On March 31st, three new inductees will be added to the CCCHS Hall of Fame. These recipients are honored for their contributions to their communities, career growth, and how they represent their alma mater.
-Suzie Fritz, CCCHS class of 1990
-Bachelor’s in kinesiology, master’s in education
-Professional volleyball coach out of Omaha, NE
-Coaching collegiately and professionally since 1994
In 1990, Susan (Wiemers) Fritz graduated from CCCHS. Little did she know, she would become just one of her family members to become a second-generation coach. That she, through college and later professional levels, would arguably become one of the most accomplished female coaches in Kansas. After coaching volleyball at K-State for 25 years, she now works with professional athletes. Some who compete at the Olympic level.
As a high school senior, she was a decorated volleyball athlete in her own right, and had earned a scholarship to Barton County Community College, then onto Florida Atlantic University.
Having lived in Kansas all her life, she said she was ready to do something different. Then when the opportunity to play and have her education paid for, the decision was easy.
“When I got out of college, I was trying to figure out what to do,” she said. “But my Dad was a football coach, my brothers are football coaches, so it’s just kind of the family business honestly.”
“Dad,” of course, is Larry Wiemers, who was the head CCCHS football coach from 1977-1994, with a record of 114-71. Her Mom, Sandi, is an iconic baton twirling coach and has served as President at World Baton Twirling Federation since 2007. Meanwhile, her brothers Dave and Jon coach football at Utah State University and Southeast Missouri State University, respectively.
Fritz landed her degree in kinesiology and it was a natural fit to start coaching herself.
First, she was asked to help coach at Florida Atlantic after the head coach was let go.
“At the time it was a little different in women’s sports,” she said. “They hired the women’s basketball coach to help, but she didn’t know much about volleyball.”
Fritz was asked to help run practices by the athletic director and she accepted.
“Essentially, it was my introduction to coaching,” she said. “We won six games.”
She said there was a transition from playing to coaching, but one that she fell into over time.
“Players are often kind of consumed with their own performance and development, and it doesn’t make them a bad teammate,” she said. “Coaches don’t operate that way, they’re a little bit bigger picture and how the pieces fit together. The longer you do it, the more you start to understand it and that evolution.”
From there, Fritz returned to Barton, helping her former coach Ray Bechard. He soon went to KU where he became the winningest coach in the school’s history before retiring in 2024.
As he left for Lawrence, Fritz took a job assistant coaching at K-State in 1997. Then by 2001 she became head coach where she landed in the NCAA tournament 13 times, landed the franchise’s only Big 12 title, and went 393-263 overall.
“It’s kind of a weird job for sure,” she said of the coaching process. “A lot of people will tell you it’s who you know that gets you in and what you know keeps you there and I think that’s pretty consistent with my story.”
Fritz continued to coach at K-State through 2022, when she took an associate head coaching job at Arkansas, taking the team to the Elite 8 in the 2023 season.
From there, Fritz took another step up in her career: coaching professionals. In January 2024 she joined LOVB Volleyball (pronounced ‘love’) where she’s the head coach in Omaha. The league features six teams in its inaugural year, all of which are spread out throughout the country.
On the transition from college to pro, Fritz said it felt similar, just with more experienced players.
“I would say after you coach for 30-some years, volleyball is volleyball,” she said. “But now I’m working with grown women that have decades of professional experience, so it’s far more collaborative in nature.”
Fritz said many of her players have more international experience than she does, so often it’s her players coaching her through that aspect of the game.
“The way they show up for work, the team dynamics, it’s pretty elite,” she said.
Currently, Fritz’s pro team includes four Olympians. In total, players range between 22 and 38 years old.
“It’s a very special group, the talent level and the character and work ethic is like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Another layer of coaching landed in Fritz’s life when she married her spouse, Steve. After competing as an Olympic decathlete, he became a track and field coach at K-State. He’s held that gig going on 35 years.
Together they have two sons, TJ, who’s in his last year of basketball at Bellevue University and Jake, a junior at K-State.
On whether they’ll continue in the family business, Fritz said they’ve never been pressured to coach, only to follow what they enjoy.
“None of the rest of us have been able to get away with it,” she said. “It’s not always the easiest business to be in but you do what you’re passionate about. I love volleyball probably differently than I did initially. It’s taken me all over the world, provided me an education and allowed me to provide for my family. It has provided a lot of wonderful and frankly hard moments at the same time.”
Middle: Suzie (Wiemers) Fritz was crowned Queen of Winter Sports in 1990, alongside David Schmale, at a home game vs. Wamego. Fritz played basketball for four years, track for three years, and volleyball for four years, where she was selected for All-League for two years, Second Team All-State, and chosen for the Heart of America All-Star Team. In addition, she played with the USVBA Juniors Program.
Bottom: Fritz coaching the Omaha LOVB Volleyball team.
