Meet the Coaches

Coach Khadija Layne has been a part of the volleyball community since she started playing in the eighth grade. Coach Khadija started her journey in Boston, MA where she was intrigued by the sport and learning to keep in shape, while playing basketball her main sport. When she entered high school, she was able to play varsity in her first year for her powerful strength in serving. Coach Khadija not only played volleyball, but was a tri-sport athlete playing basketball and tennis at a high school level. When she graduated, she played college volleyball at a women's college in Winston-Salem NC; Salem College. There she also excelled as a captain her junior year, played of the week multiple times, above the net awards, and led a lot of the scoring for the team while playing. Her position would change depending on what was needed and injuries that occurred. She started as an undersized outside hitter, moved to right side to help with blocks, and also played libero. This is why Coach Khadija's fundamental belief about volleyball stands as players need to be diverse in their skill set and allow themselves room to know other positions and be open to being uncomfortable in those positions. You may not know what your coach or team may need and if you cannot be flexible and adjust, you might not be needed to play and they will find someone else more willing. 

In the coaching history, Coach Khadija has coached a lot of different age groups. She coached at a high school in Chestnut Hill, called Beaver Country Day for a year while she returned from college in 2013. Following this, when Coach Khadija was in graduate school in the Pittsburgh area, she coached a 12s team at Pittsburgh Elite for a season. She has coached a 13s, 14, 15s, 15s National, 16s, 16s National, and 18 National. While she loved coaching at the club level, the transition to founding Spike IQ came from a continuous fundamental issue when coaching at a high level, having players age out due to lack of fundamental skills. She also witnessed players who sat on the bench of good teams not contributing due to lack of fundamental skills and volleyball IQ. Volleyball is exploding in a monumental way and she is not sure if parents understand what they should be looking for in a coach and what their child may need by the time they are a certain age and competing on teams. Coach Khadija would like all players to have the knowledge and volleyball IQ to progress the way they need to, especially if they wish to play at a collegiate level. 

--

Khadija Layne M.A. LMFT

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Multi-Dimensional Intensive Family Therapist, State of South Carolina

Salem College c/o 2012

Seton Hill University c/o 2015

I’ve played volleyball for over 5 years.  Starting with recreational play to joining travel club with South Carolina War Eagles and CJV in Charlotte where I played outside hitter.  From there, I played in middle school as a DS, then had the pleasure of managing both men’s and ladies varsity volleyball teams during my high school career at Palisades High.