Two Wins and a Baby: Three Days with the Winders

FRESNO, Calif. - First year head coach Jonathan Winder has guided his team to a 4-0 start to lead the Mountain West, earning a pair of thrilling home wins last Thursday over Wyoming and last Saturday against 14-time champion Colorado State. It was a memorable and historic weekend for the 'Dogs and Winder with two big wins against two of the top teams in the league over a three day stretch.

Oh, and he had a baby on the day between the two matches.

Joining the pair of wins that put the Bulldogs on top of the Mountain West standings, coach Winder and his wife, Jaimie-Rose, welcomed their third child, a boy named Hayes Patrick Winder, on Friday, Sept. 28.

"This being the third time we have had a baby during volleyball season, most would think we are crazy or we could plan better but the timing felt right to grow our family each of those times," explained Jaimie-Rose. "After having our second child during season, we agreed we wouldn't have a baby during volleyball season again, yet the timing just felt right for us again."

Prior to hosting Wyoming last Thursday, Fresno State had not hosted a match since Sept. 1. Coach Winder and the team had been on the road for three consecutive weekends as the baby's due date neared.

With a 7:00 p.m. game on Thursday night and a 1:00 p.m. game on Saturday afternoon, the Winder's had a small window of opportunity to welcome baby number three, together before the volleyball team hit the road again on Oct. 3.

"We knew it had to be a C-section," said Winder. "So we were able to pick a day within a pretty small window to do that. It lined up perfectly. We were able to plan it to be on that Friday when I knew I was going to be there and I would have a few days to be there before we are gone again."

Getting ready for a baby comes with months of preparation. Being a first-year coach of a Division I volleyball program takes a lot of preparation as well. The balance between the two was nothing too far out of reach for the Winders.

"My wife has been incredible to understand the demands of coaching and me being at the matches over that weekend. Certainly there was a lot of preparation in the week prior to prepare for the two matches as a coach and certainly a lot of preparation for the baby coming," added Winder. "My wife did a lot of the preparation at home while I was busy trying to prepare for the matches. When we had the baby, we were in the hospital for a while so there was not a lot of sleep, but it was really fun and very exciting. We feel very, very blessed for that entire weekend."

"I am so grateful to the volleyball staff for taking on a bit more so Jonathan could be around these first couple days, to the university's athletic department for the support and excitement and mainly to my incredible husband who finds a way to balance the arrival of a third child sandwiched in between two home matches and to do it all quite gracefully," said Jaimie-Rose.

Winder coached the Fresno State volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Wyoming before getting to meet his new son. Then, he led the team to a 3-1 win over 14-time Mountain West champion Colorado State just hours after the birth. Winder locked in to the present moment to ensure that his focus was in the right place at the right time, giving effort to his team as well as to his family in the times needed.

"In volleyball, we always talk about being present and being present where your feet are. Once you're in it, you're in it. I just had to make sure that I was where I needed to be and I was there 100%. I wasn't at the gym as much as I usually am, I tried to do a lot of that ahead of time but my assistants were fantastic in running practice the night before and getting things ready for the match to take some things off of my plate. Because of that, I was able to be with my wife and the baby as well as present and prepared at that match when I got there."

Coach Winder and his family came to Fresno early in 2018 from Washington, where he served as an assistant indoor women's volleyball coach and head beach volleyball coach at the University of Washington. At the halfway mark of his first year as head coach at Fresno State, Winder has produced an impressive 12-5 (4-0 MW) volleyball team.

"We found out we were expecting our third child after Jonathan was announced as the new volleyball coach at Fresno State. From that point forward, we knew it was going to be beautifully chaotic," added Jaimie-Rose.

"We feel very blessed," Winder said. "It has been a fast process, we moved down here and it has been a lot of fun and a little challenging at the same time but things are definitely going really well."

Being a first year head coach comes with heavy expectations and commitment to grow the program. Growing a family also comes with a lot of expectations and commitment to a home life. Coach Winder has managed to do both, concurrently. His team and his family are both on upward climbs and only looking to continue the momentum.

"It is like we are in this process of development, family wise and program wise. We have a young family with a four year old, a two year old and now a newborn so we are young and developing our family just like we are developing our volleyball program. We are young and building it up and trying to do it the right way. There are a few blips here and there and we will make mistakes but both things [family and program] have gone very well and we are very excited and very blessed to be going in the direction that we are."

Coach Winder truly instilled the "Bulldog Born, Bulldog Bred" legacy into his family with the addition of his third child in the middle of his debut season as head coach at Fresno State. The Winder family attends all the games that they can in order to cheer on their favorite coach, and the newest addition is sure to join them in the stands and watch his dad as he gets older. As the Winder family grows, so will the Fresno State volleyball "family" under Coach Winder's reign.

"We have a family saying which is, 'it is not always going to be easy, but it is going to be good' It is a reminder to us that despite some days being hard, we have the power to choose our perspective and outlook on it all, and right now we may be a bit sleep deprived but our hearts are full and life is good," added Jaimie-Rose.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.

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Two Wins and a Baby: Three Days with the Winders

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