On one hand, the timing couldn’t have been worse.
When William “Bronko” Van Horn made his presence known to the world on March 15 – weighing in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces and measuring 21 inches long – his mother Juliana and father Darin were already in the middle of the season coaching the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga beach volleyball team.
Because Darin’s the head coach and Juliana the director of operations for the entire program, both indoor and beach volleyball had kept their lives pretty busy long before Bronko arrived. And as she tried to return to the sideline after Bronko’s birth, the usual new mother fears and doubts arose inside her.
“Was I crazy for doing this?” she’d ask herself. “Am I at all prepared for this?”
On their son’s 10th day on earth, she got her answer. At least in her world – one driven by UTC volleyball; both the athletes who play it and the parents who support it – she would have a strong, loving village to help the couple raise their first child.