LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Since 2002, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) has designed programming to assist minority coaches in gaining access to the coaching profession and advance in their coaching careers. 

2020 marks the fifth year for the AVCA Diversity Awards—which consist of full AVCA Convention registration and five nights lodging for the winners. The Big 12 Conference sponsored an AVCA Diversity Award in June 2020 and encouraged other conferences to do the same. 
 
The eight Ivy League volleyball head coaches were among the first to answer that call—and 1-of-14 conference head coaching bodies to raise the requisite $1,000 to sponsor a 2020 AVCA Diversity Award. 
 
The recipient of that award? Former Dartmouth student-athlete and current Big Green assistant coach Zoe Leonard. 

Despite never visiting Dartmouth—or the East Coast—ahead of enrolling, Leonard had a realization that “if [her] volleyball career ended on the first day of the season [her] freshman year, [she] would still be happy” after connecting with every possible alum she could and not hearing “a single negative thing” about Dartmouth.
 
A two-time team captain, Leonard capped her career as an Academic All-Ivy and Second Team All-Ivy honoree in 2018, after leading the team with a career-high 320 digs. After her playing career ended, Leonard always knew coaching would end up in her future in some capacity, following in the footsteps of her father, Chris Leonard, who is now the head coach at NCAA Division II Hawaii at Hilo. 
 
Even before finding out that she would be receiving the Ivy League’s sponsored AVCA Diversity Award, Leonard was supportive of the program, “I think it’s a phenomenal initiative that the AVCA has. The Ivy League was the second conference to match the Big 12 on fundraising for this award and I was so excited that as a League this was something we were committed to be involved in.” 
 
Having taken the assistant coaching position at Dartmouth on March 6 and been at home in Hawaii since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Leonard was stunned to hear that the Ivy League coaches were supporting her with this honor before even coaching a collegiate match, “I feel really grateful that not only did my coaching staff feel confident, but the rest of the League coaches—who had known me as a player—were willing to back me and thought I was a good fit for this program. To be recognized as a young coach who is committed to the sport of volleyball is an honor.” 
 
For the 2020 AVCA Diversity Award program, recipients will participate in a series of educational, developmental, and relationship building experiences in conjunction with the 2020 AVCA Virtual Convention, December 16-19, with all 2020 AVCA Diversity Award winners being invited to in-person programming at the 2021 AVCA Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Recipients will also be integrated into the AVCA Diversity Award winner alumni program that consists of continuing education, relationship building, and mentoring upon completion of the initial programming.
 
Leonard is 1-of-40 honorees in the largest class of AVCA Diversity Award recipients to date.