Coaches

PRELIMINARY COACHING ASSIGNMENTS FOR 2011-2012 CLUB SEASON

Many of our Parents / Players have been asking for the coaching assignments for the upcoming club season. We have a most impressive assembly of coaches, most are former division 1 collegiate players. We also have many former collegiate players that volunteer their time to assist during training. Our athletes develop quickly under their instruction. We have also been asked how many teams we anticipate again this season. We plan to have Red Elite teams in each age group and multiple teams in several of our age groups. The remainder of our coaches that are not listed below will complete our rosters depending upon the number of players / strength of potential teams as we get closer to tryouts.

Click on the coaches name to read a full Bio

Jim Irwin - Club Director and 12's Head Coach

13's Red Head Coach - Anthony Duenas(Texas A&M)

13's Red Assistant Coach - Taylor McGaughey(Texas A&M)

13's Black Head Coach - Todd Finley

14's Red Head Coach - Lauren Ficker(North Carolina-Asheville)

14's Red Assistant Coach - Kat McGaughey(Arkansas-Monticello)

14's Black Head Coach - Ryane Criswell(Austin College)

14's Black Assistant Coach - Cale Criswell(UNT)

15's Red Head Coach - Cale Criswell(UNT)

15's Red Assistant Coach - Ryane Criswell(Austin College)

15's Black Head Coach - Erica Humbach(TWU)

15's Black Assitant Coach - Chloe Tate(TWU)

16's Red Head Coach - Heather Turck(Virginia Tech)

16's Red Assistant Coach - Jason Turck(Virginia Tech)

16's Black Head Coach - Brittani Youman(UNT)

16's Black Assistant Coach - Paul Grace

17/18's Red Head Coach - Chris Finseth(Oregon)

Jim Irwin - Club Director/12's Head Coach

Coach Jim brings 48 years of broad athletic experience and a passion for every challenge in life beginning with football at age 6. With a father heavily connected to sports the passion was easily cultivated. Jim’s father was the Northeastern Representative for AMF sporting goods during the 60’s and 70’s and owned several sporting goods stores in and around Wichita Kansas. Among the traditional sports of Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Track and Field, Coach Jim was also exposed at an early age to Archery, Whitewater racing, Motorcycle racing, Scuba diving, and hunting. Later in life while raising a family and living on Grand Lake in North East Oklahoma the sport of trick skiing, scuba diving, and Martial Arts were an every day experience. In recent years a thirst for adrenaline sports has included glider flying, driving Formula 2000 race cars, sky diving, and scuba diving with sharks.

Among many other interests in sports Coach Jim is also a published author and photographer. His works are published in 25 different magazines as a sports photographer covering College Football, National Hydroplane racing and 13 years of track photography at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jim’s Sports, Nature, and underwater Photography have appeared in private galleries and National exhibitions.

Coach Jim has 15 years of volleyball experience, coaching hundreds of athletes in the North Texas Region. Over his 15 years he has coached 8,000 + sets in tournament play and his dedication to the sport of volleyball is well known. His goal in the sport of Volleyball is to pass on the same passion by building a larger than life confidence thru solid skills and positive feedback.

Athletic Experiences:

Football: 12 years from age 6 to 18. Career ending injury as a Senior

Basketball: 7 years from age 10 to 16

Baseball: 7 years from age 8 to 14

Archery: 15 years. (At Age 12 became member of the USA Junior Olympic team training for 1972 Olympic Games) Won 24 State Championships throughout Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. Regional and National Champion. Qualified for USA Olympic Team Trials in 1980 and 2008.

Motocross Racing: 125cc and 250cc 10 years thru the 70’s. Ranked 8th in district 11 AMA.

Martial Arts: In mid-80s 8 time State Champion Green thru Red Belt in Missouri and Oklahoma, 3 times Regional and 4 times National Championships in forms, fighting and weapons.

Anthony Duenas - 13's Red Head Coach

Growing up in San Antonio, Texas Anthony started playing volleyball at the age of 12. He first learned to play sand and then transitioned to indoor volleyball. His combined 16 yrs of volleyball experience as a player include USAV, GCVA (Gulf Coast Volleyball Association) sand tournaments, grass volleyball, and collegiate club volleyball.

