Congratulations 2021-2022
Coaches and Players

Lynn McMillan is the director of the Blue Valley Activity Center (BVAC) and has worked for this organization over 30 years. She is a Certified Youth Worker and Ordained Minister in her church. She is also the Director of Facilities at the Family Life Center in downtown Independence. The ATTACK Volleyball club has been a part of Lynn’s life for over 25 years, as all three of her sons played competitive volleyball. She organizes countless clinics, practices, and volleyball tournaments, as well as directs soccer, basketball, and youth baseball leagues at BVAC. 

Lynn selects her ATTACK coaching staff very carefully. Coaches are expected to be experienced, qualified, and ready to push our players to work hard and develop into great athletes. Watching the players improve their skills and enjoy the game while learning to work as a team is her goal for the ATTACK volleyball club

Jared grew up playing volleyball from the time he was 5 years old, and has loved it every day. Coach Jared is the owner of MOJO Construction Co. and the father of seven kids. He volunteers regularly at his church and teaches the youth classes there from time to time as needed. 

Through his Jr. High and High School years Jared played on one of the few boys club teams (ATTACK) in the Kansas City area. He began coaching 18 years ago, and after a short break returned to the coaching staff of the ATTACK volleyball club. Jared believes listening to others is a big key to success in volleyball and in life. His philosophy about coaching is simple, and he says it like this: “Volleyball is a team sport, and so is the real world. I’m teaching TEAMWORK to my players so they can discover how to have success in everything they do for the rest of their lives.” ​

Malissa has successes in her volleyball career that are too long to list; so we’ll mention her college degrees: BA Psych., BA Philos., Masters Occup. Therapy, Masters Bus. Admin-Healthcare Mngmt. She currently works as Dir. of Rehab Lafayette Regi. Health Center, Occup. Therapist, and finally, Varsity Coach at Lexington HS, where Malissa lives with her husband and 4 children.

Malissa’s goal for coaching is to instill a love for the sport of volleyball, teach the values of teamwork and cooperation for players to carry over into adult work skills, develop competitive players who strive to do what is best for the team, and teach kids to work hard to mold a winning mindset!

“I focus on players being given a vision for what needs to be accomplished and the expectation to reach that goal. My teams talk about their goals as individual players and for the team. I believe in explaining my decisions, so the players understand the expectation of the team. Then they trust the process of building a winning program.”

Kelly is a graduate of Graceland University with a BS in elementary education and minors in math, political science, middle school, coaching/kinesiology and psychology. She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri (MU) in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Straub is currently a math teacher at William Chrisman High School and is the lead teacher in Positive Behavior Intervention Strategies (PBIS) there. She is a nationally certified basketball, volleyball and soccer coach. She is also a member of the priesthood in her church and a Mary Kay Representative.

As a former player of volleyball for 10 years, she says she was blessed to play for the Attack Volleyball Club, her high school team, and competed at Youth Nationals. She was invited to try out for the National Youth Team. She has coached high school and middle school, recreational and competitive youth volleyball teams accumulating to over 16 years of coaching experience. Kelly regularly coaches volleyball camps and clinics. She believes volleyball is a fun sport that can teach many life lessons

A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Philip attended the University of Kentucky, receiving an Associate of Arts as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree specializing in Kinesiology and Education. While at Kentucky, Bennett was a member of the Men's Volleyball team. As a setter, Bennett helped guide his team to the National Club Volleyball Federation tournaments in 2001. He began his coaching career at the University of Kentucky as he assisted the Women's NCAA Division I program. After graduation, Philip served as the Assistant Coach at Carson Newman College NCAA DII for the 2007-2008 seasons. While his duties included Game Planning, Promotions, Marketing, and training Middle Hitters/Blockers his highlight was leading the Eagles to a first place finish in NCAA DII Blocking Stats.

Philip has extensive Volleyball Camp experience, coaching in camps at Kentucky, Carson Newman, Tennessee, North Carolina, Belmont, Middle Tennessee, and East Tennessee State University and with the ATTACK Volleyball club. He was previously the Associate Women’s Volleyball Coach at Longview Community College. Philip is currently the Head Coach of the Kansas Christian Women’s Volleyball Program. 

​

Shaun began playing volleyball in Junior High School. He says he greatly improved his skills by playing doubles in sand volleyball. Shaun played for Graceland University at the collegiate level, where he was trained as a setter. Shawn works for Longhorn Steakhouse and as well as a trucking transport company.

In the past Coach Martin has directed double grass volleyball tournaments, as well as USAV tournaments for the Blue Valley Activity Center, (BVAC). He has also coached at a clinic held at McNeese St. University.

Shaun has coached competitive club teams for 13 years. He’s trained teams of many varying ages but enjoys the sheer happiness that you experience when coaching the youth teams.

