March 2004 Sports Feature

When growing up playing in weekend volleyball tournaments for his father, Joel Walton never thought of himself as one day being the head men's volleyball coach for a Division I school. With influence in his volleyball career from not only his father, but also legendary coaches Don Shondell and his son Steve, Walton has achieved his own success by taking the 2002 men's volleyball team to the NCAA National Semifinals.

The Walton family had moved to Indianapolis from Lincoln, Nebraska, when Joel decided that Ball State would be his school of choice. At Ball State, Walton played under Coach Don Shondell while earning his degrees in finance and management. He also was an assistant coach for two years under Steve Shondell for the girl's volleyball team at Burris High School in Muncie.

After college, Walton went to work in the sales division at Nabisco in Warsaw. However, he felt that this job left a void that had always been filled by volleyball. Walton accepted an assignment as an assistant coach under Don Shondell, with his primary responsibility being recruiting coordinator. After eight years in the assistant's role, Walton was moved into Ball State's head coaching position in June of 1998.

"I really feel that this is the greatest coaching job in the nation and I look forward to the future challenges," Walton says. "My student-athletes and I relish the opportunity to continue the tradition of excellence that Coach Shondell has established."

As head coach, Walton does not take any single player for granted.

"Each player has his own personality and technique that he brings to the team," Walton says. "Each season we have our positive reinforcers, our pushers who will not accept anything less than what is expected, and our highly competitive players, who find that competing is everything. But each player has his own special attribute that makes him stand out."

Although Walton claims that all of his athletes are talented, each must be given individual direction to excel.

"Coaching isn't an exact science, and therefore you can't coach every player the same way," Walton says.

Walton attributes much of his success to his experience in working with all levels of volleyball. He has coached summer camps, club teams, high school, and college. He feels that he is effective because of his knowledge of volleyball on all levels and through what he has learned from his mentors.

Now Walton has become a mentor to his own players who show interest in furthering their volleyball careers. One such player is Josh Lee.

Lee, a member of teams from 2000 through 2003, has continued his passion for volleyball through becoming the assistant head girl's varsity coach for the Yorktown Lady Tigers. He claims that his experience in playing volleyball under Walton has provided him with the strategies and tactics to be an effective coach at the high school level.

"Coach Walton is a very encouraging person," Lee says. "He uses positive tactics to get through to his players. I try to follow that same technique."

Lee, a Fort Wayne native, does not have a vast volleyball background. Before he came to Ball State and played volleyball as a walk-on, Lee was a member of the basketball team at Bethel College, where he played for two years in 1999-00.

While at Ball State Lee earned his degree in education and held a leadership role in Athletes in Action, a Christian student-athlete organization.

He speaks about the commitment of competing in a college sport.

"When you are an athlete, that sport consumes most of your time," Lee says. "Even in the off-season, we are busy training, which leaves little time for any other organizations."

Lee also recognizes the outside benefits of being involved in sports.

"Athletes are constantly in the spotlight and, therefore, players have to watch what they do both on and off the court," he says. "Sports are also a great way of networking and getting to know people. If you are smart about it and remain in good contact with people, job opportunities arise. That's how I heard about the assistant head coach position at Yorktown."

Coaching girls while at Yorktown, has given Lee a different perspective on using coaching techniques.

"Being a guy and always playing volleyball around a bunch of guys, I never really thought about the yelling and strict aspect that goes into coaching and encouraging the players," Lee says. "When I started coaching at Yorktown, I realized girls do not respond as well to yelling and correction, so I turned to the theory that Coach Walton uses, 'You can't coach every player the same way.' I altered my coaching style to fit the girls' expectations, and we had a very successful season, this past fall."

Being out of school for only a year, Lee has not only continued furthering his volleyball career through coaching, he also remains in contact with his teammates who are furthering their careers in volleyball. One of those teammates is Matthew Denmark, who is currently playing volleyball internationally in Portugal.

Since moving to Portugal, Denmark has had to learn how to deal with a lot of unique situations.

"The gyms that we play in are nothing like the ones in the United States," Denmark says. "The floors are bad, the roofs leak, and the crowds are more intimidating."

Denmark also claims that he has had to learn what to do with his free time.

"We only practice two hours a day here," Denmark says. "So I spend a lot of time walking around the city. Every street is different and no two shops are alike. I also e-mail my friends back home, watch a lot of soccer, and read."

During his time at Ball State, Denmark was a two-sport student-athlete majoring in finance, playing on the volleyball team for four years, and competing with the track team for three. He excelled at both sports, holding three school records in volleyball and managed the top height in the Mid-American Conference in 2002 with a leap of 7-feet-1-inch.

"Athletics help make you a leader by exposing you to a higher level of competition and responsibility," Denmark says. "Also, all the time requirements force you to be efficient with your free time."

Denmark, like Lee, did not grow up on the volleyball court. He started playing volleyball when he was 15 and was not serious about it until his senior year of high school. He has had much success with it since. Denmark claims the highlight of his sports career was coming off the bench to help the United States beat Russia in a five-set victory in the quarter finals of the world university games in the summer of 2003. Two days later he came off the bench again to help the United States beat France to win the bronze medal.

"I still have a lot of improving to do," Denmark says. "I would like to think that the best part of my career is still ahead of me."

Although Denmark is not sure if he would like to pursue a career in coaching, he does appreciate all the help and encouragement he has been given along the way.

"So many people, including Coach Walton, have taught me so much over the past nine years, I feel like I ought to give something back to others." Denmark says.

Coaching is a way for many athletes to continue their career and give back to others. They not only can thank the people who have helped them achieve their goals, but also help to start a new generation of young energetic players who might aspire to fill their coaching shoes.