NMMI Sports Press

Broncos head coach Shelby Forchtner was recently selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association as the new Two-Year College representative on the AVCA Board of Directors.

"I'm honored to be asked to represent the two-year colleges for the AVCA," said Forchtner. "I'm looking forward to doing my part to help our community of coaches."

Forchtner replaces recently retired Missouri State University-West Plains volleyball coach Paula Wiedemann on the board. Forchtner has been serving on the AVCA's two-year college head coaches committee for the past several years.

With the new position comes new responsibilities, like running various monthly and annual meetings and keeping the junior college volleyball world informed of any important news. Forchtner will serve alongside representatives from the NCAA divisions, NAIA, beach volleyball, high school and club.

"The AVCA is basically the umbrella over all levels of volleyball," Forchtner said. "In a role like this you get to touch every level of the game and help grow the sport. Volleyball's popularity is on the rise and I think there's always room for more growth."

During her 17-year tenure at the Institute, Forchtner has compiled a head coaching record of 431-229. Forchtner led the Broncos to the regional postseason every year and qualified for the national tournament eight times in the past 10 years. The 2021 season had no postseason, but the Broncos finished 8-2 in conference play. The Institute finished as the national runner-up in 2021.

As a player, the Roswell native was a standout for the Goddard Rockets and then attended Seward County Community College, where she played for a conference championship team in 2000, earning All-Region honors. She went on to play for Lubbock Christian University, helping the Chaparrals make the national tournament in 2001.

After graduating from LCU, Forchtner returned to Roswell as a volleyball assistant in 2003 and was named head coach in 2006.

The AVCA was established in 1981 with the mission of advancing the sport of volleyball with coaches at the epicenter of leadership, advocacy and professional development. Among the nearly 7,000 members include coaches from the collegiate, high school, club, youth and Olympic levels. The AVCA provides education to coaches, recognition of elite players and coaches, promotion of volleyball competitions throughout the world and networking opportunities for volleyball products and services providers.