Shelby Forchtner
Shelby Forchtner
Title: Compliance Director / Bronco Volleyball Head Coach
Phone: 575-624-8270
Email: shelby@nmmi.edu

Shelby Forchtner enters her 19th season as head coach of the Broncos.

Forchtner was a standout setter during her two seasons at Seward County Community College in 1996 and 1999, with a combined win-loss record of 106-8.

In her first season, the Saints posted a win-loss record of 54-6 and made it to the final four of the Region VI Tournament.

During her sophomore campaign, Seward went 52-2, won the Jayhawk Conference, the Region VI tourney and finished fifth at the NJCAA National Championship. Forchtner earned All-Region honors and her 1,545 assists still sit at third on the SCCC single season assists list and eighth on the career list.

The Roswell, New Mexico native graduated with an associate degree in Sports and Exercise and continued her education and playing career at Lubbock Christian University where she earned NAIA Setter of the Week and was an Honorable Mention All-American in 2000. In 2001 she helped the Chaparrals make the NAIA national tournament.

Forchtner graduated from LCU in 2002 with a bachelor’s in Exercise and Sports Science. She returned to her hometown and was hired as an assistant coach for the New Mexico Military Institute junior college volleyball team in 2003.

She was elevated to head coach in 2006 and has since led her team to winning campaigns in all but two of her 18 seasons; the first and in 2015 when the team experienced an early season bus accident.

The Broncos have participated in the regional tournament 17 times under Forchtner, winning it seven times from 2013 to 2022 to qualify for the NJCAA Division-I National Championship tournament. The 2019 squad was awarded an at-large bid to nationals and posted the best win-loss record in program history.

NMMI was the national runner up in 2021, losing a tight five-set match to Iowa Western. The Broncos took third place in 2017 and have made it to championship Saturday a total of five times.

Forchtner has coached nine All-Americans (Libero Mio Yamamoto was two-time AA), 41 All-Region V selections and 76 all-conference honorees. Sophomore opposite Marian Ovalle earned AVCA Player of the Year honors in the fall of 2021.

She currently serves as the two-year college representative on the American Volleyball Coaches Association Board of Directors, working to promote the junior college athletic experience and advocating for the growth of beach and men’s volleyball.

Among Forchtner’s numerous coach of the year awards includes the 2022 Southwest District A, 2021 AVCA Two-Year College Southwest Region, four District E awards (’13, ’14, ’16, ’17), ’18 District D and seven Western Junior College Athletic Conference awards (’09, ’13, ’17-’19, ’21, ’23).

Forchtner is married to former Bronco head football coach and NJCAA Hall of Famer Joe Forchtner, and the couple has two daughters, Macy and Bentley, and a son, Jay.