Girls Preparatory School has hired Bailey Winel as its head varsity volleyball coach. Winel replaces Jasmine Bravo-Brown, a GPS alumna and Athletic Hall of Famer, who is moving to Ohio.
Coach Winel is already a familiar face to some on the GPS campus; she has worked as an assistant coach of the Bruisers’ middle school lacrosse and varsity track teams over the last three years.
She brings to her new role a wealth of volleyball experience, as a player and a coach.
“We look forward to the opportunity to continue the momentum in our volleyball program that has been building over the last two years,” says Jay Watts, GPS director of athletics. “We are fortunate to have someone with Bailey’s background who is already familiar with our campus and our student-athletes.”
Watts says he looked for a candidate who could support, challenge, and celebrate GPS student-athletes at the highest level as both a coach and mentor, understanding what is truly best for our girls. “Bailey’s unique experiences will add value to our athletic program in a number of areas. Most importantly, however, she connects with her athletes in a very sincere and positive way to create a team atmosphere that will allow our girls to thrive on and off the court.”
For the past four years, Winel has been the head coach for the Navy Wounded Warriors volleyball program, where she has led her team to gold medal finishes in 2017, 2018, and 2019. From 2015 to 2017, she was the head volleyball coach for Newcastle High School in Newcastle, Oklahoma. She also served as the site director for the Oklahoma High School Class 3A State Volleyball Championships in 2016. In addition to these experiences, she has also been involved on the club side as the head coach of the 16-National and 15’s (premier) teams with the Oklahoma Charge Volleyball Club.
“I am really excited to be given this opportunity to lead such an amazing volleyball program,” Winel says. “I look forward to becoming more involved with the girls and the GPS community I have known for the past few years.”
Winel attended Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) on a NCAA Division I scholarship for track and field before transferring to the University of Oklahoma (Norman) to finish her bachelor’s degree and obtain a master’s of education in adult and higher education, with a concentration in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration. She moved to Chattanooga in 2017.