Anthony played for the Texas A&M Men’s Volleyball team from 2002-2005 as a setter and outside hitter. The Aggies were conference champs all three years he was on the team. He graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Sport Management and Business.

Following his career with Texas A&M, Anthony played on two USAV Men’s Volleyball teams as the starting setter, Los Gringos (2005-2006) and Powerhouse Volleyball (2008-2010). In addition to indoor he has continued to compete in various sand and grass volleyball tournaments.

This will be Anthony’s second year with the Blackhawks Volleyball Club. Anthony’s coaching experience ranges from youth sports (volleyball, basketball, and soccer) to men’s collegiate club volleyball as an assistant coach. He was an assistant coach of the 16’s team with the River City Stars Volleyball Club in San Antonio (2002). While in college Anthony helped organize and coach a high school volleyball summer camp for 9th-11th grade girls in 2002.

Anthony currently lives in Frisco, Texas with his wife, Rachel and two-year-old daughter, Rebecca and newborn daughter, Emma. He works at Bank of America in Plano, TX as a Senior Mortgage Loan Officer.

Anthony’s Coaching goal is to instill a passion and love for volleyball in every athlete he coaches. The most important factors in volleyball are ongoing learning and improvement, teamwork, a strong work ethic, and having fun. When those factors are continuously achieved, success follows.

Taylor McGaughey - 13's Red Assistant Coach

Taylor was first introduced to volleyball through his neighbor at the age of 14. At the age of 16, he was introduced to South Shore Volleyball, a local boy’s volleyball club, located in Clear Lake, TX. This was a very successful program with years of national qualifying.

After 2 years of intense training by some of the best coaches in volleyball, he took a break from volleyball for a year to play football at Sam Houston State University. Changing his major to engineering, Taylor transferred to Texas A&M University where he reestablished his fundamentals while playing with the men’s club team.

After graduation, he moved to North Texas where he began playing with a men's USAV indoor team. For Taylor, Volleyball is played year round. From Indoor to Sand, he is playing volleyball at least 2 days a week and coaching for many hours more. He has incredible energy on the court and will inspire his team to that same level of play. He has a true passion for the game and loves to share his knowledge with anyone who wants to learn the sport.

Todd Finley - 13's Black Head Coach

Bio Coming Soon....

Lauren Ficker - 14's Red Head Coach

Coach Lauren grew up in Western North Carolina as a multi-sport athlete playing Soccer, Volleyball, and Swimming all the way thru High School. Lauren began playing Volleyball in the 7th grade and took it to the next level playing with Biltmore Volleyball Club.

Lauren’s High School career was a phenomenal one posting a team record of 110-2 with two State Championships and one State Championship runner up.

Lauren’s unprecedented High School career secured a Volleyball Scholarship at the University of North Carolina Asheville where she played as a Middle Hitter from 2006 – 2009. In 2009 her team had a great year winning the Big South Conference, while individually she was named 1st Team All Conference and earned a spot on the All State Team. Academically Lauren Majored in Psychology with a minor in Health and Wellness Promotions.

While still playing for UNC-Asheville Lauren Coached in their College camps from 2007-2009 and then gave back to the club that made such a difference in her career, Biltmore Volleyball Academy from 2009-2010, as Head Coach of their 16’s Regional team. Lauren has recently relocated to the North Dallas area where she will make a huge impact in the development of many young Volleyball athletes.

When asked her goal as a Coach:

“My coaching goal is to develop a player in all areas, not only to be a great athlete and learn the game, but to develop sportsmanship, teamwork, work ethic, and have it always be fun.”

Kat McGaughey - 14's Red Assistant Coach

Bio Coming Soon....

Ryane Criswell - 14's Black Head Coach

Ryane Criswell - 15's Red Assistant Coach

Coach Ryane has had competition in her blood since the age of eight when she first started playing organized sports. She played just about every sport including basketball, softball, track, swim team, tennis, and, of course, volleyball. Basketball was her first love and first club sport, and she had a strong focus on that from 8 years old through early high school. When she moved from Plano to Prosper in ninth grade, her focus started changing.

In high school, she was volleyball team captain for two years, and also earned all district honors her junior and senior years. She played club volleyball for Take it By Storm, an old Allen club team, her senior year of high school.

