Coach Rose Powell- hpowell940@bellsouth.net 

Rose Magers-Powell is the Founder (1994) and Director of Rocket City Volleyball Club (RCVC) in Huntsville, Alabama. Lives in Huntsville, Al with her husband Harry and 2 sons,  William Powell (Seattle U, basketball team) and Brandon Powell, (Lee High School). Many of you may be familiar with some parts of Rose’s volleyball background long before RCVC was established, such as Silver Medalist in the 1984 Olympics, and 2007 Recipient of the All-time Great Volleyball Player Award, but many do not realize the depth and extent of her illustrious playing and coaching career. Following is a brief history of Rose’s volleyball “resume.”

 

Volleyball has been an instrumental part of Rose’s life for many, many years. She grew up in Big Springs, Texas where she was a high school standout in basketball, track & field, and volleyball. In 1978 she accepted a volleyball scholarship at the University of Houston, where she was a three-year starter (beginning as a freshman). Because of her skills, athletic ability and development, she was setter, leading hitter, and blocker for the Cougars earning awards such as Most Improved, Best Spiker, and Most Valuable Player of the Conference. In her sophomore and junior years, Rose lead the Cougars to first-place finishes in the Texas Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Tournaments; first-place finishes in the Southwest AIAW Regional tournaments; and fifth-place and 12th place finishes, respectively, in the National AIAW tournaments. She was also named to the Southwest AIAW Region Four All Regional Team and as an AIAW All-American. In her senior year, she followed her coach, Ruth N. Nelson, to Louisianna State University (Southeastern Conference) where she completed her final year of college eligibility and was once again a starter on the team earning awards such as SEC All Conference Team and SEC All Tournament Team.

 

While in college, Rose also played for the USVBA Houston Stars where she led her team to Lone Star Regional Championships for three years in a row and was named as an All American at the USVBA National Tournament. After only two years of collegiate play, Rose was invited to the Sports Festival in Colorado Springs and was subsequently selected to the USA Junior National Volleyball Team to train and compete for the Pacific Rim Tournament. She was named Best Spiker at the Pacific Rim Tournament.

 

Ruth Nelson, Rose’s college coach said,

“Rose was the #1 volleyball and basketball recruit in Texas and is one of the finest and most talented athletes that has ever come from the Lone Star State.

 

Rose excelled in every position that I trained beyond the level of any of the exceptional athletes that I have ever coached. She was so talented that training her as a setter/hitter was unheard of at that time. She was an exceptional setter and outstanding hitter for four years of collegiate competition. Rose was also by far one of the most exciting players I had the pleasure and honor to coach in my collegiate coaching career.

 

In addition, Rose has become not only an outstanding coach, but also one of the best trainers in the game. She has transferred her love of the game to many aspiring young ladies during her summer camp programs and her junior club program. I am humbled to have been part of her volleyball career.”

Following her collegiate stint, Rose played for two years on the USA National Team. During those two years, Rose helped the team achieve a Silver Medal at the Super Three Tournament (China, Japan and USA), a Gold Medal at the Pan American Games, a Bronze Medal at the World Championships, and a Gold Medal at the NORCECA Games.

 

After only two years on the USA National Team, Rose became the starting middle blocker at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and was considered the most improved player at the Games. The 1984 US Olympic Volleyball Team won the Silver Medal, the highest finishing women’s team in United States history. In 1985 Rose was named to the All-World All-Star Team which consists of the top six players in the world. Being one of the best young players in the world at that time, she continued her volleyball career by playing and coaching professionally in Japan for nine years (1984-1993). During that time she was tabbed the Japan League's Most Valuable Player three times; Best Spiker six times; Best Blocker once; and six-time Highest League Scorer.

 

One of Rose’s Japanese team coaches, Dr. Arie Selinger said,

 

“Rose was one of those rare athletes whom God blessed with the physical and mental attributes a winner should possess. She was quick, she was skillful, and she was composed and positive under pressure. Rose learned and improved fast and she made everything look so easy and natural. It was a special sight to see Rose play. She looked graceful, poetic and yet fearsome and powerful. Rose’s tremendous competitive spirit coupled by an uncompromising striving to win made her one of the greatest and most domineering volleyball players I have ever coached or seen in action. I was lucky to have Rose on my teams.”

 

In recognition of Rose’s brilliant volleyball career, in 2007 Rose was honored as the recipient of the most prestigious award available to volleyball players. She was named as the recipient of the All-Time Great Volleyball Player Award – an award that has been bestowed upon fewer than 100 players, both men and women, since 1954 and includes the ranks of volleyball greats such as Flo Hyman and Rita Crockett (former Olympic teammates), Karch Kiraly and Pat Powers, to name a few.

