“We Need You to Coach”
The untold stories behind Martin County “Tiger” Volleyball from 1982 through 2010 as lived and written by Coach Marty Bielicki
Volleyball was a game invented in the United States in 1895. In 1974, the game came to Martin County H.S. in Stuart, Fl for “girls’ volleyball.”
In 1982, I was named as “head coach” by Principal Wanda Yarboro. For the next 28 years, volleyball became my way of life. In perspective, I was able to coach seven generations of athletes in that span of time. I estimate about 350 Varsity athletes, not counting J.V. or Club Ball came through the program. I did not have a diary, but the following account is my recollection–a short memoir if you may–of those years that may be of interest for some. Chronologically layered in chapters, I have used many personal pictures that have been collected over the years. “AI” was not used to write the following chapters. Maybe “AI” could fix some of the closed eyes in the following pictures though.
This manuscript is a living document that can be altered if necessary. In some cases, I did have to use Google and past Stuart News posts that I preserved. Some names are probably misspelled, and some names forgotten. Please forgive the missteps. A number of people in this recollection have passed on. I have this passion to document the people that made a critical impact on my life, and the life of volleyball in general. In writing this, I know many athletes were left out due to brevity. Also, the written word falls short of intended meanings. I most wanted the stories to keep on living. Please forgive me for a second time.
CHAPTER 1: The Coach
I grew up with athletics. My mom took me to my first Little League try-outs when I was 9 years old. I made Peanut League. My dad was a free-thinking artist who loved to travel and read. Traits that I carry today.
Growing up we had a local legend basketball coach, Don Wallen who would win 3 State titles in our area. I always took notice of the hard work and dedication they placed into that sport. During any practice and every game, there were a good number of coaches surrounding Don. I looked at this idea as “more coaches the better.”
Our “new” gym today at Martin County H.S. is known as the “Don Wallen gym.” Don would win most of his games in the building we now call the Wanda Yarboro auditorium. It was in that gym that I would start my volleyball career.
It was a privilege to get to know the “legend.” He was excused from his middle school vice-principal position to arrive early for practice. We would talk in that spare time. When the volleyball program grew, we had to get new “standards, i.e., two volleyball poles.” Holes had to be made into the floor, Don Wallen’s championship floor. Don never said a word.
My initial knowledge of volleyball in 1982 was “zero to none.” In my 9th grade in 1969, Coach Rice handed us a volleyball to serve underhand. We had to hit a spot with numbers to get a grade. Don’t know what number I hit, but I received a “B.”
I was a 9 Varsity Letterman at Martin County in three years in football, wrestling and baseball. It may have been 12 letters if our 9th grade was part of the high school. I was proud to hit the winning run with a bunt scoring Freddy Reine from third base to win the District 1973 Baseball championship. I was indeed ready to expand my wings out of Stuart, out of Florida, when I graduated.
My athleticism at Martin County H.S.—2nd Team All-State in football– was good enough to earn an “Academic Scholarship” to play football for Ohio Wesleyan University, located in a small town of Delaware, OH.
Ohio Wesleyan University is a Division III program and I was happy to travel north. My head football coach at MC, Gary Preisser, had a friend at OWU. My SAT was just good enough to get accepted. It wasn’t good enough to enter West Point or Lehigh University though.
In college football, I was “Athlete of the Week” twice and earned two varsity letters before I walked off the gridiron. My real love was actually studying and teaching history.
Chapter 2: “WE NEED YOU TO COACH”
At the age of 21, I came back to my alma mater—Martin County H.S. –to teach history.
I still remember then vice-principal, Wanda Yarboro, warning me about not being attracted to these young women on campus.
In high school, as a male teacher, you are expected to coach something. I was quickly asked to become a football coach. I happily declined. Instead, I became an assistant wrestling coach under Russ Destito. I was Russ’s first 185 pounder to ever win a Conference title in 1972.
Indeed, Russ was one of those coaches that made an impactful impression on what a positive coach should be. As a side job, Russ and a friend started a pizza business in town, “Dee and R Pizza.” The “Dee” was his wife’s name. The building they used was owned by my parents. I became his young dishwasher making a dollar an hour and all the pizza I could eat. I quickly went from 160 pounds to 185 in no time. Russ was competitive. You could hear his voice in the entire gym. Russ was level-headed and he was an ideal image of what “Sportsmanship” should be. Like Gary Presser, these coaches never cursed. Coach Bill Swan would be in that same group.
I truly think every coach had coaches that were great influencers on their lives. Russ Destito eventually went to golf, which gave me the opportunity to give up coaching all together—freedom!
In the spring of 1982, Martin County H.S. was to split to form South Fork H.S. It was a dramatic event. Wanda Yarboro organized a photo shoot of all the teachers together–for a memory sake. Over half of us are now dead.
I was selected to stay at Martin County H.S.. It was in late spring of 1982 that the late Principal Wanda Yarboro came to me and ask for me to coach either football, wrestling or baseball. “Wanda,” as most people would call her, was the type of person you did not say “NO” to.
In 1982, the current volleyball coach, Wendy Goode,” was transferred to South Fork. Following the MC girls’ volleyball team and knowing two ex-MC volleyball coaches, I asked “Wanda,” “If I could coach girls’ volleyball?” I don’t know why I quickly thought of that possibility. Maybe watching volleyball seemed “cool” and something with skill. I remember seeing the 1964 Japanese Olympic team play on T.V. and was impressed with all the diving on the floor saving the ball.
Volleyball was definitely not a “contact” sport. After a knee operation in football and a broken nose through wrestling, I wanted something that had “finesse.” A nine-ounce volleyball inside an air-condition gym sounded just fine. Little did I know at the time, a few of my future athletes would suffer ACL knee injuries and some suffered sprained ankles.
The very next day, Mrs. Wanda Yarboro came to me and said, “You have the job.” I was 26 years of age. My principal believed in me.
Chapter 3: Our First Summer Camp
Volleyball is extremely completive in the Treasure Coach area—as it was in 1982. John Carroll, Ft. Pierce Central and even Westwood was defeating Martin County on a regular basis. I had to send my girls to camp. I sent out a letter introducing myself. With that letter was a form to attend “The All-American Volleyball camp.” I had one player sign-up.
In the summer of 1982, I drove Yvonne Kelso to my very first volleyball camp in Leesburg, FL., directed under head Coach Cecile Renaud of Florida State University. Currently, Cecile has become Vice President of Volleyball Operations for the Pro Volleyball Federation.
Coach Renaud taught me the basics: how to serve; how to pass; how to spike etc. One of the most impactful pieces of advice was the importance of the thirty-second time-out. How thirty seconds can quickly change the game—particularly mentally. That piece of knowledge would help us win two State Championships.
On the third day of camp, Yvonne sprained her ankle. She wanted to go home. On the way back, I asked her about volleyball cheers. I had no clue. Knowing Martin Luther King’s famous speeches, I wanted something that had rhythm. What was developed was a cheer that was said for many years. You can call it the “Three T’s.”
