Bring Your Own Parent (BYOP®) Founder, Ruth N. Nelson
Innovator, Teacher, Motivator, Sports Marketer, Fundraiser and Visionary who put athlete opportunities first!
Nelson has gained over 40 years of volleyball experience that encompasses successful coaching (16 years at the collegiate level at George Williams College, University of Houston, Louisiana State University and the University of Iowa) with a total of over 500 wins. She also had 3 University of Houston Players (Hyman; Crockett and Magers) start on the 1984 Olympic Team and was the pioneer in the recruitment of minority athletes in the 70s. In addition, Nelson was USA National Team Player, USA National Team Assistant Coach, USA National Team Technical Advisor, USA Junior National Team Head Coach, USA World University Games Head Coach, Dallas Belles Major League Volleyball Professional Team Head Coach and most recently Head Coach of USA Volleyball Senior A2 Team (now the A2 Collegiate Team.
Innovations have included the creation and development of the Bring Your Own Parent (BYOP®) Program, the Nelson Aquatics Resistance Training (NART™) Program and the MVP Specialized Jump Training Program. Over the past 15 years, Nelson has specialized in training 5-10 year olds in her BYOP Program. Ebony Nwanebu, 2013 NCAA Freshman of the Year at USC, was one of Nelson’s first BYOP® players at age 4 ½. Other notable players have included Mary Kate Marshall, 2014 PAC-12 Freshman of the Year at Oregon State; still others have gone on to be successful at Cornell, Columbia, Barry, Belmont, Newman, Binghamton, Texas A & M and Cincinnati.
Nelson’s experiences have resulted in her abilities of not only analyzing individual fundamental skills, but also in teaching effective decision-making and execution of tactics within game strategies; unlocking athletes’ capabilities, developing their self-esteem, self-confidence and performance under pressure; jump training (yielding increased height in jumps and improved performance without injuries) and team evaluation at any level of competition.
Among her honors, Nelson has received two prestigious awards from USA Volleyball. In 2011 she received All-Time Great Coach Award – Pioneer Division. In 1996 she received The George J. Fisher Volleyball Award for significant service rendered to the sport of volleyball for at least 20 years. In 2013, Nelson was inducted into the University of Northern Colorado Hall of Fame as a 5-sport athlete, and in 2014 she was inducted into the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Hall of Fame.