By Meliyah Venerable/Delta Sports Editor 

The Missouri Valley College men’s and women’s Powerlifting team welcomes Casey Carpenter as their new coach this season. This is his first year as a head coach for a powerlifting team, but he has been a strength and conditioning coach for five years now. He is very eager for the season to start. 

One thing that brought Carpenter to Missouri Valley was the tradition within the athletic department. He was impressed with the amount of winning programs and top notch facilities that we have at Valley. He also noted that he enjoyed the sense of family that you get when you are on campus and in the various facilities around MoVal.

“I was really excited about the athletic tradition here, a lot of very winning programs,” he said. “I think the facilities are second to none…but definitely the winning traditions and then the sense of family that is pervading here.” 

Coach Carpenter started his coaching journey with an internship at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. the fall after he graduated. He then moved to Houston, Texas, then Jackson Miss. for about 6 months. He was in Kentucky for the last four years until he found his new home at Missouri Valley. 

Carpenter grew up around sports his whole life, so it just felt natural to become a coach and continue the tradition of sports being a constant in his life. The more he got into coaching, the more he realized the impact he could make on people’s lives and this is what made him work to become an even better coach. He has some advice for students wanting to pursue coaching as well. 

“As far as people that want to get into it don’t be afraid to go ask questions, go talk to people that do what you think you want to do, he said. “Try to Shadow them for a little bit figure out if that is what you want to do and don’t be afraid to just put in the effort. It takes a lot of work, sometimes you got to work for free for a little bit but I think it pays off in the end.” 

The powerlifting team starts their season in October, and Coach Carpenter is very excited to start the season. And continue to build the team as lifters and as people. 

“I want to build a close knit team that really enjoys being around each other. And continue to get better every year… I just want our kids to get a little stronger and a little better. And feeling like they come out of each year better. If we do that, we’ll end up winning more than losing,” Carpenter said.