We are: Tough. We are: Together. We are: TIGERS
Chapter 4: Dedicated Assistant Coaches over the Years
Success of any program transcends down to the assistant coaches. I was blessed to have many dedicated coaches along the way, in high school and club ball.
My very first MC assistant was a math teacher via a girls’ softball coach, Dick Otovik. He was able to convince the girls I wasn’t nuts. Coach Otovik in 1983 would actually coach the team to the first win of the season. Our bus broke down going up to Melbourne Central Catholic. I stayed with the bus and driver, while Dick went on with the team when a second bus arrived. We won that night!
There were times when I played against my teams by myself. Yes, you bumped, set and spiked. I always won. In 1992, I stopped playing that game—the girls were too good!
Coach Ed Metallo taught me about the mental aspects of competitive sports. When you get to a high level, it is how you think and respond under stress that will determine victory or defeat.
Ron Jacobs was one of the most competitive coaches I had. He always wanted to win. He eventually started the first boys’ volleyball program in our county. Lastly, it was the work of Ron that help start our local tournament, The East Coast Challenge.
I may have been penalized once in my 28 years of coaching. There was a call at the Gainesville tournament that Coach Ron and I both stood up. The referee penalized “someone” with a yellow card. I still blame Ron for getting that card. Ron, of course, blames me. We did win that Tournament though.
I always tried to win the referees to our side of the court. There was one referee I enjoyed the most, Lee from Vero. I just knew when he walked into the gym the game was going to be called fairly.
Several assistants stayed for a year or two like Tami Dejames and Brian Hayden. Dan Alley stayed for ten years. Dan would always come with me to the Tampa Camps. He would miss his wife’s birthday to do so. I always gave Vicki a tee-shirt. Dan was dedicated, filled with humor, sympathetic to player needs and extremely loyal. We both eventually became Deans of Martin County H.S..
I will never forget the bus ride on I-95 coming back from Palm Bay. The driver, for whatever reason, started to veer off the road. Our manager, Denise Harrison, was about to fall out of the bus door. Dan grabbed her and saved Denise’s life.
Dan was excellent at taking player stats. We took stats on everything like kills, service points, digs, blocks. It was plenty of work and time after the match adding up all the stats. Then, the newspaper reporters wanted stats. We placed the stats in our program guide and the figures became goals for future players. Some players became obsessed with these stats and the parents were even worse.
Assistant Coach, Laura Schoppe had the ideal solution by telling the athletes “not to look any stats until after the season.” Some parents called me that their daughter was not recognized with the stats. I could only say, “I didn’t write the newspaper story.” Looking at the stats would only show why you lost: too many serves out; spikes that landed out or not enough digs. I do not miss stats.
One of my favorite coaches was Jim Butski. He was part of our 2009 State Championship crew. I still remember being with Jim at Busch Gardens after winning the State Finals. We promised the girls we would go to Bush Gardens if we won states. Jim later became a college head-coach. Unfortunately, Jim suffered not one but two strokes. Nevertheless, he is still alive hoping for a miracle. His loving parents are taking good care of him. We LOVE you Coach Jim!
It was indeed a highlight to have some of our past players come back and coach with me. Kelly Johnson would teach me what she called the “Black Defense.” It would be a combination of a Perimeter and a Tip-covering systems. We won both our State Championships using a Perimeter defense. For many years, I used a rotational defense.
Our first Division One player came back to help, Laura Arnold Schoppe. The girls really did like her. She was quiet but always thinking. The players really did respect her being our first Division I athlete. She would only suggest anything until I really needed to hear it. I did love her two children that came to practice: Ellie and Meg. After each practice I would hand them a small bottle of Gatorade. Laura received a State Championship ring when we won it all in 2009.
Our drill master was Whitney Warren who was a stand-out player for Palm Beach Atlantic. The girls really did not like all the physical running we did under Whitney. We won though and no team ever physically out-played-us either. I remember Whitney telling the players “you need not be perfect every time.” Whitney has become the head coach of our arch-rival school, Jensen Beach.
Chapter 5: The Early Years
In 1982, my first year as the MC Volleyball coach, We went 8-8. Our best player in those early years was Julie Scott (third person standing from the right.) She practiced part-time as she was also the drum major. Julie spent 30 years as an Air-traffic controller down in Miami.
In my second year at the helm, Julie Scott was my first player to receive any recognition. I was surprised that I was selected as co-coach of the year by the Stuart News.
The perennial power team in the area was John Carroll coached by John Tolar. In our first meeting, he assisted me with volleyball information. Like myself, he first started with little knowledge. John eventually won five State Championships. We eventually became extremely competitive and friends. I always thought he should be in the Florida Coach’s Hall of Fame.
A number of years later, I would hand over that information to Mike Sawelle who eventually coached Jensen Beach Falcons to 5 State Championships. We had several exciting matches over the years. At one match the lights went out as Jensen Beach was rallying. They would eventually lose and Mike blamed me for the fiasco. I admit, “I had everything to do with those lights–not”.
My early years were formative times of learning to be a volleyball coach. I had several excellent players like Julie Scott, Mindy Crooke, Mindy Geer, Karen Latham and Sarah Schmoyer. If I had to do it all over again, I would make them all outside hitters where the majority of balls do go.
Reading books, going to camps and attending clinics helped my knowledge of the game. I think one of the more influential speakers was Taras Liskevych. He was at that time the head coach of the USA National Women’s Volleyball team for 12 years. He actually had us on the gym floor learning about the game. I still remember him saying to me, “You will do well, you are an athlete.”
Learning the game is also learning to communicate with the athletes. My philosophy was partially developed from my football high school coach, Gary Preisser. “You give 110%,” I remember him saying. And, if you did really well in a game, Gary handed out “110% tee-shirts.” I also felt that my players were entitled to earn athletic scholarships, as I did under Coach Preisser. There is money out there to be had.
As a coach, we were expected to fund raise. In the early years we did car washes and football concession stands. We joined up for a Saturday morning car wash with the football team under head coach Bill Swan. He was a new coach who brought to MC the Delaware Wing-T offense. For $5 dollars, it was a superb price for patrons. We even washed a large RV for $5 bucks. At the end of the day, we made a moderate amount of money. In so doing, Coach Swan broke his big toe. I felt so bad for him. I later learned that he donated all the money to the volleyball program. After taking his team to the State Final-four, he left us to eventually become the head coach at Widener University in Pennsylvania. Coach Bill Swan just recently retired as their winningest coach.
Taking the athletes to camps helped our volleyball team. Every summer I would set in motion an unaircondition yellow school bus. Eventually, we graduated to an air-condition commercial bus. It was in my last season–27 years– as a coach that we actually had our first air-conditioned yellow bus. What a treat that was. We dreaded that long ride out to Okeechobee.
