University of Georgia Athletics
Photo by: Tony Walsh
Quick Chat: Felicia Turner
April 06, 2020 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Like all of us, Georgia volleyball associate head coach Felicia Turner has a lot on her mind lately. Unlike most of us, she and her husband Johnathan are living their lives amid the coronavirus pandemic while also expecting their first child in about six weeks.
Turner grew up in Laguna Niguel, Calif., not far from Los Angeles, and played for Georgia coach Tom Black when he was at Loyola Marymount University. She then coached under him at LMU and came with him to Athens when Black took over at Georgia in late 2016.
During a recent Quick Chat, Turner talked about preparing for motherhood during a pandemic, choosing a name for their unborn son, the joys of beach volleyball, working with Black for so many years and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: As someone that's about to become a mom, how are you handling all of this?
Turner: I think what's good is obviously I have my husband here and it's a blessing that he has a job still. You hear of so many people who are losing their jobs, so we're blessed that he still has that as well as myself.
The biggest question for us is, whenever our son, his name is Tustin by the way — [laughs] we already gave him a name.
Frierson: That's an interesting name, does it mean anything?
Turner: It's actually the city in California where my husband and I had our first date. I have to give the props to my husband, he thought of the name.
One of the things we've been thinking about is what do we do once he's born. There's a lot of talk about hospitals in New York not allowing your spouse to come into the delivery room with the mom, so for me, I'm like, my husband needs to be there. Not only for my sanity but for him, he needs to be around our child. That's just a memory you can't get back.
That right now is a question that's up in the air. Help is another thing. My mom and sister actually have been doing a self-quarantine by choice, that way they could come help and be around us, which is awesome for us. We're just letting that take care of itself and going day-by-day, controlling what we can control and dealing with what's out of our hands.
I'm due May 20th and I'm hoping we're past that hump by then, but you never know.
Frierson: Was volleyball the only sport you really played growing up or did you bounce around between a lot of them?
Turner: I did cheerleading, I did karate and taekwondo, I did tennis, which was the sport I played right before I started playing volleyball. My mom found an article in the newspaper about volleyball tryouts and she was like, hey, do you want to try this? And I was like, why not?
I was 10 at that point and I fell in love with it, and I was playing it all the time after that, until I graduated college and then I played some beach (volleyball) after that for fun.
Frierson: What was it about volleyball that struck a chord with you?
Turner: I just loved how competitive it was. Tennis and all the sports and activities I did before that were fun and kind of time-fillers, but then volleyball was just so competitive and I loved the team aspect of it. It gave me a different feeling, which was really cool.
Frierson: You and Tom have worked together as either player-coach or colleagues for a lot of years now — it may be the longest relationship you have outside of your family and childhood friends — so why has this worked so well for so long?
Turner: It's cool because I feel like we've gotten to know each other in two different aspects, the player-coach relationship is one and after that the coach-to-coach relationship. In both aspects, I just respect him a ton. I see his drive for the sport and wanting not only for his players to be the best they can be, but also his coaches too.
What's cool about when I became a coach is that he wants you to be the best coach you can be and he takes you under his wing and helps you not only listen to his insight but other people around him. I continue to get better and I don't feel like I'm plateauing. That's what's cool, our relationship is getting stronger and I'm continuing to grow as a coach and a person.
Frierson: I know you coached sand volleyball at LMU and we all see beach volleyball during the Olympics and things like that, so how different a sport is it for those of you that play it?
Turner: Beach volleyball is something I can never talk enough about. I love beach volleyball, I loved it as a player and I loved coaching it. There are ways that it's similar (to indoor volleyball) and there are ways that it's really different, not only the numbers on the court but you have to be good at every skill.
If you're playing 6-on-6, you can kind of hide (your weaknesses) and get away with it. When you're playing 2-on-2, if you're not good at a skill it's going to be exploited like crazy. I love that, I love being able to play the whole game — I also loved being on a soft surface because I had a lot of injuries in college and I did not feel that as much on the beach.
