Lady Rabb Comes Full Circle

By Gordon Pynes

Last Spring Atlanta ISD hired Melissa Waddell to be the next Lady Rabbs Volleyball Coach. The move completes quite a journey for Coach Waddell who graduated from Atlanta High School in the class of 1995. From there she went on to college in Marshall at East Texas Baptist University (ETBU). Graduating from there in 1999, Melissa began a coaching career which has spanned 25 years. Now she returns to continue where she began with the Lady Rabbs. In addition, as she takes on the new job she will be inducted into the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony on October 11th prior to the Atlanta - Sabine football game kickoff. Along with Coach Ravon Justice, Coach Waddell will be a unique inductee by being still active in athletics.

Moving to Atlanta to begin the second grade, Melissa took up summer softball. She fell in love with the game and then would be engulfed in just about any sport she chose to play. As a seventh grader she chose to play volleyball and soon after basketball. Sports would become a big part of her life from then on. Then high school volleyball coach Kirby McCord visited the middle school volleyball practices and quickly noticed the intensity Melissa brought to the game. As she entered high school as a freshman, Coach McCord moved her on to the varsity squad. Not many freshmen play at the varsity level on Lady Rabb teams. Next, came basketball and Coach Donna Walker moved her on to the varsity also. That freshman year she would be honored as Freshman of the Year. Waddell would play both sports for her four years in high school. As Melissa began her junior year, Atlanta started up a girls softball program and she was back in the game she first loved. Playing both shortstop and pitcher she excelled on the diamond also. Her senior year she helped lead the Lady Rabbs to a District softball crown. Earlier she had sparked the Volleyball team to a District title.

During her four years at Atlanta High Melissa garnered about every honor possible.  he was in and around all the sports. In 1994 she was the cheer leader Rabbit and led the Rabbit fans cheering for the state finalist football team playing in the Astrodome. That same year she was voted the Homecoming Queen. At the Rabbit Sports Banquet in both her junior and senior year Waddell capped her high school sports participation as winner of the Carolyn Johnson award as the Most Athletic Lady Rabb.

Speaking with Coaches McCord and Walker recently, they still remember how Melissa contributed to Lady Rabb sports. She stood out with her attitude, intensity, hustle, overall leadership and desire to constantly learn in each sport. They saw her as the ultimate team player. Needless to say, Waddell was easy to coach. Such displayed traits would carry over in college and on to her coaching career.

At graduation she considered a scholarship to play softball at Hill College in Hillsboro. However, the death of her grandmother made her decide to stay closer to her family. Based on the recommendation of her Pastor, she decided to attend East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.  Melissa walked on and made the volleyball team as a freshmen. Next came club softball for a season. Knowing that ETBU was starting a full fledged softball program the following season Waddell, chose to give full time to the softball team. She enjoyed a first season of the college game as a pitcher. Then prior to her junior year, a severe shoulder injury ended her playing days.

Fresh out of ETBU in 1999, Melissa was hired to start a softball program at nearby McLeod. According to then Athletic Director Tommy Brown, she laid a solid foundation for the sport in two years which resulted in several subsequent playoff spots for the Lady Longhorns. Next came a four year Volleyball stint at Kilgore and then to coach both VB and softball at Longview Pine Tree. She moved on to coach both sports at Tatum for eight years. Then back to Pine Tree for six more years. During those 25 years she produced champion teams and had one in the State’s top Ten. Her record earned the Fellowship of Christian Athletes All Star Softball coach in 2019. Now, almost three decades later the Atlanta High School gym will again be a place familiar to her.

As a player and coach Melissa Waddell has earned her place in the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024.