 

Rose was not only successful on the court in Japan, she was also successful in meeting her husband now of over 25 years. At the time, Harry J. Powell, native of Huntsville, Alabama, was in a branch of the Navy and stationed in Japan. They were married in 1986, and then relocated to Huntsville, where they are raising two young men, William Scott Powell and Brandon Michael Powell.

 

While Rose spent 7 months out of the year competing in Japan, she also continued to help the volleyball community in Huntsville, Alabama grow. In 1987, she started her first volleyball camp called “Rose Magers-Powell Just Say No” with 100 players. This was during a time when drugs were running rampant in the youth community. Rose helped train many high school teams and coaches each year before deciding to lead her own high school team. She accepted the head volleyball coaching position at Lee High School. Under her leadership, the volleyball team quickly moved up in the top ten raking in the state. Rose spent four years at Lee High School before accepting the head women’s volleyball coaching position at Martin Methodist College in 1996.

 

The first year at Martin Methodist College, which is a small NAIA school in Pulaski, Tennessee, the team was seeded seventh out of eight teams in the conference. By the end of the season, Martin Methodist was competing for the championship and winning their first school banner. Rose has continued to be the head volleyball coach at Martin Methodist College since 1996 and during her tenure there she has garnered numerous awards including two-time TranSouth Conference Coach of the Year; competed in numerous TranSouth Conference Tournament Finals and NAIA Regional Tournaments; and in 2005-2006 won the regular season championship, the Conference Championship, and finished runner-up at the Regional Championships.

The first year at Martin Methodist College, which is a small NAIA school in Pulaski, Tennessee, the team was seeded seventh out of eight teams in the conference. By the end of the season, Martin Methodist was competing for the championship and winning their first school banner. Rose has continued to be the head volleyball coach at Martin Methodist College since 1996 and during her tenure there she has garnered numerous awards including two-time TranSouth Conference Coach of the Year; competed in numerous TranSouth Conference Tournament Finals and NAIA Regional Tournaments; and in 2005-2006 won the regular season championship, the Conference Championship, and finished runner-up at the Regional Championships.

 

In 1994 Rose started the Rocket City Volleyball Club in Huntsville, Alabama and quickly gained respect in the junior volleyball club community. While directing the Rocket City Volleyball Club, Rose has had the goal of operating the club under the roof of her own training facility so that she can train and assist more youth and coaches to attain their best. After years of focused saving and investing in pursuit of that goal, her vision was realized in 2009 with the opening of her state of the art, three-court training facility. The floor in this facility utilizes the latest technology and is specifically engineered for hard court sports to provide both durability and a supportive cushion that is much easier on joints than traditional hardwood floors. In fact, this same flooring will be used in the 2012 Olympics. In addition to club team practices at this facility, throughout the year RCVC offers numerous volleyball clinics, camps, and private lessons that are open to all volleyball players in the area. The training facility reflects Rose’s love of the game and provides athletes with a place where they can excel in sports so that they can fulfill their dreams of playing in college and having the opportunity to have the finest level of education.

 

Rose and her dedicated staff of coaches have helped 95% of Rocket City 18 year old players obtain college scholarships to play volleyball while pursuing their secondary education. The player’s scholarships have spanned the United States, from the west coast and the University of Hawaii, to the east coast and the University of Georgia. In addition, Rocket City has coached numerous teams to qualify for the coveted spots in the prestigious annual USA National Volleyball Championships held in various locations throughout the United States. RCVC has trained hundreds of girls to excel in the sport while learning life-long lessons of the importance of attitude, effort, focus and responsibility through the pursuit of success during challenging goals. The coaching staff at RCVC exemplifies the attributes of hard work, leadership, and sportsmanship, providing excellent role models for the girls. Rose and her coaches take great pride in the RCVC players’ accomplishments and in helping each of them achieve their goals in the sport.

 

From Big Springs, Texas, to Tokyo, Japan to Huntsville, Alabama, Rose has learned from every “touch” and has built upon all of her experiences. She has continued her preparation, her commitment, and her excellence! Throughout her career, Rose has trained thousands of players from Special Olympics Athletes to players at all levels of collegiate volleyball; some are All-Americans and are candidates for the USA team. The legacy lives on in Rocket City Volleyball Club. We hope that you will consider joining the RCVC family for your training home.