NIACC Athletics Alumni Features

Tina Carter

By Jarrod Tell

After graduating from Alden High School in 1994, Tina Carter (formerly known as Tina Harding) had to make a decision like any other multi-sport athlete. Carter, a successful athlete in three sports earning 1st team all conference in volleyball, softball, and basketball, and earned 1st team all conference honors in all three sports, had to figure out how to balance her athletics with her academics.

"Coming out of high school, I was undecided if I was going to play basketball or volleyball," said Carter. "I considered going out for softball, but I thought it would be too much."

In the end she chose both volleyball and basketball, and while with those programs, she helped those programs to successful and memorable seasons. In 1994, the volleyball team went 37-7 and the basketball team went 21-10. And in 1995, the volleyball team went 42-9 while the basketball team was 22-9. The transition from NIACC volleyball to NIACC basketball was rough, but NIACC made a bigger transition easier for Carter.

"We had a ton of success, we went to nationals for volleyball both years I was at NIACC, and placed in the top three in the conference when I played basketball there. The two sports overlapped by six weeks, so it was a tough transition from one to the other. Overall it was a great experience in sports as well as in the classroom. It was a good transition from a small high school to a university."

The victories to get to nationals are two of Carter’s best memories while being a student-athlete at NIACC. But another favorite memory was a road trip in 1995 to see an important moment in NIACC athletics.

"Both times we qualified for nationals we played Southwestern Community College, one of our more powerful rivals and we beat them both times. That was a pretty special time for our team to play at the national tournaments.

"The other memorable moment was when I went with a group of four of my basketball teammates to watch the men’s basketball team win the national championship in Danville, Illinois. It was great to see the men pull that off. The trip was long but it was worth it."

Carter was named first team all-region in volleyball her sophomore year, capping off her career at NIACC.

Volleyball Nationals were in Florida both years, giving the schools in the southern states easy access to potential recruits. When it was all said and done, Carter said she was interested in going to one of three schools.

"I looked at going to Tulane University, the University of New Orleans, and Southern Methodist University in Dallas. In the end I chose SMU. I loved the campus. The competition was strong and it was easy to get to for my parents."

While at SMU, Carter averaged two kills and two digs per game and earned all Western Athletic Conference academic honors while pursuing a psychology degree. After graduating from SMU, Carter decided to get back in a sports related area. She came back to Iowa and earned a master’s degree in sports management from Iowa State in 2001.

Before coming back to Iowa, she began coaching volleyball teams which opened different doors of opportunity along the way. She started coaching for a Dallas 14 & under club team in 1997 before coaching at the Episcopal School of Dallas in 1998.

After she moved back to Iowa, she coached at Southeast Polk in 1999, and also coached another club team in Ames for two years. In 2000 she became a graduate assistant coach at Drake University and, after leaving for two years, came back as an assistant coach at Drake in 2003.

In 2005, Carter became a volunteer assistant at Iowa State, a position she said had the same time commitments as a paid assistant and also allowed her time to raise her daughter. She stopped being a volunteer assistant after the 2006 season, and now is an analyst at Wells Fargo Corporate in Des Moines. She says her experiences coaching were "unbelievable", and she is still active in volleyball, being a member of the board of directors for the Iowa region of USA volleyball.

Carter leaves some advice for NIACC student-athletes about emphasizing the student part of student-athlete.

"Find a balance between being an athlete and a student. You’re only an athlete for so long, but what you learn in the classroom will help you after you’re done with athletics."

Carter, who is 31, lives in Des Moines and is married to Scott Carter. Scott and Tina have one daughter, Lauren, who is three.

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