About Mari Winter

Coaching Career

Mari has been the Head Women’s Volleyball Coach at the University of Redlands since 2004. In 2006, she led U of R to their best finish in school history by advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and garnering the program's first and second postseason victories. Mari earned her Bachelor of Science in Sociology from BYU in 2000 and then joined the coaching staff for the Cougars two years later. Mari served as an assistant coach under head coach Karen Lamb at BYU for three seasons. Prior to her full time appointment, Winter served as volunteer assistant under former coach Elaine Michaels. At this point, she began working as head volleyball coach for many club volleyball teams.

Mari served as the head volleyball coach of the American Fork High School while working in the BYU Athletic Department. She was an assistant promotions coordinator in BYU's marketing department from August 2000 to March 2001 and was the director of the school's Cosmo's Kids Club from April 2000 to July 2001. She also served as the marketing director for the Wasatch Volleyball Festival in 2001.

We are proud to have Mari as part of our YVC family again this year. Her philosophy and positive approach make her a perfect fit for our club. As Director of Program & Player Development, Mari will be helping to shape every aspect of YVC. She will be working 1 on 1 with all of our players at many practices to help them grow in both their skills and confidence. She brings with her the experience and understanding of a successful college coach and player. Mari knows how to analyze, correct, and mold players into the best athletes they can be. She brings her expertise to our coaching staff as well. Mari will be working very closely with all of our coaches to train them, to develop purposeful practice plans, to maximize player talent, and ensure that we provide every player with the highest quality club volleyball program possible. We look forward to working with Mari, and we know that our players will benefit greatly from the work that she will put in this season.

Mari served as the grassroots director of USA Volleyball's Intermountain Region, where she organized and implemented youth leagues and coaches volleyball clinics. She served as the head coach of the High Performance 14 Camp, High Country Volleyball Club 16-1 Elite Team (2000-2002), Klub Boom 17-1 (2003-2004) and Excel Volleyball Camp (Beaver, Utah), and as a coach for USA Volleyball Intermountain Region High Performance Youth 1 Team, SCVA USA High Performance 1 team, and the USA Youth National Team. She has been actively involved as a director and coach in a variety of summer camps dating back to 1995. In July 2003, as the head coach of the Intermountain Junior National volleyball team, she took the team to Russia as part of the Utah-Moscow Summer Games. In July of 2004 she was the head coach of the SCVA High Performance 1 team that took 3rd at the national tournament in Austin Texas. She worked as the Director/Coach of Southern California Volleyball Association’s High Performance Program until 2006. From 2004 until present Mari has served as the President and Founder of her own summer camp and coaching educational business- ARCHER sports, Inc.

Playing Career
A player for the BYU Cougars in 1998 and 1999, Mari earned second-team All-Mountain West Conference honors as an outside hitter, helping BYU to records of 31-4 and 28-5 while advancing to the NCAA regional finals and semifinals. The 6-foot-4 hitter was an intimidating figure on the left side, averaging 3.4 kills per game while hitting .340 over her two seasons. Her career attack percentage of .340 ranks second on BYU's all-time list. She achieved single-match career highs of 24 kills (vs. Hawaii in the WAC tournament title match on Nov. 28, 1998), eight blocks (vs. Wisconsin in an NCAA tournament win on Dec. 4, 1999), six digs (achieved twice) and a .846 hitting percentage (going 11-0-13 vs. Utah State on Sept. 17, 1999). As a senior, she hit .300 or better in 17 of the 26 matches. A two-sport athlete, Mari earned seven varsity letters in volleyball and basketball. Prior to coming to BYU she was a first-team NJCAA All-American at Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) in Rexburg, Idaho, where she led the nation in kills with an average of 5.7 per game. The two-sport star was named the Ricks College Alumni of the Year in 2000. Burningham was named an honorable mention All-Pac-10 freshman in volleyball at UCLA in 1995, where she also played basketball.

Playing at Sky View High School in Smithfield, Utah, Winter was Utah's 4A Most Valuable Player in volleyball in 1994 and in basketball in 1994 and 1995. The Logan, Utah, native was a member of the USA Youth National Volleyball Team in 1994.

A team leader, Mari was selected a team captain at both BYU and Ricks College. She received the 2000 Floyd Johnson Service Award from the BYU Cougar Club, presented annually to a student-athlete for outstanding community service. A featured speaker at more than 50 community and youth events, she also was a member of the BYU Student-Athlete Advisory Counsel (1999-2000), BYU University Athletic Advisory Counsel (2000), BYU Athletic Recruiting Counsel (2000) and was a presenter for the NCAA's national Buff Don't Puff program and was an active member in the youth Mentor Program.

Click Here To Connect To Mari’s College Program at the University of Redlands