Deborah Surgi has coached All-District, All-State, State MVPs, All-Academic, Scholarship Athletes, and two All-Americans. Her athletes went on to teach and coach at the elementary, middle, high, and college levels, as well as in the corporate world. Deb was one of the first Title IX collegiate scholarship athletes at the University of New Orleans, where she played basketball and volleyball. She was a member of the Delta Regional Championship Team of the United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) during her collegiate career (1972 - 1982). She also represented the University of Texas in Arlington at the national level for the AAU and USVBA Nationals. In 1981, she was named a Sugar Bowl Athlete, and she graduated with the highest hitting (spiking) percentage in team history, as well as being named All-Conference in Louisiana. She was invited to join Drexel University's adjunct faculty in the Master's Program in Sports Administration after serving as a guest lecturer at Temple University's Graduate School of Sports Administration.

 

Deborah Surgi earned a BS in Health and Physical Education and an MEd in Health and Counseling from the University of New Orleans. She graduated from Tulane University's Freeman School of Business with a Master's Certificate in Business Management and completed her athletic training.
Deb believes, when considering her philosophy on all-girls athletics, "Athletics is a rich learning environment that mirrors many of our societal structures, allowing young women to face a variety of challenges such as dealing with failure, working with a diverse group of people, confronting personal weaknesses and strengths, and learning the value of teamwork, humility, self-discipline, and focus. Our goal is to not only provide a diverse range of athletic experiences, but also to assist each young woman and team in achieving high levels of progress and success in terms of winning."