Crissy Leonhardt was the head volleyball voach at Manitou Springs High School for the past three years. Within the past week, she has officially made the difficult decision to resign from this position.

Although Leonhardt has a passion for the girls on her team, there are other factors that are going into this major life decision. “I’m graduating in May with my masters’ and then I will be working at a new school in a different district in the fall,” Leonhardt said. “I feel like coaching at a different school seems pretty stressful.”

Leonhardt will be graduating with her masters’ in school counseling. “I plan on trying to work at a school in Colorado Springs and hopefully working with elementary or high school students.”

Along with Leonhardt finishing school, she also has made another life changing decision. “I’m really wanting to grow my family and look into adoption,” Leonhardt said. “Along with this decision comes a long process with a lot of stress that will take up a big part of my life.”

Leonhardt had these stressors in her life during the most recent volleyball season as well. “I think I realized in this past season that with everything going on in my life I wasn’t able to be the best coach that I can be,” Leonhardt said. “I feel like I let a lot of these kids down because of things that were out of my control happening in my personal life.”

The difficult decision Leonhardt made did not have anything to do with her experiences with the girls she coached. “I want to make clear that this isn’t something that I’m leaving and I’m going to go coach somewhere else,” Leonhardt said. “This last season was such a special group and will forever hold a special place in my heart.”

While Leonhardt’s athletes understand why she decided to resign, they still are sad about losing their coach. “It’s disappointing to lose my coach for my senior year, but I also understand why she’s doing it because it’s beneficial for her,” McKesson Rhodes (11) said.

Leonhardt is unsure about her future coaching plans. “I’m not sure if I will continue coaching. I’ve been coaching for 11 years, and I started coaching while I was still playing myself and I haven’t had a summer off since middle school,” said Leonhardt. “If I decide to ever get back into coaching, I want to make sure I am the best coach that I can be because I just don’t feel that I was able to be that for these kiddos the last couple years.”

Now that Leonhardt has officially put in her resignation, the search for a new head volleyball coach has begun. The first thought for this position was the assistant volleyball coach, Gabby Santos, although Santos is not certain she would want this position. “Volleyball isn’t the sport that I know the most about and the most passionate about as an individual, so I’m not sure I would be the best for this position,” Santos said.

Even though Santos isn’t sure she would be interested in the position, she hopes to be a part of the selection process. “I am excited to be part of the process of finding a new head coach, and hope that it’s somebody who can fill such a big role in a way that is really good for the whole program,” Santos said.