I also think that mentally, beach is a different game. It's just you and your partner and the relationships are amplified, the communication is amplified, and you're playing outside. What could be better than that?
Frierson: When Tom took the Georgia job, was it a bit of a leap of faith to move all the way across the country to a program that doesn't yet have a rich volleyball history?
Turner: I think the leap of faith is exactly what it was. I played at LMU and then coached there for several seasons, so that was all I knew and that was my home and I absolutely loved it.
My husband was my boyfriend at the time and he was like, it can only go up from here. This is a program that you know can be stronger and we can get them on track. Moving cross country, we're only going to grow as people and in my job. We just saw all these upsides and we were like, let's do it.
I'd rather do it and say, oh, shoot, at least I learned from it, than not do it and have regrets. I am so glad we took that leap of faith.
Frierson: What is the best or most memorable meal you've ever eaten?
Turner: Wow, that is an insane question. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it was back when I was playing club volleyball, so I was younger, and it was this steakhouse that my friend and her mom were taking us to. I order a steak and I am the biggest steak eater, and it came out on this sizzling plate. It was perfectly medium-rare and I'm like, this is insane!
I just feel terrible because I don't remember the name of the place, but that was the best meal ever.
Frierson: Have you been chasing that steakhouse high ever since?
Turner: Yeah, for sure. I'm all about trying different steaks and I don't think one has ever gotten close to that. Maybe one of these days.
Frierson: When I think back to being a kid, I just remember how basic everything was. The world has made such huge technological leaps in the last 30-plus years, so what is it like preparing to be a parent in 2020?
Turner: Everything I read says to talk to your mom about certain things you might need when you're pregnant or when your child is born, but they also recommend that you talk to people your age because technology has changed so much.
For example, we've got this thing on our registry that's called the Owlet, it's a sock that you put on your baby that can detect their pulse. That's so unheard of from back when I was young and there is so much technology that's out there that's insane. Some of the things I'm like, I don't know if we need that, but others it's like, we need to take advantage of it.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Like all of us, Georgia volleyball associate head coach Felicia Turner has a lot on her mind lately. Unlike most of us, she and her husband Johnathan are living their lives amid the coronavirus pandemic while also expecting their first child in about six weeks.
Turner grew up in Laguna Niguel, Calif., not far from Los Angeles, and played for Georgia coach Tom Black when he was at Loyola Marymount University. She then coached under him at LMU and came with him to Athens when Black took over at Georgia in late 2016.
During a recent Quick Chat, Turner talked about preparing for motherhood during a pandemic, choosing a name for their unborn son, the joys of beach volleyball, working with Black for so many years and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: As someone that's about to become a mom, how are you handling all of this?
Turner: I think what's good is obviously I have my husband here and it's a blessing that he has a job still. You hear of so many people who are losing their jobs, so we're blessed that he still has that as well as myself.
The biggest question for us is, whenever our son, his name is Tustin by the way — [laughs] we already gave him a name.
Frierson: That's an interesting name, does it mean anything?
Turner: It's actually the city in California where my husband and I had our first date. I have to give the props to my husband, he thought of the name.
One of the things we've been thinking about is what do we do once he's born. There's a lot of talk about hospitals in New York not allowing your spouse to come into the delivery room with the mom, so for me, I'm like, my husband needs to be there. Not only for my sanity but for him, he needs to be around our child. That's just a memory you can't get back.
That right now is a question that's up in the air. Help is another thing. My mom and sister actually have been doing a self-quarantine by choice, that way they could come help and be around us, which is awesome for us. We're just letting that take care of itself and going day-by-day, controlling what we can control and dealing with what's out of our hands.
I'm due May 20th and I'm hoping we're past that hump by then, but you never know.
Frierson: Was volleyball the only sport you really played growing up or did you bounce around between a lot of them?
Turner: I did cheerleading, I did karate and taekwondo, I did tennis, which was the sport I played right before I started playing volleyball. My mom found an article in the newspaper about volleyball tryouts and she was like, hey, do you want to try this? And I was like, why not?
