Coach Richard Lauer’s office is a crowded one. However, the small space is not cramped because it is home to his desk and teaching paraphernalia; it is he haphazard daily temporary storage of his students’ books, bags and personal items that clutters his space. A team of high school girls can mean a lot of such items, and he excuses the resulting mess with an amused smile.

A picture of the 11 girls on the Christway Academy Chaparral’s volleyball team hanging on the wall above Coach Lauer’s desk is a testament to the pride he feels in his girls. It shows just why he finds it so easy to excuse the clutter.

It is also the first thing he references when asked about his job. “We went to state this past year in November for the first time in 15 years,” he said.“We got beat in the semifinals, but we have all our girls back, except two seniors, so next time it should be very interesting.” Because Coach Lauer is such a tall man, to guess he played sports in the past seems obvious. Yet when he begins to list people he has played with and schools he has coached, the list is long and quite impressive, including the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA) and Texas Christian University (TCU).

“I’ve lived in Texas since ’88. I was coaching in California before that,” he began. “I was the assistant women’s coach at UCLA. A friend of mine, Fran armen, was starting the women’s program at TCU, and she asked if I could help.” Coach Lauer moved to Texas, worked for TCU, building their program, and then began coaching on the high school level.  ..... (Continued on Sports Page 2 >)