and coaching. Courtney was super relational with the kids, which fostered exactly what happened. She was able to create good relationships and teach in a different way than what I was teaching,” Stone said.
If the early season indicates how the season will unfold, they have made the right move.
Consider the weekend of Aug. 18th, Gorum had 27 kills, helping the team to an upset win over No. 11 Illinois Central College, breaking the previous school record for kills in a match.
An idea planted by the coach made a reality by the player.
Gorum is grateful for her time coaching because of the added experience it has given her as a player. “It’s much more fun to see the whole game and help my teammates.”
Now, she’s breaking records.