For five years we attended Stetson University summer volleyball camp in Deland. One of the highlights of that camp was having the athletes do creative skits. I still remember Andrea Popwell being one of our best “skit”performers. Andrea later became our first 5-1 setter who led the team to our first District Championship in 1988 over Vero Beach. Today, she is a principal in St. Lucie County.
One of the most important positions on a volleyball court is the setter. We were blessed with a plethora of superb setters starting with Andrea. A setter would start every practice about 20 minutes early working on her skills. A competent setter could make a good hitter into a great hitter. Likewise, a weak setter could make a good hitter into a marginal one. As a recall, the following players lead our teams down the years:Andrea Popwell, Denise DelVecchio, Heidi Ericson, Sarah Beth Warren, Tiffany Turner, Melissa Sabin, Rachael Albright, Kayla Cormier and Mallory Moffat.
Ironically, as a 9th grader, I had cut Andrea as I thought she was “too immature.” My assistant coach, Dan Alley, talked me into placing Andrea back on the team. He said, “Andrea is an athlete.” That advice became one of the best decisions I ever made. Andrea has not forgiven me, though, for cutting her.
It did take seven years before we won our first district title. After hosting Districts in my sixth year and losing in the first round, I was thinking, “Will we ever win a District Championship?”
We went on to win 18 districts titles under our era. Usually, we were able to take a picture. Winning also meant that everyone on the team received a trophy–a tradition that was set in 1988. We were able to start making various traditions. Below is a picture of our circa 2001 District Championship Team:
Most high school teams carried 12 players. Some teams even carried less. I was with the mind-set that players on a team had to play. I knew exactly how it felt sitting on a bench. I sat the bench in my senior year of high school baseball.
My limit for a team was twelve players. I was told to think there wasn’t enough uniforms to go around.
It was around 1985 that I had to cut my best friends’ daughter. Keri Destito could not serve over the net. It was not a popular cut with the team. Keri was looked upon as one of the gang. Later, a player did remark that I made the right decision. Coach Destito, my favorite coach and Keri’s dad, never made a comment. We were still friends until his death at the age of 49 with Leukemia in 1990. I really did try to be above politics. I know parents saw that quality in me.
Cutting an athlete, besides seeing an athlete injured, were the hardest parts of coaching volleyball. My great-granddaughter was cut from her middle school team. Her dream of being a volleyball player died that day. Although, Alyssa is quite proud of making the school’s Honor Role.
I did not relish having to cut players. Besides dealing with injuries, I dreaded cutting day. I have a the memory playing Pony League baseball. I was at bat and drove the ball to right field. I ran around all four bases and made a homerun! But, Umpire Peterson called me out. A rule never explained to me was that I had stepped on the batter’s box “white” line. I’ve only seen that rule ever used once, and that was against me! That same umpire later became the coach of the American Legion baseball team. I was “cut” after trying out. Now mind you, I was 14 years of age competing against boys who were 18. I felt awful being “cut” and carry that memory with me to this day. Coach Peterson later asked me to “walk back” on the team as some of those 18 year old boys quit. Many years later I would see Coach Peterson, an ex-Post Office employee, walking in our local mall. We never did talk about those days. Coach and umpire Peterson has since passed on.
Several years later, I did see a team carry thirty players! It was the legendary Cardinal Gibbons teams of, Louise Crocco. She was, indeed, once of the nicest coach I had ever met. Louise dominated the State of Florida.
I eventually carried 15 players several seasons. I did run into some trouble when we carried 16 players one year. Starting with Districts, we could only have 15 players on the team per state rule–probably due to Louis Crocco’s large teams. I remember sitting out Kelly Hemburger. I always thought she had the most beautiful face. Kelly was not happy with me. She later became a future Miss Playboy, Kelly Carrington. I refuse to look at the magazine. Then, too, when the paper came looking for quotes about Kelly, they went to the soccer team. No one remembered that she was also a volleyball player.
Chapter 6: The meeting that will change the direction of MCHS Volleyball
It was during the Stetson Camp that two major influential events occurred. First, I met the late Coach John Roszell from Estero High School. They had just won a State Championship. One of his “secrets” of success was having enough monies. He developed a guide—a program—advertising his players and businesses. The main idea was to have businesses purchase ads.
Another advice from John was having “parents” putting the guide together. We would have outstanding parents collecting information, monies, ad’s and putting the guide together. I will not forget my first AD parent, Laura Warren. She volunteered in getting out our first professional looking guide.
Laura started a tradition of mothers’ helping to put our program guide together. I remember Carol Albright and C.J. Miller taking over the reins. There are many other mom’s that contributed too. It was indeed a team effort. Our community is extremely giving to sports.
The parents and players also sold banners that were placed in the gym. If the football team placed banners on their field, we could do it also in our new gym. These banners and our program guide became a tradition.
Few people know what happens after the matches. For a long time, we had “Pops” who cleaned up the gym. Then, there was Larry Stout. He loved fishing. Larry was the one who put up and put down those banners down every season.
For a long time, we had the school district publishing the guide. Since I have retired, the guide has grown to having “colored” photos of the girls. The girls’ photos also became banners in the gym.
We made well over $20 thousand dollars a season. Having monies, we could travel to big name tournaments and purchasing subs from “Bob’s Deli” before away matches made huge differences. I noticed that our teams sometimes would “die” during an away match due to nutrition. Eventually, I brought “Snickers” to practice. The team would compete for the treat. And eventually everyone received a Snickers bar.
We could afford new uniforms, too, whenever we wanted. I was once told teams could have only so many players due to the lack of uniforms. We had plenty of assorted sizes and numbers. When a parent asked to have their daughter wear number “99,” my response was “No problem.” The very next day I sent out an order to make #99 a jersey–maybe the first #99 in the state. Handing out uniforms and having the different sizes was no longer a problem.
We had a day for pictures. The girls came up with some marvelous ways to take pictures with their new uniforms.
Due to our successes, our gate receipts increased. The Athletic Director at the time gave our gate monies to the football team. We assuredly, though, had plenty of monies to buy the best Spaulding volleyballs you could buy.
The second most influential event was at the Stetson summer volleyball camp meeting Coach Chris Catanach. He came over from the University of Tampa one day to give a blocking demonstration. I loved his style and personality. We later connected and we started to attend the University of Tampa camps for many years.
Chris would win not one, but four Division II National Championships. His teams ended up winning over 1,200 matches. For 41 years, he and his loving wife, Linda, would host one of the most successful camps in the nation. I will never forget what Coach Catanach said to me, “Winning is important, but making relationships is even better.”
One summer camp in Tampa, Rachael Albright, was found by the head coach of Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Rachael received a volleyball scholarship and played several seasons for “Scrappy the Owl.” After graduation, she became a teacher and a head high school volleyball coach. She is now an administrator and happily married. I recently recovered her thoughtful message to me.
Our athletes did look forwards to going to camp. It was a superb way to “bond” athletes together.
