Scheibe ends legendary run at Joliet Catholic

Compiled 602 victories and 10 state trophies while leading Angels

If any lesson can be learned from when a school makes a coaching change it could easily be to not judge too harshly on the first season of results.

Had Joliet Catholic decided to do that at the beginning of the run of veteran coach Christine Scheibe where the Angels posted a record of 12-18-2, they would have missed out on over two decades of exemplary work as the head of its volleyball program.

Scheibe recently announced that she is ending her run as the leader of a program that has few, if any, peers in Illinois High School Association volleyball during her tenure. Scheibe is a part of the 600-win club one of just over 30 coaches in state history to reach that plateau.

More significantly was the way Scheibe’s team routinely performed in the postseason. The Angels captured three state titles including one just four years in to her run at the helm. Joliet Catholic brought home 10 state trophies, her program amassed a 10-1 record in super sectional matchups during her time, 11 sectional crowns and 17 regional titles, including a string of 15 in a row from 2001 until 2015. The program practically needed its own wing in Joliet’s Catholic’s expansive Hall of Champions.

With all that accomplishment behind her, Scheibe felt it was time to take a step back.

“At this point I’m not moving onto anything else. It was just time for a break,” Scheibe said. “I’ve been coaching for 30 years, I started in 1991 as an assistant basketball coach at Morris and for about 10 of these seasons I’ve been doing two seasons between volleyball and basketball. And so I’ve coached 38 or 39 teams at this point, its just time for a little rest and relaxation.”

And while the idea of this had been percolating for awhile, the recent COVID-19 shutdown helped put her mind at ease that the transition wouldn’t be that difficult of an adjustment for her if she decided to make the decision that she ultimately did.

“Probably the last five years or so it had been something I’d been thinking about when might be a good time to step away from it,” Scheibe said. “It wasn’t any one thing in particular. I guess maybe it was during the COVID in the fall, I realized that I could come home from school during the fall and enjoy the fall weather and coming home from school and enjoy some time away from it all.

“I feel like I’ve had a very good career and I accomplished everything I set out to do. One of my goals was to build a program at JCA that would be competitive year after year and I’ve definitely done that with the three state championships and the ten trips down state in the 20 years that are possible. I don’t know what else as far as a goal as coaching could be. I feel like I’ve accomplished what I set to do.”

Most coaches could only dream of the resume that Scheibe put together at Joliet Catholic and she’ll admit that she checked off almost every one of her bucket list goals with the Angels. One thing eluded her grasp, an undefeated season, and while her 2009 squad just missed that lofty goal by finishing 41-1, even missing out on that can be rationally explained.

“The only thing that I never had was the undefeated season,” Scheibe said. “But I think that’s virtually impossible in the conference I play in and the teams that we play year in and year out. That would have been a real feat there. But I’m proud of what I’ve done at JCA, and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to coach some amazing athletes that have gone on to do great things with their lives and to see where they go after they are done playing volleyball is very rewarding too.”

Scheibe has not landed another post in volleyball circles and isn’t necessarily in search of one either. That being said, she wouldn’t rule out eventually returning to the sideline at a later date.

“I’m not ruling anything out in the future, but as of now there’s nothing, I’m not stepping out of this and into another job,” Scheibe said. “I’ve always said that one of my goals would be to go to a little small 1A school with a basketball team or a volleyball team where none of them play club or none of them play AAU, just high school kids playing for the love of their high school. Who knows what the future holds? I don’t have a crystal ball to see that far to know.”