TAMPA, Fla. — The kids running up and down the court at Tampa Prep probably didn't know Carol Chalu, but they know her name, because it’s everywhere at the school. And so are all the banners she won.

Chalu’s footprint is all over this Tampa Prep gymnasium, and even though he little ones running all over it might not have known her, they are reaping the benefits of all that she did for the Terrapins.

“There are people who come and go in people’s lives, and I have to tell you, Carol was a special one,” Tampa Prep basketball head coach Joe Fenlon said.

Fenlon has a state championship on his resume, so he can only look at the 12 volleyball titles Chalu won, including six in a row, in awe.

“She taught me the importance of preparation,” he said. “She never went into a game, a practice, a class without being impeccably prepared.”

She was such a presence at Tampa Prep, until she wasn’t. On May 18, Chalu lost her long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Not fair that this had to happen to Carol, but I’m sure she fought that just like she did preparing for a game,” longtime area sports reporter Joey Johnson said. “She fought a private war and did it with class and dignity. And she certainly left her mark on this world.”

Johnston thought enough of Chalu to include her on a list of Tampa Bay’s top 25 Title IX Trailblazers. Johnston covered Chalu’s first volleyball state championship, a win that sparked a six-straight title streak.

“Didn’t matter what she was coaching, who she was coaching, she was a leader,” Johnston said. “She was a leader of people. Extremely organized, knew what she was doing. Well ahead of her time. Well ahead of her time.”

Chalu made history as the first female high school athletic director in the state of Florida. She was a trailblazer on the court too, revolutionizing the sport she dominated by starting what many believe to be the first club volleyball league in the state.

“In the 70s, when girls’ sports was just starting, when it was still a long way to go for girls’ sports,” he said. “A lot of skepticism, a lot of critics. But Carol did her job, and she won.”

The kids beating the heat this summer inside the Tampa Prep gym might see her name and wonder who she was. Those that knew her will gladly tell them all about this ground-breaking force of nature.

“She could have coached football. She could have coached baseball,” Johnston said. “Anything, because she knew how to assemble people, motivate them and get them moving in a direction to work together as a team.

“She was at home in the gym. She was at home working with her kids, building her teams.”