For four days camp volleyball instruction occurred. Summer volleyball was indeed exciting as most of the elite players were seasoned club players. My respite from camp was going on a 4:30AM walk along Tampa Bay with the King Academy Coach, Gary Slade. Those moments I will never forget as we solved many of life’s problems together. We had some great matches against each other too. Gary’s teams would win two State Championships.
CHAPTER 7: Club Ball Will Change Everything
It was easily noticeable that teams that competed in club, usually won. I will never forget our match against Spanish River, circa 1990. Lori Eaton teams were tough since they played club. We had her down 14-13, within one point from winning the game and match. Our best server was at the line. I will not name that player, but our best player served the ball right into the net. Spanish River came back to win 16-14. Having a club team would get us over that mental hump.
By 1992, club had built up our program not only to rival to John Carroll, but also a state contender. There is no question that the participation in playing club was not only instrumental in Martin County’s rise, but also for Jensen Beach and even South Fork winning a State Title. Published in 2008, writer Malcolm Gladwell “popularized the idea that 10,000 hours of practice are required to achieve mastery in a field.”(Google). Playing volleyball for 2 months in the fall was not enough to make a skilled volleyball player.
There were many parents, coaches and players involved over the years in our Club called Treasure Coast Juniors. I found a few pictures of some of my favorite coaches:
We were blessed with dedicated club directors like Doug Ericson, Randy Milan-Williams and Vinny Piazza.
We were so fortunate to have some smart people to make our club into an LLC.. I most remember and applaud Caroline Albright for being our dedicated secretary and accountant. For the most part, I really did enjoy our parents and fellow coaches.
We eventually went around the nation playing in National Tournaments. One of my favorite tournaments was attending the Club tournament in Dalles. We were able to get in to see the 6th floor Museum.
Our legendary hitter, Elise Walch, was discovered by Coach Peter Waite from the University of Wisconsin at the Las Vegas Tournament. I tell young aspiring players if they want to be good at volleyball, they need to play club.
Playing club cost thousands of dollars. Parents and players had to make sacrifices. Coaches had to make personal sacrifices too. My wife, Kathie, nick-named herself the “Volleyball Widow.” There were many weekends with club tournaments. We held at least 2 practices a week. We literally practiced volleyball 6 months out of the year. There are definite sacrifices to playing this game. As one of my teacher colleagues pointed out to me, “opportunity costs.”
Kathie and I actually met on a volleyball court circa 1983 when I was giving free adult lessons on a Sunday night at our local gym. I was immediately attracted to her. She never came back for another session however! It was 2 years later on Palm Sunday at Mr. Laff’s (a local establishment owned by future volleyball parents David and C.J. Miller) that we met again. I found out that her arms were completely bruised after that first session. Kathie was also told by her older daughter—now my daughter—that I “was married.” Pam had confused Coach Destito—who was married—with me, the bachelor.
I remember our first conversation was not about volleyball, but of travel. Obviously, Kathie’s first question was, “aren’t you married?” We have been married for over 40 years and have traveled in and out of 120 airports.
Chapter 8: Our First Time to States. Lessons Learned
We were clobbered in our first Regional game in 1992 by an incredible athlete whose name I since forgotten. We took our team into our locker room forthree minutes. We talked and brought down the girls stress level. Coming out of the locker room, our girls were committed in giving Titusville a fight.
Heidi Ericson, our 5-1 setter, served 14 strait points to win the second game. We were behind 4-1 when Heidi went to serve. Titusville was mentally beaten. 1992 was the first year Martin County went to States. We lost in the first round of States, but we grew as a team.
Heidi would go on to earn a volleyball scholarship at the University of South Florida, a Division I program.
Who was Martin County’s first Division One volleyball player?
In 1993, we would win all the divisions at the University of Tampa Volleyball camp. We sent 38 athletes to camp that year. It was rather a proud embarrassment as Chris Catanach handed us not one, but four“Gold Volleyballs” by winning four different camp divisions.
It was at one of the UT camps that even the legendary coach Randy Dagostino noticed the athleticism of one of our players, Laura Arnold.
Randy went on to win over 800 matches at Berkeley Prep in his career. With that said, he coached the boys’ and girls’ teams to 15 State Volleyball Championships. Randy and his wife Lori, would organize the famous Club Tampa Tourney and the Deep South Tourney in Atlanta. I think Randy is quite pleased to have had his daughter play volleyball for the University of Florida. Then, too, his son, Kyle, went on to play libero at Stanford University and later on with the National team. I vividly remember Kyle as a youngster helping out his dad.
For an athlete of 5’6”, Laura Arnold had an incredible vertical. What I understand she gained it with her dad’s persistence of taking Laura out water skiing. Laura later went to Florida State—1994-97– and played under Coach Cecil Renaud—the same coach who taught me at our very first volleyball camp in 1982. Laura was our first Division One athlete.
The rise of our successes did have its share of bumps. In 1993 we won thirty matches–a dream total for most teams. We were defeated in the Regional Final by a tough Ft. Myers team. We easily won the first game. At that time, it was winning 2 out of 3 games to win the match. We mentally fell apart in the second game. In essence, our schedule wasn’t tough enough. The ride home that night was awfully long and sad.
Thereafter, we only went to the best tournaments and played the toughest teams. Our motto became: “If you want to be the best, you have to play the best.” I threw the win/loss record out the window and concentrated and playing tough opponents. Losing is part of winning.
Chapter 9: 1994 State Championship
We went to the Tampa Camp in 1994. I missed that summer as my wife and I went to Greece. It was during that camp my varsity had Jeff Reavis, assistant University of Tampa coach, as their camp coach. He taught the girls how to pass the ball with only two players. Emily Suter and Lori Gribben were our key passers.
Most teams had five players receiver serve. Some teams used a cup formation with 4 players. Eventually, teams passed with 3 players. Jeff could see our team had two outstanding passers. No one in the region would ever dare pass with 2 players.
We started our fall season in August of 1994. The team was afraid I was going to change the system that they learned at camp. I could easily see the advantage of a 2 person receive system.
If it wasn’t for the help of John Toler, John Roselle, Chris Catanach and Jeff Reavis, my career as a volleyball coach would have been short lived. Copying from the best is all part of the game. Learning the best techniques and communicating with the athletes provided success.
Our 1994 team was lead by our seniors: Emily Suter, Lori Gribben, Heidi Ericson, Michelle Pietz and Kelly Glass. Three of these girls were with us in our first State journey in 1992. We were not new to the rodeo as some people would say. They loved having fun on and off the court.
Carrie Prewitt’s Middleburg tournament near Jacksonville proved how good we were when our team defeated a perennial power, Berkeley Prep. It was the first time we defeated the legendary coach, Randy Dagostino. I vividly remember Emily hitting a tough spike down the line careening off the Berkeley Prep’s outstretched arms. We would win the first game. I think we spent so much energy that first game that we came out flat the 2nd game losing 1-15. We had a complete mental collapse–like the previous year at Ft. Myers. Our 1994 team was different, though, as we came back and won the final game 15-13. That was a fun year.
