“Follow me if you want to live!!” Toni Crebbin — coach, mom, mentor and laser tag beast, all rolled into one.
Two decades.
That’s how long Toni Crebbin was involved in the Coupeville High School volleyball program, first as an assistant, than as head coach of the Wolves.
A firm leader (“We don’t back down … ever,” she once said when asked what it took for the small 1A school to compete in the Cascade Conference, where five of the other seven programs are much-larger 2A schools), she also had a soft side, frequently joking with and teasing her players.
What was always remarkable about her CHS teams was how her players never seemed (in public, at least) to get down on one another.
They celebrated as a team when one of their own made a great play and they kidded each other, but never screamed at one another, when a player failed.
I have to think a large part of that comes from the zen-like Crebbin, a mother of four who, off the court, devotes a chunk of her life to helping poor and crippled orphans in China.
Crebbin’s impact will be felt long after she leaves the bench, something you can easily tell by the words of some of her current and former players.
“I’ve learned so much from her in the two years I’ve been playing in high school. She was an amazing coach,” said sophomore middle blocker Hailey Hammer. “The whole locker room was in tears when she told us the news. It’s sad to see her go, but we understand why she is doing it.
“Crebbin and (departing assistant coach) Shannon Holcomb) will be missed so much, but we know that they will always be with us.”
Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, a star player on teams in the early 2000’s that went to state several years running, first played for Crebbin as a member of the JV team when she was a freshman.
“Coach Crebbin really helped me develop my fundamental skills as a volleyball player,” Ellsworth-Bagby said. “I think she has great knowledge and skill for helping players reach their potential. The program will most definitely miss her.”
That was a feeling seconded by Taya Boonstra, who graduated last year and is now attending the University of Washington.
“Having Mrs. Crebbin as a coach was an honor,” Boonstra said. “She is one of the most sincere, caring women I have ever met, and an inspiration not only on the volleyball court but in life as well.
“Mrs. Crebbin was like a second mother, because if you were having a bad day, she could tell, and she’d pull you aside and make sure everything was okay,” she added. “What I love most about Mrs. Crebbin is that she truly cares about her players as individuals, and she believed in us as a team when not many other people did.
“She has put her heart and soul into her teams for years, and I know Coupeville will be on the right track if they can find a coach half as kind and inspiring as Mrs. Crebbin.”
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