Cindi Simmons compiled a brilliant record as a coach in two different sports at Sylva-Webster and then Smoky Mountain High School when Sylva-Webster and Cullowhee merged. A graduate of Hayesville High and then Western Carolina University, Simmons was a star high school and college athlete. She captained the WCU women’s basketball team in 1981-82 and was seventh on the school’s all-time scoring list.  She went on to coach volleyball 26 seasons and basketball for 30, winning three state titles in volleyball and the 2007 NCHSAA 2-A title in basketball. Her career mark in basketball was a stellar 512-279, and she won 11 conference championships and almost 400 matches in volleyball. She has earned a number of previous honors, including the NCHSAA’s prestigious Toby Webb Coach of the Year award in 2008. She was the first female president of the North Carolina Coaches Association, during the 2005-06 academic year, and joined the Western Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.