Coming home the “Yellow” bus broke down by the St. Lucie turnpike plaza at 3:30AM, I called Rick Ferrante, then coach at Port St. Lucie High School, to pick us up which he did. It took a while to wake him up though. We did honor Rick by inviting him to our annual banquet for his work in Club and friendships with our 1994 players.
We did have one major controversy. During the fall season, our Juniors and Seniors wanted to play in the annual “Powderpuff” flag football game in front of the school. As a former football player, I understood the fun of playing this sport. I encouraged the girls not to play risking a season ending injury. I understood why Don Wallen did not want his basketball athletes playing football. I did NOT stamp my feet and say no. Ironically, our main middle hitter on our 1994 State Championship team, Michelle Pietz, did break her collar bone during the football game. Luckily, we had a star in the wings, Robin Womble, who took advantage of the opportunity to play. As I recall, Michelle made it back on the court with the final point of the Championship match against Olympic Heights in Tarpon Springs.
Our first regional match in 1994 was with Venice H.S.. They were lead by a young energetic coach, Brian Wheatley. He would wear shorts made like the U.S. Flag. Later in his career. Brian and his coaches would wear Hawaiian colored shirts. We beat him in two games. I remember Brian saying, “Your team is good.” Coach Wheatley would later go on to be admitted into the Florida Coaches Hall of Fame. Today, he is an assistant coach at Appalachian State University.
At the Tampa Tournament we would suffer our first loss to Tampa Prep. Having Michelle Pietz may have made the difference. The Tampa Prep coach, the ex-wife of Randy Dagostino, said “that losing may be a good thing as it takes the pressure off going undefeated during the season.” In pool play, we defeated our arch-rival Olympic Heights in three games. The last game went down 16-14 preserving our undefeated record until we met up with Tampa Prep.
Winning a state title a team must win two matches: a State semi-final and a State Final match. Our first match, an opponent I have since forgotten, we would win easily in two games. The State Final we were matched with our arch-rival, Olympic Heights. The match went back and forth. We won the first game, Olympic the second game. The first team to 15 in the third game would be 5-A State Champs. I really do believe the difference in those matches was Kelly Glass who had 10 kills. She was an athlete that would be a softball player for the University of Tennessee. Kelly never played club, but she love volleyball. I remember a reporter who commented on how good Kelly was during the State final match.
Jenna Frielling was at the service line when the score was 14-12 us. The Frielling sisters were taught volleyball by their mom and dad. To be honest, I could not watch. I heard the crowd, though, as the ball did go over the net, and the Olympic Heights player bounced the ball off the ceiling and it dropped down on the court. Martin County would win their first State Title.
That night, the seniors would all sleep together in the same room. But, before that, the seniors took us out to where I did not know. They blind-folded me. I had no idea what they were up too. It was a secret. They dumped me into a mud pit! I have a picture to prove it!
After winning the 1994 State Championship, we became celebrities. Basketball was not the only game in town. We helped pave the way for the other two schools in our county to win State Championships. With hard work and dedication, anything can happen.
Chapter 10: Traditions Built
We started to have end of season banquets at a local restaurants. Carrabba’s became a favorite place for a Saturday lunch banquet. For the graduating seniors, we would honor them by giving their team bag to them besides giving out a tee-shirt, sweatshirt or jacket for everyone. We must have had over a 100 people at these banquets.
For most seasons, every varsity member received at least one trophy for winning Districts. We had no problem handing out trophies in 18 seasons. We would also hand out prizes for athletes who sold the most ad’s. This award became quite competitive. Everyone would be introduced if they had anything positive for the program. Our banquets indeed were elaborate affairs.
With the advent of being State Champions in 1994, we would honor the girls who receive volleyball scholarships with a photo shoot, mostly in the Principals office. Usually, you are sent to the Principals office when you are deeply in trouble. In our case, you are getting money! Our Principal, Mrs. Hunt, was most agreeable in our tradition. Below are just a few of the pictures of athletes who signed for scholarships.
We did have a number of sisters playing in the program like the Crook sisters, Walch’s, the Lloyds, Milan-William sisters and the four Warren daughters. Below is a picture of Kristy Milan-Williams who was a walk-on at Virginia Tech. She held the record of most pull-ups by a female athlete at the University. Both sisters were gymnasts before gravitating towards volleyball. Kristy came out late and started as a sophomore. She improved immensely with club ball. Bri Milan-Wiliams lead us to States in 1997. She went to Western Carolina University. I wrote her coach to say that Bri’s mentality was very much like Debbie Green, the US Olympic setter. The coach soon found out that I was correct in my assessment.
Finally, these two seemed like sisters. They are still good friends today. Stephanie Howard (on the left) graduated from the University of South Florida and helped Coach Cantanach and his wife Linda with the Tampa Camp. Allison Lewin, on the right, played volleyball for Berry College in Rome, Georgia. She later became a high school head volleyball coach in Oregon.
We also started the tradition of “Senior Night.” Our senior athletes and their parents would walk on the floor, be introduced with the seniors getting flowers. If I had to do this tradition all over again, we would have handed flowers to the mom’s too.
Chapter 11: We Lost at States 3 times
In 1992, 1997 and in 1999 we fell short in winning states. In 1992, the girls took the loss extremely hard. There was a Stuart News picture of our girls crying on the bench after the game. I like this picture of 3 of our girls together after the 1997 loss: Amber Hartman, Lisa Lewis and Bri Milan-Williams. Looking at the picture, I thought we had won. They were happy achieving to their best ability. All three girls are successful and married today. My only regret was not being able to put Amber in the game.
Lisa Lewis, #13, will sign scholarship to Fairleigh Dickinson University. She was MVP for four years in a row. Lisa went on to get her PHD. Amber now lives in Germany and Bri in Colorado.
Chapter 12: Injuries did take there toll
We had our share of devastating injuries. Our first one of note was with Mindy Geer circa 1989. She walked into the gym one day and had immediate impact. With her, we would win the Palm Bay Tourney. Unfortunately, on the last game of the day Mindy sprained her ankle right before districts. We were top seed. Unfortunately, we would lose to the number four seed, Merritt Island, who had won districts the year before.
Another devastating blow came in circa 1998 when Bonnie Ford blew out her knee. She had an incredible vertical and a dominating spike leading us to the State Finals in 1997. Bonnie came back in 1999, and lead us to the Finals once more.
Elise Walch, our 6’5 star, hurt her leg early in 2008. It caused the team to work harder. I remember Molly O’Neal and Nicole Walch taking over leadership roles. Having leader(s) on a team are critical to success. Elise hiatus actually made us stronger. When Elise came back to the line-up during Districts, we would defeat a good West Boca team.
