Throughout the years, primarily women have played volleyball collegiately, as only 33 schools across the country carry a Division I men’s program, compared to more than 300 programs for women.
However, three of Ohio’s four coaches are men. That seems unique at first glance, as women predominantly play volleyball. But, the trend at Ohio is not out of the ordinary, especially in the Mid-American Conference, where eight of the 12 head coaches are men.
One is left to wonder why a significant number of male coaches are involved in coaching a sport that offers limited opportunities for men to compete at a high level collegiately.
Although not many schools offer a NCAA men’s program, most still field men’s club volleyball teams, which is the case at Ohio.
The members of the Ohio coaching staff, head coach Ryan Theis, assistants Meghan Keck and Ryan Walthall and volunteer assistant Justin Wong were each involved in the sport while earning their undergraduate degrees but all have traveled different roads to their current positions with the Bobcats.
Theis played four years of volleyball as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee — the first of which while the Panthers fielded a varsity team.
The program was then discontinued and became a club sport. From there, Theis was not only a captain and all-conference player, but also the Panthers’ head coach.
After beginning his coaching career while still active on the court, Theis has gone on to coach at six other schools including Ohio, where he has been at the helm since 2008.
“The coaching lifestyle is truly difficult to manage a family, so the women who do it at a high level have terrific support systems to help them if they want to go the family route,” Theis said about a majority of male head coaches. “There are several successful female coaches, but it just seems like there are more men that are coaching.”
Theis was not the only member of his staff to play volleyball in college, as Keck, the only female on the staff, played at the University of Illinois-Chicago, while Walthall was a four-year letter winner at Penn State, where he led the Nittany Lions to the national championship match in 2006.
Keck and Walthall both shed their uniforms after finishing their undergraduate degrees, but they remained on the sidelines as assistant coaches upon graduation before eventually coming to Ohio.
“I would like to see more women in head coaching roles, but I don’t have any bias toward who coaches,” Keck said. “If you’re good at coaching volleyball, then I want to see the most successful people at the highest level.”
While the other three members of the coaching staff competed on the court in college, Wong, an Ohio State graduate, not only played for the Ohio State club team, but he also began coaching at Bishop Hartley in Columbus, where he achieved much success.
As far as the Ohio coaching staff is concerned, each member has found his or her own niche as an instructor, which has been proven through the team’s recent results. The Bobcats have won seven consecutive matches, dropping only two sets during the streak.
Men’s varsity options in collegiate volleyball will likely remain limited, mainly because of Title IX regulations, Theis said, noting he would like to see the sport continue to grow in one form or another.
“I’d love to see more volleyball in general,” Theis said. “Division II, Division III, men’s — just more volleyball would be great.”
cl027410@ohiou.edu
