Men’s and Women’s Volleyball coach Jeff Vautrin might be one of the most interesting people on campus.
Aside from helping propel both teams to new heights, he currently plays for and helped found the Boston Bounce Volleyball Club. The Bounce is a professional team and member of the Volleyball League of America (VLA).
He was approached about the offer after his time playing volleyball in Hawaii.
“They were starting another league called the Volleyball League of America and they wanted me to be a part of the Boston-based team,” Vautrin said. “So now I am also the owner of Boston Bounce VLA.”
He compares the VLA to Major League Lacrosse in a financial sense.
“It’s professional but not making money in a crazy amount or anything like that,” Vautrin said.
Senior Men’s Volleyball player Riley Grenier says despite how busy his coach is, he knows that he loves coaching.
“It’s definitely a ton of work for him but he loves the game and when your work is something you love it’s less like work,” Grenier said. “He’s a super busy guy but he loves what he’s doing,” he added.
When asked about how he manages time for two NCAA teams and his professional team, he was very blunt.
“I will tell you that I have very, very limited time,” Vautrin said. “Overall the weekends that I have free are basically for Boston Bounce, and then the weekends when they kind of overlap I try to prioritize Lasell, and then as soon as Lasell’s over I quickly try to go to a Boston Bounce practice or tournament,” he added.
For most, this would be extremely stressful, but first-year libero Autumn Walker says Vautrin knows how to keep moving forward without stressing.
“As a freshman, I came into our season really nervous about the whole experience and he always found a way to keep me calm and push me forward,” Walker said. “He showed me the value of hard work and dedication,” she added.
As a coach, his players have nothing but great things to say about him.
“Jeff works a ton behind the scenes trying to recruit the right pieces and make our program the best it could be,” Grenier says. “Just a few years ago we wouldn’t break the top 3 in the conference and now we’re competing with the best teams in the nation.”
“I’m really grateful to have Jeff as my coach at Lasell,” Walker said. “I do not think that I would be the same as a player and I don’t think this program would be the same if Jeff wasn’t our coach.”