2008 was the year that I reached 600 wins in my career. The feat was done playing South Fork. We were told by our Principal, Wanda Yarboro, back in 1982 never to lose to South Fork. I took that challenge personally. We were 38-0 or thereabouts. Unfortunately, the recipient coach of the other end was my past player and future Indian River College coach, Stephanie Skidmore. Since my retirement, South Fork has defeated Martin County a number of times, even winning a State Championship. The player and parents surprised me with a large frame poster filled with team pictures and wonderful comments. I still have that poster today.
Chapter 13: A Winning Program takes more than just Coaches and Players
As a coach, there are many duties and responsibilities. One of my biggest worries was “who is going to be score keeper?” I always found intelligent students. I would give them the rule book and told them to read it. Frankly, I don’t know how to score to this day. As I remember, I like to shout out to some of the dedicated students who spent their valuable time with us: Kristin Alley, Denise Harrison, Vania Gonzalez, Leigh Howard (now a Doctor), Jenny Maine, Jonathan Albright—now a Resource Officer in South Carolina.
Our program did depend upon numerous volunteers. Our electronic scorekeeper was the Choir teacher, Ron Corbin. His daughter, Candice, was an important player for us. Unfortunately, she hurt her shoulder which caused Candice to develop hitting with her left arm. During a State Finals match. Candice hit spikes with both arm swings.
We eventually asked the football and baseball announcer, Lee Carroll and his wife, Mabel, to announce for us. They were more than happy to contribute to our exciting program. Lee is one of the best announcers in the State of Florida. His enthusiasm helped excite the crowds. We are still in contact with them as we trade car rides to and from the airport. Lee and Mabel have been to over 50 National Parks and England numerous times.
Having hard working secretaries helped our program immensely. For years, we had Lucille Howard and eventually Kathy Cooke. My Dean secretary, Roe Poerio, even though not her job, did plenty of work for the program.
It seemed Athletic Directors would change after a few years. The one’s I remember to have helped out is the Hank Salzler, Jeff Carson, Mike Lindgren and Greg Hendricks. I remember Hank questioning why I substituted so much? I told him, “The taller girl who is 5’10 is playing along the net and substitues for the athlete who is 5’5” playing backrow.” In the 1980’s, the game was evolving.
Chapter 14: The importance of the media
This memoir would be incomplete if I left out the dedicated news reporters: Del Stuart, Dennis Jacob, Scott Rosenberg, Ed Killer, Jon Santucci and Channel 12 announcer, Pat Murphy. When we won our first District title in 1988, I spoke to Dennis Jacob. Over the years, he did a fabulous job in his columns and stories. As a coach, we always had to call in our wins and losses. Dennis was always there to answer those calls.
In 2010, Channel 12 recognized us giving Elise Walch (through a players vote) naming Elise “Girl’s Athlete of the Year.” I would be named “Coach of the Year.” It would be the last year that this award would be given out by Channel 12. Pat Murphy, the famous Channel 12 Sports announcer would honor us. The speaker of the night was the famous golfer, Jack Nicklaus. Pat Murphy (whose last name is actually “Oremus”) and Dennis are still my friends today.
Chapter 15: Miscellaneous events that lead us to the States again
In 2007 we played Jensen Beach at their home gym. I remember two aspects about this match. One was the outstanding play of our outside hitter, Allie Warren. Secondly, I wasn’t too sure about the umpire as I heard he held a vendetta against us. For the local East Coach Challenge Tourney, we always used the referees from West Palm Beach. Ron Jacobs used outside officials, not local ones to create fairness with the visiting teams. This umpire, name since forgotten, was a local referee up on the stand. The match went to the 5th game. We were leading 15-14. A Jensen Beach spiker hit the ball. The line-judge called the ball out. The head umpire, though, over-ruled the line judge. I later asked the line-judge if the ball was definitely out–and it surely was. Our coach Brian Hayden was sitting at the end of the bench. He saw the ball out. Jensen Beach came back to win the match 17-15.
A number of my parents were definitely upset. Cooler heads prevailed though. I told my players that if we lose due to a referee’s call, it is because “WE” made the game to close. You shake the opponents hand and come back another day.
A mark of respect is when you see the marque congratulating themselves for winning. I lived not too far from Jensen Beach, H.S.. and took the picture below. We never lost to Jensen Beach again.
Chapter 16: The 2009 State Championship
It took 15 years from winning in 1994 to winning it again in 2009. Someone said to me that span of time is a State record. Each post season I did get pumped up. The Tiger’s were always competitive.
The 2009 team was a mix of all four classes. Madi Lyden, a freshman, was an outstanding defensive player and passer. I remember her as a 9 year old making the 13’s Treasure Coast team. Madi’s skill’s were many years advanced. Wearing uniform #99 is as unique as she is. During the 2009 season Madi did injured with a sprain ankle, but she came back for the State Finals. Madi would later sign a volleyball scholarship to Boston University.
Molly O’Neal, a Junior, was a pistol on and off the court. You had no idea on what she was going to say. She went to Villanova University to play volleyball.
One of my fondest memories of Molly O’Neal is rather unusual. During the end of my career, we started to ride vehicles to matches. I would take my white Odyssey van. Jim Butski would sit in the passenger’s side. Usually, a few girls would sit in the back. During one road trip, Molly was with us. About a week afterwards, I started to notice an unusual oder from the back seat. I thought nothing of it, I had the Odyssey cleaned. The oder remained. A few more weeks passed, and this oder was intense, like dead meat or fish. I took the van back to where it was first cleaned. The agent found that someone had placed part of a Bob Deli’s sandwich–either tuna or ham–in the back sleeve of the front seat, directly behind me. I wonder whose sandwich that was?
An outstanding 10th grader was Nicole Walch. Both her and her senior sister, Elise, were our power players on the outside. They were opposite each other in the rotation. We always had a Walch along the net. In the middle was another 10th grader, Sara Loomis. Even though she was small for a middle, she was consistent in playing that position. Jenny Maine, 5’9, was our starting middle, but she decided to become our manager instead.
We did have several players who transitioned over from Jensen Beach to us. 10th grader spitfire Mallori Moffat became our starting 6-2 setter. She had a powerful jump serve. Mallori and Madi would both play for Boston University. Another Jensen Beach transfer was senior Lexis Lloyd. In the State Finals, Lexis would have 23 defensive saves.
We had a loyal senior, Kayla Cormier, who came in as our second setter when our rotation shifted. I thought it was prudent to have 2 setters just in case if one got hurt. I remember in our early years playing against Spanish River in front of their student body–1500 students. Our setter went down. I had a young Suzi Fink come off the bench. Suzi did an admirable job. Then, too, years later our 5-1 setter Melissa Sabin would hurt her finger playing powderpuff. Her sets were just a tad off. We did not have a second setter. By 2009, most teams in the state would have just one main setter. We had two, known as a “6-2.”
Elise Walch was our Senior 6’5″ powerful outside hitter. I will talk about Elise later.
In essence, we had a team of athletes. We would practice 3 hours everyday. The emphasis was varying the drills, fast practice games and keeping it fun.