In college, she played both tennis and volleyball, and was a defensive specialist for the Austin College Lady 'Roos. The Lady 'Roos were American Southwest Conference Champions in 2000 and runner-up in 2001. They also competed in the NCAA national tournament in both 2000 and 2001. She made the Fall All-Academic Team for the American Southwest Conference in 2000 and 2001 in volleyball, and the Spring All-Academic Team for the ASC in tennis from 2000-2003.

She and Coach Cale met through volleyball friends, and volleyball is a huge part of their life together. They were married on a sand volleyball court in November of 2010, and hosted a beach doubles tournament as part of their wedding reception! They still play at least a couple of nights per week of either indoor or beach volleyball depending on the time of year.

Coach Ryane strives to develop well-rounded players, and believes in continuous teaching of fundamentals throughout the season. She loves passing on her competitive spirit, and is always pushing her players to reach for the next level. Her main goals as the coach of the 14's Black National team is to beat the Red Elite team, and for each player to develop their skills throughout the season!

She is looking forward to an amazing 2011 season!

Cale Criswell - 15's Red Head Coach

Cale Criswell - 14's Black Assistant Coach

Cale has over 19 years experience playing competitive Volleyball. He began his love of playing volleyball at backyard events with his parents around 8 years old. He began playing competitive volleyball his junior year of High School in 1992 while attending McKinney High School. Later, while attending the University of North Texas he started for the UNT club team for 2 years. Cale also was a starting player for the team's trip to the NIRSA 1996 Nationals in Toledo, OH. After college, Cale continued to play A/AA USAV volleyball as a setter for the partially sponsored team "Bling Bling". After Several years of playing USAV Mens 6’s, Cale transitioned to mostly playing competitive adult Indoor mens and coed 4's and outdoor Sand mens and coed 2's. Cale currently plays an average of 2 days a week and in 6 to 12 A/AA tournaments per year.

Volleyball is such an important part of his life that he married his wife, current BlackHawks Coach Ryane Criswell, on a Volleyball court. They had their ceremony on the sand of a local beach court and then after a brief formal reception, they had all of their volleyball friends play in a Beach Coed Doubles Tournament. They had over 20 teams compete in this Tournament.

This will be Cale’s second year as a Head Coach for BlackHawks Volleyball, and his second year coaching the 15’s division. Cale’s desire as a coach is to create well round players who understand the game on all levels and understand all positions, even the ones that are not their current specialty. He believes this knowledge will make them better not only in their current position but also more recruitable at later years in their volleyball careers. Cale also works to create an environment where players who choose to excel will elevate their game to the next level.

Erica Humbach - 15's Black Head Coach

Erica Humbach is from Corpus Christi, Texas. She earned three varsity volleyball letters at Mary Carroll High School. As a junior she earned First Team Academic Excellence and Newcomer Award. Her senior year she was awarded First Team Best Blocker, First Team Academic Excellence and Defensive Player of the Year. She was also selected as the 2008 All-Tournament Team at a Spikefest Tournament. She played club since her 7th grade year; starting out at CCVC, moving to Coastal Area Volleyball Club from 2003 to 2007 and ended with CC Wave in 2008 and 2009.

She currently plays volleyball for TWU. As a freshmen she played in 28 matches while making 11 starts; appeared in 80 games and averaged 1.21 kills and led the team in solo blocks with 16, second in total blocks (65). She also had seven service aces and 39 digs recorded at least one block in 27 of the 28 matches she played. As a sophomore, she appeared in 44 games and posted 39 kills and 17 blocks. She also posted a career-high six block assists against Southern Arkansas and had a season-high seven kills against SAU. She earned Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll honors. At the beginning of her junior year she got injured and is currently a medical red shirt junior.

She is majoring in Chemistry with a double minor in Mathematics and Computer Science and hopes to continue her education with a Master’s degree from TWU.

Erica has coached as an assistant and head coach for Select Set Volleyball Club. She has also worked numerous volleyball camps with her high school, and different camps put on through TWU. She conducted private lessons throughout the summers of 2010 and 2011.

