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THRONEBERRY TO SUCCEED HAASER AS MAVERICK VOLLEYBALL COACH
2004-2005 Arkansas Volleyball Player of the Year and 2004 5A Volleyball State Championship Most Valuable Player Natalie Throneberry has been selected as the head Southside High School Maverick Volleyball Coach, following her coach and mentor, 40-year veteran coach Steve Haaser.
Dr. Darren McKinney, Fort Smith Public Schools Director of Athletics and Student Activities, said, “On behalf of the Fort Smith Public Schools, I am pleased to announce Natalie Throneberry as the new head volleyball coach for Southside High School. Coach Throneberry understands the tradition and expectations associated with Southside volleyball, and I believe she is up to the challenge of building on the success of the volleyball program. With her knowledge of local volleyball, her time spent as an assistant coach at Southside, and her work ethic in the gym, Coach Throneberry will be able to step in and lead the Maverick volleyball program. I look forward to seeing her on the floor leading her alma mater in the fall.”
Throneberry, a graduate of Southside High School and star volleyball athlete in her own right, was a player on Haaser’s teams in the early 2000s. She has worked with Haaser and the Southside Volleyball teams from the beginning of her career in 2010. In addition to this coaching assignment, Throneberry served in several instructional capacities including four years as a first-grade teacher, and currently as a secondary instructional specialist who monitors and provides necessary resources for students who need targeted assistance.
Through the past eight years, she has managed dual assignments successfully and in a way that has allowed her to gain the most experience and provide the best coaching support to volleyball players and to Haaser. She will now turn all professional attention to the Southside Volleyball team.
Haaser is pleased with Throneberry’s selection. He said, “Natalie is first and foremost, a great person. She will do things the right way and treat people fairly and with respect. She knows how to coach and will be a great role model for our volleyball players. Natalie has a love and passion for both the Fort Smith community and Southside High School, and a strong desire for the success of both.”
Throneberry played volleyball at Arkansas State University and at the University of Central Arkansas. She is a cum laude graduate of UCA. She has contributed to the state and conference success of SHS in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018, and she has made a lasting and positive impact on the overall success of the Southside Volleyball program in all her years as a player and assistant coach.