We were national ranked. The pressure was on. We lost early to a powerful Tampa Plant team at the Gainesville Tourney. Tampa went on that year to win the 7-A State Championship. The match was our only loss in the 2009 season.
The East Coast Tourney had a power mix of teams. We came to face our arch-rival Jensen Beach lead by Mike Sawtele for the finals for the East Coast Challenge. We were down 11-14 in the last game. Left-handed Lauren Brinskelle was at the service line for us. All it took was a serve in the net or out and the game would have been over. Lauren served six straight points including 3 aces. It was an unbelievable athletic feat against the future 2009 4-A State Champions. In her senior year, Lauren gave up band to play volleyball. We are so glad she did!
The real test that season was the Tampa Prep Tourney. In the semi-finals we faced Tallahassee Leon headed by Joy Becker. I have plenty of respect for Joy. She was friendly, honest and a true competitor at heart. They had an incredible outside hitter, a player name Andrea Johnson, who went to play for the University of Miami. It was Leon’s setter, though, that actually scored plenty of points against us with a quick flip of her wrists.
The match went down to the final game. I could tell the tension was up. The winner would go on to the finals. I made a wise-crack in the huddle how we had the better night sleep staying at the centrally located Embassy Suites. Leon stayed at a Holiday Inn outside of town. I remembered the story about how Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49’s football team made a reference to the famous actor John Candy in the stands. Joe said, “Look, there is John Candy!” The 49ers went on to make a 92-yard winning drive. Sometimes you need to break that tension with something so obscure it takes the players mind off the game just for a moment. As I remember, we won 15-12.
The last time we played Berkeley Prep was in 1994. As you may recall, we won that match. Their 2009 team was lead by a sophomore named Jordan Burgess who later became National Player of the Year in 2011 and later went to Stanford University. Jordan could almost hit the ball as hard as our player Elise Walch. We trained our players “Never” dig a ball going out. Any ball hit above their waist was a ball going out. We frustrated Jordan which lead to Berkeley making critical errors. We became the first team from Martin County to ever win the prestigious Tampa Prep Tourney. Berkeley Prep went on to win the 2-A State Championship. I don’t have any pictures of those moments.
The Regional match against St. Thomas Aquinas was going to be tough. Lisa Zielinski coached St. Thomas for 38 years and won 8 States Championships winning over 900 games. What made it even a bigger challenge was that we were playing in their home gym down in Ft. Lauderdale. We had beaten St. Thomas once in 1997 in a contested match at our gym. We knew Lisa wanted pay-back, revenge.
In 2009, the format for regular matches was the best of three out of five games. A game went to 25 points. The 5th game was to 15 with a 2 point spread. In the 4th game we ran out of substitutions. Elise Walch, who never played back row, had to stay in the game. She did admirably. We won that game 25-21. The score was 2-2. The match came down to the 5th game.
I do remember having the girls in a huddle. I said something, which I forget today, but it was enough to break the tension. Luckily, St. Thomas had a few younger players and made several unforced errors. Our athleticism won the day.
We earned our right to be at States being held in Lakeland, FL. I don’t remember who we played in the semi-finals, but we won in three games.
The finals came down to us and our rival, Leon High school. Defeating a good team for a second time is tough. Leon knew our players, and we know how tough they would be regardless what hotel they were staying at. The game would be in the late afternoon.
Instead of having the girls sit in their hotel rooms, we had a light practice at Florida Southern College in the morning before lunch. At that time, I knew the Florida Southern coach, Jill Stevens, who attended the summer camp at the University of Tampa. Having connections is indeed important.
I don’t remember what I said during the pregame before the big match. I know we focused on the mental aspects of life and volleyball. As one coach once said “We had to have a mindset of a gold fish.” If we make a mistake, we go on to the next point. Volleyball will punish you if you anguish over a bad play.
I took these photo of our team as they were being announced:
Our fan base for the finals did help motivate our girls. Fans drove over 3 hours to make the State Final match in Lakeland, FL.
Julie Scott and family were there at the State Finals. As you may remember, Julie was my first player in 1983 to make it on the Stuart News All Treasure Coast Volleyball team.
Looking around, I snapped this picture of my coaching staff. I had this feeling the match may be my last after 27 years.
We won the first two games.
Elise and Nicole were killing the ball. We had a let-down in the third game. We had plenty of emotion going with the first two games. How would we respond in the fourth game? Our athlelticism took over. Malory Moffat was up to serve with us ahead 24-20. She did a jump serve missing the right end line by inches. Now, 24-21. The match would soon end, though, when Malory would set the ball to Elise for a devastating kill shot.
We were officially Sate 5-A Champions.
Chapter 17: The Players
In my 28 years as coach, who were my “BEST” players? First, I was so fortunate to have so many superb athletes come through the program. Some believe how “difficult it is to coach women.” I found it to be the opposite. It was a dream to have had the opportunity to be associated with so many superb, intelligent and dedicated athletes. Our usual GPA was over 3.5, what I would say an A- average. We are talking about future leaders of America.
I know I missed someone. If I missed you, I sincerely apologize. I know how it hurts when you are not recognized. As the writer of this story, I can change, add or delete anything. Please contact me at www.mbielicki@hotmail.com
Handing out individual player trophies could be particularly difficult at times. I remember how hurt I was not receiving the trophy for being the best “Offensive Lineman” in my Junior year of H.S.. Luckily, we won our volleyball District 18 times with 5 State appearances. For years, I was able to hand out trophies for everyone!
My major coaching aim was to get these girls scholarships. I have lost count after fifty. My club directorship could add more names. Most of these girls listed below did go on to play college volleyball. Athletes that would be on anyone’s All-Star line-up are the following: Again, I apologize for leaving you out, my oversight. Names are randomly placed and in no particular order.
Rachael Albright Carei Wells Lori Gribben Heidi Ericson Melissa Miller Elise Walch.
Madison Lydon Mindy Crook. Candice Corbin. Kristin Hemmings Chrissy Tunnel Bonnie Ford
Yvonne Kelso Kelli Glass Andrea Sea Kari Dailey Erica Kinane Heather Hall
Adriene Kroger Laura Arnold Whitney Warren Lauren Brinskelle Katie Beale Mindy Geer
Patti Leonard Bri Milan-Williams Erin Warren Jenny Christie Kristy Milan-Williams Melissa Sabin
Allie Warren Sarah Beth Warren Stephanie Skidmore Kelly Johnson Kristin Fantozzi Tiffany Turner
Lisa Lewis Lexis Lloyd Julie Scott Jenny Brunner Roe Lahara Sandy Heyn
Allison Aufort Rachel Cutherell Stephanie Howard Andrea Popwell Robin Womble Molly O’Neil
Jill Fantozzi Ayla Messier Jenna Frieling Taylor Gilmour Allison Lewin Jennifer Huenicke
Robin McBride Michelle Pietz Kayla Cormier Denise Delveccio. Heather Farrow Erin Alley
Kellye McCray Molly Johnson Kelly Surrency Megan Shumann Lauren Olsen Shannon Wheeler
Karen Latham Sarah Schmoyer Karen Randolph Suzi Fink Emily Suter Joanna Frieling
Jill McGrane Nikki Clarke Blair Morrow Amy Shields Kellye McCravy
Amanda Brodsky Nicole Walch Remick Tiller
In my tenure as volleyball coach at MCHS, who was the best player?