Chloe Tate - 15's Black Assistant Coach

Chloe' is from Denton, Texas and has been playing volleyball since 7th grade and played all throughout high school at Billy Ryan High School in Denton, Texas. She graduated in 2010 from Billy Ryan High School, named the 2008 and 2009 Denton Record-Chronicle Player of the Year, selected the 2008 All-District 5-4A First Team and the 2009 District 5-4A Hitter of the Year, named the 2009 Denton ISD Scholar Athlete, earned Academic All-District and TGCA Academic All-State honors, was a member of the National Honor Society and Student Council, played club volleyball at Conquerors from 2007-08 and Dallas Force in 2009.

Chloe' is currently a sophomore at Texas Woman's University and a middle blocker for the volleyball team there. Her freshman year at TWU she played in all 30 matches while making 25 starts, appeared in 108 games and finished second in blocks (76) and third in kills (204), also had 12 service aces and 59 digs, had seven or more kills in 16 matches including 10 plus in seven, recorded four or more blocks in eight games including a career-high nine against Dallas Baptist on Oct. 5, earned Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll honors.

Aside from playing volleyball, Chloe' enjoys photography, reading, watching movies, listening to music, watching sports, and hanging out with friends. She is majoring in kinesiology at TWU and has the desire to be a coach one day. Chloe' is involved with her church, New Life of Denton, and is a college helper with the youth group. She is also involved with a college ministry called Overflow. Chloe' is a member of the group Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Chloe's new found joy is her nephew, Beau Aiden Dale Tate, and is stoked to be an aunt. Chloe's partner in crime is her dog Daisy. Chloe' is a Harry Potter nerd and thinks Sour Patch Kids are the bomb.

This will be Chloe's first year to coach club volleyball, and she is ready to get after it. Chloe's coaching philosophy is that you have to be out of your mind in love with the game to be successful. Passion, investment, and discipline are a must and Chloe' believes those qualities are essential to play the game. Chloe' loves to be crazy, wild, and most of all work hard.

This scripture verse sums up Chloe's philosophy very simply: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord." -Colossians 3:23

Heather Turck - 16's Red Head Coach

Heather is originally from Englewood, Colorado. Playing competitive sports for most of her life, Heather started competing in gymnastics and swimming. Her volleyball career began at age 12. She honed her volleyball each season and graduated from Cherry Creek High School where she started as an outside hitter on varsity for 2 years. During her senior year her team won their first 5A State Championship, and were ranked 12th in the nation. Heather was captain, mvp and named to the all state team.

Playing in Club, Heather was a 4 year starter for Frontrange volleyball club as a setter and outside hitter. Her 16’s team was the top ranked team in Colorado and finished 5th at nationals. Her 18’s club team went undefeated in their region and finished the year with a silver medal at Nationals.

Heather received a full volleyball scholarship to Virginia Tech were she graduated with a BA in Statistics. She started as an outside hitter for 4 years and received all conference honors for 3 years. Named to the all state team her senior year she was the captain and MVP of her team. Heather finished her college career with school and conference records in digs and 2nd all time in career kills for Virginia Tech.

During her college career Heather helped with high school and college volleyball camps and coached 15U’s in Club volleyball for 2 years. After moving to North Texas, Heather started coaching at Episcopal School of Dallas as the Junior Varsity Coach. Then she moved up to coach the varsity team for the next two years. While running the volleyball program at ESD she also ran the summer volleyball camps. During that time she coached 17’s and 18’s club teams at North Dallas Juniors.

Heather has been a volunteer for the past 8 years, passing on her passion for sports by coaching volleyball, basketball and soccer and raising her two wonderful daughters. In her spare time she loves hanging out with her family and playing volleyball and tennis. Heather’s goal as a coach is to help develop young player’s talent and love of the game through basics skills and teamwork.

Jason Turck - 16's Red Assistant Coach

Bio Coming Soon....

Brittani Youman - 16's Black Head Coach

Coach Brittani lettered in multiple sports during her High School career at Tatum High School. Besides Volleyball she was a stand out athlete and earned numerous awards in High School including All District Offensive Player of the Year in Softball, All District Defensive Player of the Year in Basketball, and Miss High Kick on the Eaglette Drill Team.

