Curtis Michaud
Sports Editor
Broward College sports have been a real excitement this fall semester from men’s and women’s soccer to volleyball. We now look into the women’s volleyball team head coach Lori Rembe.
Rembe, who is coaching at BC for the past three years and volleyball overall for 29, has been drawn towards the sport since a young age.
Rembe played volleyball at the collegiate level at Memphis State University where she found her love for coaching as well as playing professionally in France.
“After I finished my college career, I became an assistant coach at my alma mater for a year and then I signed a professional contract with a team in France,” Rembe said.
After her playing career, she came back to the United States where she followed her passion of still being involved with volleyball but this time on the coaching seat.
Not only is Rembe a women’s volleyball coach, she is also a full-time teacher at American Heritage High School and the curriculum department chair for physical education.
Balancing from teacher and coach is surely not an easy task but Rembe enjoys influencing and guiding the youth in the class room as well as the volleyball court.
From grading papers and creating lesson plans prior to class to recruiting players and watching game film, Rembe finds the necessary time throughout her busy schedule to perform both of her responsibilities to the best of her abilities.
“Both positions are highly demanding and both require specific time slots that are obvious,” said Rembe.
When Rembe first obtained the job of head coach of the women’s volleyball team, there were currently three players on the roster.
She had to quickly recruit players from all over to buy into her philosophy and coaching tactics as she tried to build a family like atmosphere around the team which is very crucial in team sports.
“Our philosophy centers around communication, effort and work ethic. How hard you work is the one thing every individual can control. I can’t expect our players to buy into this philosophy if we don’t lead by example,” Rembe raved about.
Sophomore Cabriella Bouterse transferred from Miami Dade College just to play for Coach Rembe and believed it was one of the most intriguing decisions she ever made.
“Coach Lori actually gave me the chance to be free and express myself more. She motivated me to perform better even when I thought I couldn’t myself”, Bouterse said.
Three years later, Rembe incorporated some of her teaching experience in the classroom to build a competitive and respectable group of girls to buy in that very philosophy setting high expectations every year for themselves.
That competitive spirit all started in practice as Rembe drilled into her team that practice is a place to continue to work on their craft and build team chemistry and trust.
“They also know if someone has an off day that someone else is ready to step in and step up and when that has happened this year we as a program have gotten stronger,” Rembe said.
Rembe takes pride challenging her players comfort level in regards playing positions they aren’t familiar to broaden their knowledge of the game.
“No matter the position she would put us in, she always believed we had the skills to be the best even when we couldn’t see it for ourself,” Bouterse said.
Even though this past season the team fell short of their preseason goal of a championship, players and coaches were all proud of how they went into ever game with the mind set of fighting for one another
“We set our expectations high from the very beginning and we’re not changing that mindset. We are here to compete at the highest level. I’m proud of how we competed this year and how we’ve earned respect from our opponents,” said Rembe.