Like our setters, we have had a plethora of hitters over the 28 years. Some of the notable players are in no particular order: Bonnie Ford, Adriane Kroger, Lori Gribben, Sara Schmoyer, Patti Leonard, Elise Walch, Katie Beale, Keri Daily, Andrea Sea, Emily Suter and Nicole Walch. And, there were other good hitters too.
The hardest hitter, no doubt was 6’5″ Elise Walch. Players feared her on the other side of the net. If she had any weaknesses, it was her back-row play. That weakness did not stop Elise from becoming the Number One Player in Florida by winning several awards like Channel 12’s Athlete of the Year, and the Florida’s Diary Farmers Best Player Award. Elise was our first All-American high school player. Elise was able to play in the “All-American” match in Tampa. It was a proud day. Elise did go to the University of Wisconsin for a year and later transferred to Florida State.
As a total volleyball player that could pass, hit and play defense the number #1 player is a close call. I will name Nicole Walch since she led Martin County to two State Championships, 2009 and 2011. Nicole became an All-American in college. Nicole later went to Puerto Rico and Europe to play professional volleyball.
My pictures of Nicole was when she was a young sophomore. I like it when several girls are together, bonding, as a team.
I remember Nicole working out with our team when she was entering 8th grade. I proposed the situation of Nicole skipping 8th grade and coming right into a varsity position. As Nicole was thinking about it, I told her the situation was just “hypothetical.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
A close second, if not first, is Emily Suter. We were fortunate to have Emily as a 9thgrader as she loved horses. Before the season started, Emily’s horse passed away. The fate of MCHS volleyball hinged on a horse. There was no doubt that Emily was extremely competitive. She later went to Auburn University and graduated as a Veterinarian. Her daughter has become quite the volleyball player.
Chapter 18: College Volleyball
College Volleyball is right during high school volleyball season. It was difficult to travel and see all my players on the court. My job was done having them play college volleyball.
I remember seeing Kari Dailey played at Florida Atlantic University. Hunting and fishing later became an important passion for Kari’s family.
In circa 2014, I was able to see Nicole Walsh and Sarah Wickstrom (Jensen Beach) play at Florida State against Boston College who featured Molly Moffit and Madi Lyden. It was an overwhelming feeling to see 3 of my former players on the court at one time.
With Lee and Mabel Carroll and Ron Corbin we went down to the University of Miami to see Molly Moffit and Madi Lyden play for Boston University. On the other side of the court was Andrea Johnson from Leon.
Chapter 19: The New Beginning
After 27 years of having lows and highs with volleyball, it was time to pass it on. In 2009 we defeated the best programs in the state losing only one match. We were Nationally ranked. We had a great team coming back. I didn’t feel right leaving a weak team for the next coach.
Ironically, Kissy Schmidt comes walking into my office one day in the spring of 2010 looking to assist me. Krissy played college volleyball as a libero for the prestigious program, Penn State. Her volleyball coach was the legendary Russ Rose, who I had met in 2007 before at the National College Championship in Sacramento. Krissy was more than qualified.
Even though Krissy was 24, she was the perfect fit to take over the program. I was 26 years old in 1982.. I did not tell Krissy I was going to retire, but I was convinced that Martin County Volleyball would be in good hands with her. Krissy would take the team to two State Championships and winning everything in 2011. At present, Krissy is the Director of Operations for the High Tide Volleyball Club.
In 2014, Mark Cowells, the MCHS Athletic Director, nominated me for the Florida Coaches Hall of Fame. Ironically, he was never my AD in all those volleyball years. I consider him one of the best Athletic Directors ever at MCHS. He has since become an administrator for the Superintendent.
The Hall of Fame committee gave me a personal plague with my accomplishments. Supposedly, there is a plague of me somewhere in Gainesville, FL. Also a Hall of Fame Ring was given. I now have three rings. Lastly, the Florida High School Athletic Association gave me a “Lifetime Pass” to see any high school game in Florida. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is to go into a gym these days.
It was a matter of filling out the long form proving that one deserves this award. Ironically, a member on that committee was the Principal at Sebastian H.S.. We had defeated her teams every time except for once when we lost to Mike McCall’s Shark team for the Treasure Coast Championship. We had won 110 strait Conference matches until then. She was indeed proud to recommend me for the award.
At the Gainesville Florida Coaches Hall of Fame banquet I had former players, coaches, friends and my wife in attendance.
Included in our round table was my longtime friends Chuck and Mary Johnson (left front) Chuck was a history teacher. We met playing basketball in 1968 when I was 13 at the old Stuart Middle school outside courts (now a parking lot). We remained friends until his death in the summer of 2025.
There is no doubt that my wife, Kathie, had plenty to do with my career. She was my rock and guiding force. It helped she was an ESE teacher/administrator at Martin County for many years. The best year I had as a Dean was when Kathie was my assistant Dean.
Kathie’s retirement in 2012 help me think of my own retirement—which I did in 2014. We have spent 3 months in Hawaii; traveled to such places as Greece, Russia, France, Capri, Sicily, Rio de Janeiro, Norway, Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires to name just a few places. I still tell people to “shake the hand, of the hand, that have touched both anchors of the USS Arizona.”
It did take seven years before we won our first District Championship in 1988. With dedicated athletes, supportive parents and assistant coaches, a giving community and a loving wife, we would win our first State Championship in 1994.
Someone said, “I hold the Florida high school record for the longest stretch from winning one State Championship in 1994, to a second one in 2009. A stretch of 15 years.”
As I started this memoir after more than 10 years in retirement. I think fondly of all the players that I have touched and those that have touched me. I do have many fond memories of all the parents that have contributed to our fine program. I know I missed plenty of athletes and their stories. I sincerely apologize for the lapses, and the brevity of keeping the story below 10,000 words. There is no doubt that I was encouraged along the way by meeting nurturing people who were willing to share not only volleyball, but the game of life.
I like to applaud Joe Stango and Jennie Beth for saving our blog from Albanian hackers. If you live in Stuart, Joe is the one to call for computer help.
I “THANK YOU” girls for allowing me to be your coach all those years. Thank you to all the parents that allowed me to coach their daughters. Having superb assistant coaches did make a huge difference. Thank you to the community that supported us. And, indeed, thank you to my wife, Kathie, who had patience and love for me.
28 years of moments that took my breath away, and memories that will stay with me until I die.
Martin “Marty” Bielicki
Florida Hall of Fame Coach, 2014.
Stuart, FL. April 2026
