Back For More: Strickland, Wade Master The Sand
February 28, 2017 | Beach Volleyball
By Maureen Donovan
ย
SEATTLE - The Washington Beach Volleyball team is set to hit the sand for the program's fourth season on April 1 and for the first time the roster will feature two familiar names exclusively playing on beach scholarships. The program saw its inaugural season in 2014 when Cassie Strickland and Melanie Wade were sophomores, which allowed them an additional year of eligibility for beach despite exhausting their indoor eligibility following the 2015 season.
Given this additional year of beach eligibility, the two were presented with a unique opportunity to not only continue playing the sport they love but to also further their education at the University of Washington. Following their graduation last June, Strickland and Wade enrolled in the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership (IAL) program and are now only one quarter away from earning a master's degree in sports management.
This unique, one-year program includes two disciplinary tracks, coaching and administration. Both Strickland and Wade chose the administration route and have also had the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience interning for the Athletic Department this year.
Wade, a sustainability intern in the sports operations department, could see this experience translating into a future career.
"It just seemed like a really good fit to continue my education in athletics, which I find really interesting and very much a big part of my life. Then getting the internship, which could potentially lead to a career or a job," said Wade, a two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention middle blocker on the hardwood. "I really like working on environmental issues and advocating for that so ideally I would like to be a sustainability coordinator in an athletic department."
Strickland, an intern with the Tyee Club, has had the opportunity to assist in planning some of the Athletic Department's biggest events this past year including Raise the Woof, the Hall of Fame Dinner, and most recently the First Pitch Dinner, which she got to be the lead for.
"The more I learned about IAL and just life in general, I wanted to keep my options open so I chose the administrative side to get a look at something that I hadn't really had any insight on as an athlete. It definitely opens more doors if I wanted to go after being an AD," commented Strickland.
Strickland sees this program as a step in the right direction towards becoming an athletic director, development officer, or events coordinator but the immediate future looks a little different for her.
"I am in a different place than a lot of other people in IAL because I will do this for one year to get my master's and then go compete professionally in either indoor or beach. I am just sticking out my education for one more year because it is really important and then I will continue to pursue my volleyball dreams," said Strickland, who was an AVCA All-America honorable mention and Pac-12 Libero of the Year during her indoor career, as well as an All-Pac-12 Second Team pick on the beach last spring teaming with Courtney Schwan.
Both making a tremendous impact on the indoor program throughout their careers, Strickland and Wade have had to adjust to solely focusing on beach.
"With beach, it is nice to focus on getting my body into a really good place but then also having the opportunity to compete," said Strickland. "Beach is a different mental game. It was weird. Honestly, it was super strange being here in the fall and not playing indoor. They had morning workouts and afternoon practices and I had class."
However, the structure of the beach program has naturally allowed them more flexibility to manage both an internship and being a student-athlete.
"It is definitely very different. Indoor is a huge plate to take on and beach is definitely a more manageable sport in terms of time and the capacity you have to work at in," said Wade. "Since beach is a little bit less of a time commitment it seemed like a good transition out of athletics if I end up finishing my athletic career after this."
Successful student-athletes often get that way with a laser-like focus on the next task. The IAL program has allowed Strickland to take a broader look at life as she approaches the end of her studies, for now.
"A lot of the time in undergrad, your vision is what is right in front of you, next game, next practice, next assignment and now I feel like my vision is more planning out how I want my life to be," said Strickland who is looking into professional opportunities in Germany for indoor and possibly Southern California for beach following the 2017 beach season.
The pair have had the unique opportunity to grow right along with the beach program from its inception in 2014.
ย "The program has progressed a lot. The team understands it more, the girls from Washington who didn't play beach before get it now, practices are more competitive, and the way practices are run is a lot more organized than the first year," said Strickland.
"Now, we know what is going on and we are here to compete and win games," added Wade. "We have the most people we have ever had on the beach team and that is really fun because it is a good dynamic for everyone to compete against each other. If we keep getting better, we will be pretty good."
Between school, training for the beach season, and interning 20-30 hours a week, the two are clearly managing a balancing act but have their sights set on hitting the sand for their final season in purple and gold.