I was 10 at that point and I fell in love with it, and I was playing it all the time after that, until I graduated college and then I played some beach (volleyball) after that for fun.
Frierson: What was it about volleyball that struck a chord with you?
Turner: I just loved how competitive it was. Tennis and all the sports and activities I did before that were fun and kind of time-fillers, but then volleyball was just so competitive and I loved the team aspect of it. It gave me a different feeling, which was really cool.
Frierson: You and Tom have worked together as either player-coach or colleagues for a lot of years now — it may be the longest relationship you have outside of your family and childhood friends — so why has this worked so well for so long?
Turner: It's cool because I feel like we've gotten to know each other in two different aspects, the player-coach relationship is one and after that the coach-to-coach relationship. In both aspects, I just respect him a ton. I see his drive for the sport and wanting not only for his players to be the best they can be, but also his coaches too.
What's cool about when I became a coach is that he wants you to be the best coach you can be and he takes you under his wing and helps you not only listen to his insight but other people around him. I continue to get better and I don't feel like I'm plateauing. That's what's cool, our relationship is getting stronger and I'm continuing to grow as a coach and a person.
Frierson: I know you coached sand volleyball at LMU and we all see beach volleyball during the Olympics and things like that, so how different a sport is it for those of you that play it?
Turner: Beach volleyball is something I can never talk enough about. I love beach volleyball, I loved it as a player and I loved coaching it. There are ways that it's similar (to indoor volleyball) and there are ways that it's really different, not only the numbers on the court but you have to be good at every skill.
If you're playing 6-on-6, you can kind of hide (your weaknesses) and get away with it. When you're playing 2-on-2, if you're not good at a skill it's going to be exploited like crazy. I love that, I love being able to play the whole game — I also loved being on a soft surface because I had a lot of injuries in college and I did not feel that as much on the beach.
I also think that mentally, beach is a different game. It's just you and your partner and the relationships are amplified, the communication is amplified, and you're playing outside. What could be better than that?
Frierson: When Tom took the Georgia job, was it a bit of a leap of faith to move all the way across the country to a program that doesn't yet have a rich volleyball history?
Turner: I think the leap of faith is exactly what it was. I played at LMU and then coached there for several seasons, so that was all I knew and that was my home and I absolutely loved it.
My husband was my boyfriend at the time and he was like, it can only go up from here. This is a program that you know can be stronger and we can get them on track. Moving cross country, we're only going to grow as people and in my job. We just saw all these upsides and we were like, let's do it.
I'd rather do it and say, oh, shoot, at least I learned from it, than not do it and have regrets. I am so glad we took that leap of faith.
Frierson: What is the best or most memorable meal you've ever eaten?
Turner: Wow, that is an insane question. I don't remember the name of the restaurant but it was back when I was playing club volleyball, so I was younger, and it was this steakhouse that my friend and her mom were taking us to. I order a steak and I am the biggest steak eater, and it came out on this sizzling plate. It was perfectly medium-rare and I'm like, this is insane!
I just feel terrible because I don't remember the name of the place, but that was the best meal ever.
Frierson: Have you been chasing that steakhouse high ever since?
Turner: Yeah, for sure. I'm all about trying different steaks and I don't think one has ever gotten close to that. Maybe one of these days.
Frierson: When I think back to being a kid, I just remember how basic everything was. The world has made such huge technological leaps in the last 30-plus years, so what is it like preparing to be a parent in 2020?
Turner: Everything I read says to talk to your mom about certain things you might need when you're pregnant or when your child is born, but they also recommend that you talk to people your age because technology has changed so much.
For example, we've got this thing on our registry that's called the Owlet, it's a sock that you put on your baby that can detect their pulse. That's so unheard of from back when I was young and there is so much technology that's out there that's insane. Some of the things I'm like, I don't know if we need that, but others it's like, we need to take advantage of it.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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