Rita McPheeters
Girls 15 White Head Coach
Bio
Rita McPheeters is originally from Tampa, Florida but moved to Virginia in 1991. She has been playing volleyball for over 30 years and coaching club volleyball for the past eight years. She started as an 18U boys’ club coach and for the next two seasons coached 14U and 16U boys. For the past five seasons, she coached girls’ 13U through 16U teams. Her club teams have collected numerous medals over the years at various AAU and USAV tournaments. She is entering her second-year coaching at The St. James. Last season, her 15’s team placed 1st in an AAU tournament, placed 2nd in the gold division at an open level CHRVA tournament, and placed 1st in their bracket in the Premier Division at the AAU Junior National Championship. She also coaches at clinics and camps for The St. James.
Prior to coaching club volleyball, she coached for three years with a local youth league. In addition, she is currently in her fourth year as a head coach at an all-girls private high school. During her first year she was the Freshman head coach but is now the head JV coach. She also leads summer volleyball camps at the school.
For several years, she organized and played on USAV adult club teams and, for over 30 years, on league teams where her teams often finished in first place. She was also a certified referee and scorekeeper. She also played in outdoor women’s and co-ed doubles tournaments where she often made it to the final round of playoffs and even had some first-place wins.
As you can see, volleyball is her passion. She also enjoys cycling, hiking, traveling, and staying active. She is retired from the Federal Government and is married to Bart McPheeters who also coaches at The St. James. They have two children who also played rec and club volleyball. Their daughter went on to play volleyball in college in upstate NY.
She is CAP 1, IMPACT and SafeSport certified. In May 2023, she attended an in-person Art of Coaching clinic at UNC and has completed courses with the Positive Coaching Alliance. She is excited to be coaching at the St. James this season and for the opportunity to continue sharing her passion and knowledge of the game.