John Hirsch

John was introduced to volleyball while serving in the United States Air Force during the Viet Nam war, and taught the finer points of the game by the legendary Arie Sellinger while attending the University of Illinois in the 1970s.  

John has coached, played, and refereed volleyball, and his daughter Katie now coaches Division 1 college volleyball at Dartmouth College in the Ivy League after playing there for four successful years.  This complete range of experience from all angles gives John an understanding of the game that few people have.

John has coached youth sports for over 25 years, including basketball, softball and volleyball.  He has coached with St. Andrew's middle school for the past 13 years, capturing 8 volleyball league titles.  He also coaches basketball at St. Andrew's.  John has also coached club volleyball for 13 years, including 3 trips to the Junior Olympic Championships, with a best finish of 17^th place.  All of those years were spent coaching in the 13 and under classification.

John also continues to play volleyball. During a recent trip to the U. S. Open in Denver in 2008 he helped the Texas Masters team to a 5^th place finish.  His view is that volleyball is a lifetime sport, and learning how to play it properly at an early age will enhance one's enjoyment of this wonderful and complex game. John has been with AP for 3 years.  Prior to that he coached with AIM and Austin Juniors.