As a High School Freshman Coach Brittani was the only Freshman to make the Varsity team and played Setter, Middle Blocker, and Outside Hitter. During Brittani’s tenure the Lady Eagles qualified for the playoffs all four years.

As a Senior in High School Coach Brittani Posted numerous accomplishments:

• District 19-2A Most Valuable Player • Rusk County Female Athlete of the Year • Honorable Mention All-Texas by LoneStarVolleyball.com • Longview News-Journal All East Texas Team • Collin Street Bakery All State Volleyball Team • Texas Sports Writers Association 2A All-State Honorable Mention • Participant in the 2007 USA Volleyball High Performance Development Camp Program • Selected to play in the 2007 Texas Coaches Association All-Star Game after posting 208 kills in 2006 along with 92 blocks, 206 assists and 38 aces.

Coach Brittani graduated from the University of North Texas in December 2010 with a BA in Communications and a minor in Spanish.  She recently concluded her collegiate volleyball career at UNT as an Outside Hitter all 4 years.

Along with 4 years of Collegiate playing experience Coach Brittani also coached summer league volleyball teams and worked at Nike, Powerade, and Under Armour sports camps. In March 2010, Brittani was awarded the Sun Belt Conference Female Sporting Behavior Award for her leadership on and off the court.

Paul Grace - 16's Black Assistant Coach

Paul Grace grew up in a very active home and was thrown into a world of athletics at a very early age. Paul’s first sport was soccer, which he played for 12 years. Paul Grace was also on a swim team for 6 years. 4 of those years, he was recruited by the coaches to compete in the age groups 1 to 2 years above him. Upon entering middle school, Paul began playing basketball in the 6th grade at Hosanna Christian Academy in Baton Rouge, LA. Paul continued to play basketball til his junior year in which he was forced to quit due to knee problems. After recovering from 2 knee surgeries, he continued to play pickup games with most of his friends from the varsity team after graduation. In March of 2004, Paul resumed playing competitive soccer in Richardson, TX. Paul played for 1 season til he severed his ACL in his right knee. This put a halt on all of Paul’s athletic activities for several years.

In September of 2007, Paul was introduced to volleyball through his Church’s young adult group in Plano, TX. Paul immediately fell in love with the sport and began seeking more competitive venues. In October of 2007, Paul found an open gym in Carrollton, where he first began to truly learn and play organized 6’s competitively. Still having issues with his knees, Paul continued to play and improve despite occasionally dislocating his knee while playing while playing. Paul joined the Champagne Volleyball leagues a couple months later and continues to play them at present. Paul’s passion for volleyball finally motivated him to have his ACL repaired. Paul’s dedication to playing allowed him to return to playing just 3 months after his surgery.

Through various teams, Paul holds 18 league championships and 3 tournament championships. Paul usually plays 5 to 6 nights a week, but has decided to give up a couple of those nights to help develop the skills of the younger generation in hopes of opening up a future to them that he was never afforded. Paul has developed his skills in all areas over the last 4 years. Being only 5’ 10”, Paul is usually played as a setter, but can play any position equally as well. Paul will play for multiple teams in 1 night during leagues because he is almost always asked to sub by somebody that has watched him play.

“My goal as a coach is to provide the formal training, that I never received, as well as provide an atmosphere of sportsmanship and fun while maintaining a high level of play. My hope is that this will better the chances for younger generations to play for their high schools, colleges, and possibly even beyond. I look forward to training as well as learning alongside the players this season.”

Chris Finseth - 17/18's Red Head Coach

Coach Chris comes to us with 26 years of playing experience and 10 years coaching volleyball. This is his fourth year coaching with BlackHawks.  He was a long time resident of Hawaii and former collegiate player at the University of Oregon.  Chris is a very vibrant coach with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm and love of the sport. He will be looking for players that share in his passion for the game and have the desire to explore their personal best and reach for the next level.

Coach Chris has downplayed his Coaches Bio with a short descriptive of his career. With a 40 inch vertical and explosive hits developed over years of dedicated training in volleyball Coach Chris does not need to rely on bios to describe the depth of his knowledge and Coaching abilities. He is one of the most respected coaches in the North Texas Region and along with our Director will be working practices with all of our teams coaches this season to deliver a degree of coaching not typically afforded to other clubs teams.