About Inductee

Sue Marshall, the associate athletic director and crisis management coordinator at Huntsvilles Randolph School, was on her way from the schools Drake Avenue campus to the Garth Road campus a mile away one day last November when she got a call from Eddie Guth, Randolphs director of athletics. Dont go anywhere yet, Guth said. Directed to the main office, Marshall encountered her husband David, Randolph headmaster Byron Hulsey and Guth. Also present were Keith Wilson, Jerry Dugan and Buster Douthit, a trio of former colleagues from her earlier coaching days at crosstown Lee High School. Together, the smiling group conveyed the news that Sue Marshall had been chosen as a member of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fames Class of 2014. Marshall was selected because of 37 years of experience in coaching volleyball, basketball and tennis in a distinguished career in education that began at Lee in 1973 and has continued since she joined the Randolph faculty in 1986. Starting out as Lees volleyball and dance team coach, she organized the schools first girls basketball and tennis programs two years later, becoming an outspoken advocate for more playing time and improved use of facilities for the female athletes. At Randolph, she became a PE teacher and varsity girls basketball coach and oh, by the way, she also coached the volleyball teams to more than 400 victories and two state final four appearances. An avid tennis player since her high school days in Tennessee, she took over Randolphs varsity girls tennis program in 1989 and has coached 18 teams that advanced to sectional titles; two of them finished runners-up in the state. All her successes were logical extensions of her personal experiences at her Tennessee high school and her subsequent athletic career at the University of Tennessee, where she played basketball (before Pat Summitt) and tennis in the late 1960s-early 1970s. It was a different time for both sports at Tennessee, she said, but it was a lot of fun and made me a Vol for life. Her inclusion in the local Hall of Fame, says Eddie Guth, is a great tribute to a special coach who has given so unselfishly to the players she has coached over her career. Its a great way to honor a person who has meant so much for sports in Huntsville, he said. Ive been blessed to have a life rich with friendships, talented athletes, outstanding co-workers and mentors, supportive administrators and incredible family members, Marshall said. My late mother, Loretta Ross, instilled the importance of hard work and helped me understand that a job worth doing was worth doing well. My sister, Sally Dill, and a great friend, Louis Lioce, both now deceased, taught me through their health struggles about the power of courage, patience, perseverance, and the importance of a positive attitude, no matter how tough the situation. I married a great man who supported me wholeheartedly as both an athlete and a coach and encouraged me to pursue my goals. David mustve hit hundreds of thousands of tennis balls to help me hone my skills and prepare for competition. Many of these drills remain basic to my coaching philosophy. Im thankful also for my fellow coaches, especially Carolyn Holt and Steve McGuffey, and the many athletes Ive worked with these past 41 years. David and Sue Marshall have two daughters, Sarah Marshall Morgan and Rebecca Marshall Rigsby. The girls played several sports over the years. We had a great coach, they say. Mom.