Charlene Horwatt

Coach Horwatt graduated from Hopewell High School and attended Slippery Rock University.  She worked at Zinc Corporation of America before being hired at Beaver Area School District in the fall of 1995, where she served as a Middle School/High School health and physical education teacher, until retiring in January of 2024. During her tenure she was the MS track coach for one season and the MS Ski Club advisor for many winters, but her passion has and always will be volleyball. Her coaching career began in 1989 as an assistant at Slippery Rock High School, while in college. While employed at Zinc, she became the head coach at Western Beaver High School in 1993 where her teams moved from last, to 2nd, and to section champions in 1995.

After three seasons there, she became BAHS’s head coach. It was a competitive team, but Horwatt wanted to build a program, so with the help of a fellow coach, she fought  for/negotiated and got Beaver County athletic directors to initiate a middle school volleyball league. She coached Beaver’s team from the in-house season in 1995-2018. Those middle school teams were inclusive opportunities and boasted rosters of 35-45 athletes. The high school team was under Horwatt’s direction from 1996-2002 & 2007-2017. Her teams put Beaver on the volleyball map and kept it there with an overall record of 228 wins and 97 losses, 5 section titles, 2 WPIAL runner ups, 1 WPIAL championship, and 1 PIAA semifinal appearance. In addition to taking care of Beaver athletes, she also worked with local coaches in the 90s to establish Beaver Valley Premier, the first club program in Beaver County.  Along with coaching, Horwatt has been a PIAA volleyball official for 30 years, a USA official for 25 years, and a college line judge for 8 years. At present, she is the treasurer and co-assigner of the Beaver Valley Volleyball Officials Chapter, with her husband, David.