ย
SEATTLE - The Washington Beach Volleyball team is set to hit the sand for the program's fourth season on April 1 and for the first time the roster will feature two familiar names exclusively playing on beach scholarships. The program saw its inaugural season in 2014 when Cassie Strickland and Melanie Wade were sophomores, which allowed them an additional year of eligibility for beach despite exhausting their indoor eligibility following the 2015 season.
Given this additional year of beach eligibility, the two were presented with a unique opportunity to not only continue playing the sport they love but to also further their education at the University of Washington. Following their graduation last June, Strickland and Wade enrolled in the Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership (IAL) program and are now only one quarter away from earning a master's degree in sports management.
This unique, one-year program includes two disciplinary tracks, coaching and administration. Both Strickland and Wade chose the administration route and have also had the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience interning for the Athletic Department this year.
Wade, a sustainability intern in the sports operations department, could see this experience translating into a future career.
"It just seemed like a really good fit to continue my education in athletics, which I find really interesting and very much a big part of my life. Then getting the internship, which could potentially lead to a career or a job," said Wade, a two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention middle blocker on the hardwood. "I really like working on environmental issues and advocating for that so ideally I would like to be a sustainability coordinator in an athletic department."
Strickland, an intern with the Tyee Club, has had the opportunity to assist in planning some of the Athletic Department's biggest events this past year including Raise the Woof, the Hall of Fame Dinner, and most recently the First Pitch Dinner, which she got to be the lead for.
"The more I learned about IAL and just life in general, I wanted to keep my options open so I chose the administrative side to get a look at something that I hadn't really had any insight on as an athlete. It definitely opens more doors if I wanted to go after being an AD," commented Strickland.
Strickland sees this program as a step in the right direction towards becoming an athletic director, development officer, or events coordinator but the immediate future looks a little different for her.
"I am in a different place than a lot of other people in IAL because I will do this for one year to get my master's and then go compete professionally in either indoor or beach. I am just sticking out my education for one more year because it is really important and then I will continue to pursue my volleyball dreams," said Strickland, who was an AVCA All-America honorable mention and Pac-12 Libero of the Year during her indoor career, as well as an All-Pac-12 Second Team pick on the beach last spring teaming with Courtney Schwan.
Both making a tremendous impact on the indoor program throughout their careers, Strickland and Wade have had to adjust to solely focusing on beach.
"With beach, it is nice to focus on getting my body into a really good place but then also having the opportunity to compete," said Strickland. "Beach is a different mental game. It was weird. Honestly, it was super strange being here in the fall and not playing indoor. They had morning workouts and afternoon practices and I had class."
However, the structure of the beach program has naturally allowed them more flexibility to manage both an internship and being a student-athlete.
"It is definitely very different. Indoor is a huge plate to take on and beach is definitely a more manageable sport in terms of time and the capacity you have to work at in," said Wade. "Since beach is a little bit less of a time commitment it seemed like a good transition out of athletics if I end up finishing my athletic career after this."
Successful student-athletes often get that way with a laser-like focus on the next task. The IAL program has allowed Strickland to take a broader look at life as she approaches the end of her studies, for now.
"A lot of the time in undergrad, your vision is what is right in front of you, next game, next practice, next assignment and now I feel like my vision is more planning out how I want my life to be," said Strickland who is looking into professional opportunities in Germany for indoor and possibly Southern California for beach following the 2017 beach season.
The pair have had the unique opportunity to grow right along with the beach program from its inception in 2014.
ย "The program has progressed a lot. The team understands it more, the girls from Washington who didn't play beach before get it now, practices are more competitive, and the way practices are run is a lot more organized than the first year," said Strickland.
"Now, we know what is going on and we are here to compete and win games," added Wade. "We have the most people we have ever had on the beach team and that is really fun because it is a good dynamic for everyone to compete against each other. If we keep getting better, we will be pretty good."
Between school, training for the beach season, and interning 20-30 hours a week, the two are clearly managing a balancing act but have their sights set on hitting the sand for their final season in purple and gold.
Players Mentioned
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