Reita Clanton

Reita Clanton grew up in a small town in Alabama and first went to junior college, but later attended and graduated from Auburn University. At Auburn she played on the basketball team, and taught herself how to play volleyball to play collegiately in that sport as well. In addition, she played club softball and after graduating, coached Auburn’s first varsity softball teams. After graduation in 1974 Clanton coached high school basketball and taught, when the Auburn coach told her of a letter recruiting athletes to the US Olympic Training Center for the handball team.

Although she had never played the sport, her athletic skills got her onto the US National Team in the late 70s. Like many athletes, Clanton’s dreams were crushed by the 1980 US Olympic boycott, but she stayed with the US National Team while serving as an assistant basketball coach at Middle Tennessee State University. She later served as an assistant coach for the US team at the 1996 Olympics and for various handball teams at the US Olympic Festival from 1985-95, and carried the Olympic Torch prior to the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, being involved in all three US Olympics over a 20-year period.