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People SearchFind an individual who either played a sport or was a member of a support group. Search by last name by clicking on the first letter of the person's last name.
Ms. Ursula Quoyeser
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Home Phone: -- Quoyeser inducted into LVCA HOF Dan McDonald Her induction into the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame on Sunday wasn’t unexpected. Ursula Quoyeser got notification of her honor several weeks ago. Two of her long-time friends and mentors, Brenda LeBlanc and Yvette Girouard, did the induction honors Sunday at the organization’s annual All-State and awards luncheon – much to the delight of Quoyeser and a delegation of nearly 40 representatives from ESA. LeBlanc preceded Quoyeser as volleyball coach at ESA and began what eventually became a 16-year streak of state championships for the Lady Falcons. Girouard, meanwhile, was Quoyeser’s softball coach at both Lafayette High and UL. Quoyeser was honored for her successes at ESA along with her volleyball coaching at Lafayette High, UL and Pasco-Hernando Community College in Florida. She finished her ESA career in 2004, not long after ESA won its ninth title in 2002. Since then, the Lafayette native has been on staff at the prestigious St. John’s School in Houston. “Coming back here, and seeing all the coaches in the state, it made me miss all the friendships and relationships,” Quoyeser said. “But I really don’t miss the day-to-day head coach thing. I’m assisting at the school with some other sports, and it’s been more fun mentoring and helping other coaches.” Quoyeser, who compiled a 335-108 record at ESA including the nine state crowns, is one of the physical education supervisors at St. John’s. But she’s been back involved with volleyball on a limited basis this year, coaching the school’s junior varsity boys. “The fun part for me has always been teaching kids how to play,” she said. “Getting a group of boys that haven’t played the game a lot, it’s fun to teach them. That’s been kind of cool to do.” Quoyeser’s honor was part of a Sunday program that included recognition of the LVCA’s All-State teams and the honoring of retiring LHSAA assistant commissioner B.J. Guzzardo, who has coordinated the state volleyball tournament for over two decades. Daily Advertiser January 28, 2008 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Former ESA coach, UL star to be honored Dan McDonald She was a large part of one of the most prestigious success strings in the country’s high school athletic history, and the Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association is now honoring Ursula Quoyeser for that role. The banquet is scheduled for noon at Drusilla’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge. Brenda LeBlanc, who preceded her at ESA before going on to continued success in the Baton Rouge prep ranks, will introduce her for induction. Quoyeser coached at ESA for 11 years before accepting a teaching position at the prestigious St. John’s School in Houston in 2005. ESA also reached the state semifinals in 2004 in her final season. Overall, Quoyeser compiled a 335-108 record at the school, with nearly all of the losses and more than half the wins coming against schools in higher classifications. She also led the ESA track and field team to four state titles from 2000-03 as either head or co-head coach, and coached golf for six years and soccer for two years with a state runner-up finish in both. But it was in volleyball that the 1981 Lafayette High graduate made her biggest impact. In addition to her hugely successful run at ESA, she coached the volleyball squad at her UL and Lafayette High alma maters for one and four years respectively, and had a national top-10 program at Pasco-Hernando Community College in Florida before coming to ESA. In her one year at UL, she led the Cajun volleyball team to a 26-12 record in 1986. She left the coaching ranks to join the staff at one of the nation’s most academically renowned secondary schools at St. John’s, and is now in her third year as one of the coordinators of that school’s physical education program. Quoyeser was a four-year starter in both volleyball and softball at UL, earning first-team All-Louisiana honors in the former in 1981 and two All-Southland Conference honors in the latter as part of a start-up program under long-time coach Yvette Girouard. She was one of the first female inductees into the UL Athletic Hall of Fame. Daily Advertiser, January 27, 2008 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Quoyeser announces resignation April 07, 2005 – Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com It’s not easy leaving a place where you’ve perpetuated a legend, and a place that has become less a job and more a home and family. That’s why it was so hard for Ursula Quoyeser to tell her Episcopal School of Acadiana volleyball team Tuesday morning that she was leaving her coaching position, and to repeat that announcement Wednesday in front of the entire school. “I asked the seniors to come in the meeting with me,” Quoyeser said, “even though they won’t be around next year. I needed them to support me because I knew it would be tough, and when I told the school they came up on the stage with me.” What Quoyeser told the team and the school was her acceptance of a position at St. John’s School in Houston, a teaching position that won’t entail any head-coaching duties in any sport. And that was by her choice. “I told them I don’t need to be a head coach,” she said. “I’ve been that.” She has been that very well, having executed the last half of one of the nation’s most prestigious high school success strings. ESA won 16 straight Louisiana Division V state volleyball titles from 1987 through 2002, and Quoyeser was the coach for the last nine of those crowns. She also led the ESA track and field team to four state titles from 2000-03 as either head coach or co-head coach, coached golf for six years and soccer for two years and had a state runner-up finish in both. But for her, it wasn’t about the coaching, and it definitely wasn’t a desire to leave ESA. “I love it here,” she said. “It’s my home and my family. The kids and the parents I wouldn’t trade for anything. But the parents and the kids know me and know I’m an adventurer. I have an adventurous spirit and I love doing different things. “My window of opportunity is ripe right now, with 20 years experience. If I wait too much longer, there are a lot of jobs I wouldn’t be able to consider. It’s the time in my life that if I’m going to make a move, it’s now.” Quoyeser will be working at one of the nation’s most academically renowned secondary schools. In addition to teaching, she will likely assist with softball and other sports and coach an early-grade volleyball team. “It’s basically a year of not being a head coach,” Quoyeser said, “and being there to support others. I think I have a lot to offer in terms of supporting their programs. When they saw I played softball for Yvette (Girouard) at USL, they were pretty excited and wanted to get me involved there.” Quoyeser had been searching for such an opportunity through The Education Group, a head-hunting source for independent schools. Her original plan was to look in Colorado or Arizona. “They (the group) kept asking if I’d consider Houston,” she said, “and I kept telling them no. Finally I said to put my name in there, and I got contacted by about 10 schools. I did research and decided I wanted to interview at St. John’s.” The River Oaks-area school features kindergarten through 12th grade, an alignment that was important to Quoyeser. “There’s so much more fulfillment in high school coaching,” she said, “and especially places like this where you can work with kids early and be a part of their growth as a person and not just an athlete. It’s the human story, not the wins and losses.” Quoyeser played volleyball at then-USL and was on the school’s first softball team in 1981, and followed her playing career with a two-year stint as the Cajuns’ volleyball coach. She also coached the sport at Lafayette High for four years and had a national top-10 program at Pasco-Hernando Community College in Florida when the ESA position came open. At the time, ESA had won seven straight state titles, and she followed that streak with nine more on the way to a 335-108 career record. Nearly all of the losses and more than half of the wins came against schools in higher classifications. But for Quoyeser, it wasn’t about the wins or the trophies. In fact, she said that this year, when ESA lost in the state semifinals, was the most rewarding of her career. “It was because of the girls I coached and their families,” she said. “The most rewarding thing this year was in the dressing room, after we lost in the semifinals, it wasn’t a cry-fest. We talked about how much we’d grown up this year and how much we’d gained even though we didn’t win the big trophy. “When I walked out in the lobby where the parents were, several came up and hugged me and said thanks for coaching my daughter, but thanks more for teaching her about life.” Originally published April 7, 2005
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