​

Jill currently works for the Dept. of Veteran Affairs and has her BS in Science Pharmacy.

Jill started playing volleyball at the age of 10 with both of her parents Crystal and Dennis Jackson. Her earliest memory of volleyball was going to the Armory and playing open gym. Kevin Guard hit a ball into her face and split her lip open. She was standing on the 10 foot line and anyone that knows Kevin, knows he is a great hitter! But this didn’t slow down her love for the game.

Jill played for Lee’s Summit HS and for UMKC as a youth and has played her entire adult life. While she is fairly new to coaching youth club ball, she has coached adult teams for several years. (She says she leaves the reffing to her brother, Denny, and her parents.) She likes coaching because it adds a new perspective to the game and coaching has helped her improve her playing.

She also loves coaching because it gives her time with her daughter, as well as a chance to build memories with her. Volleyball has been a major part of her life and Jill hopes to help create those types of happy memories for others for a long time to come.

​

Anyone who spends a moment with Shawn walks away with a smile. Shawn is a Marine who served our country for 4 years. He has been trained in Physical Therapy, and currently works for Hammerdown Express with his brother.

Shawn has played volleyball since he was 5 years old, and has coached most of the last decade. He’s coached players at the high school level, as well as all ages in the competitive club level. He has experience in other sports, like pee-wee football, T-ball and soccer, but his true love is volleyball.

Shawn has a coaching style filled with joyful energy. He’s extremely supportive of his players, but he’s great at holding them accountable. He expects improvement, effort, desire, and change from his players, but he does it with a lot of fun. He’s a loud, enthusiastic coach, but he’s not a scolder. His players improve, gain a deeper love of the game, and always, always have a great time.

Shawn says he coaches and works with kids to help them develop into good people that are kind-hearted and productive in society.

​

Coach John moved down from Chicago, Ill several years ago, and recently joined the ATTACK family. He brought with him his wife and 6 children. John grew up playing goalie for ice hockey and water polo teams, so he is no stranger to competition.

John coached youth soccer and volleyball, then transitioned into high school and club volleyball. He coaches the players with a quiet, calm style. He likes talking to his players one–on–one, and helping them individually. At the upper age levels he focuses a lot on offensive and defensive systems, while reviewing the fundamentals.

Coach John believes it is important for a child to grow up with strong self-confidence, an understanding of their amazing potential. He wants them to develop life skills that will help them succeed in their careers, their families and their relationships. He believes these lessons can be taught while playing volleyball.

​

Elijah comes to the ATTACK family with 12 years of coaching volleyball. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology with a Master’s of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. He currently works for Rediscover, a mental health clinic.

While Elijah has coached soccer and basketball, he has years of experience coaching volleyball on the youth, high school and club levels. He has also managed his own club in the past. Elijah has run skills camps for several different clubs.

Coach Elijah describes his coaching style this way: I am very direct and supportive as a coach. I push my players hard and expect them to give 110% as I commit to giving the same as a coach. I do enjoy having fun with my teams and families while off the court, but I expect full focus and hard work on the court.

Elijah wants to empower his players with confidence, skills, and an ethic of hard work. He hopes to coach at Nationals one day.

​

Carla has a BS in Management from Friends University, a K-12 Teaching Certification from UMKC, and a Master’s Degree in Behavior Specialization. She is the Assistant Director of the ATTACK Volleyball Club. Carla is many faceted as she is also a ReMax Real Estate Agent, an ordained Elder in her church, an author, and has a ghost tour in Independence.

Carla has participated in club volleyball for over 30 years. She has been a national coach, with teams placing as high as 16th and 9th. She has also been a club director, given private lessons, and led volleyball camps and clinics. She has coached on the high school level and currently coaches volleyball and soccer.

Carla describes her coaching philosophy in this way: “The best part about coaching is that you get to teach kids life lessons while you play a game with them. Keeping that thought in mind, I approach tournaments, practices, and my relationship between my players with an attitude that we get to play a game. But honor in sports is crucial to my coaching style. I look forward to many more years of having fun with kids.”​

Dave Taylor is one of the BVAC/ATTACK original volleyball players who grew up in the BVAC gym. In high school he played with a fun group of guys (like Fred Clark) every day after school. He’s had well over 30 years of volleyball play, coaching and reffing. He played for Kellogg Comm. College, and then went on to Graceland College. One of those teams won the National Championship, and he was chosen 1st team All-America. He then played for the USA Men’s National Team in 1978-1980 as a strongside hitter.

Dave’s coaching style is based on positive reinforcement. He likes to work individually with the players to help them correct their form and technique. He believes if the individual player is strong, the entire team will be strong.

Taylor’s ultimate volleyball goal is to develop a player that achieves the level of a top 10 university and then joins the Women’s National team. Dave’s coaching philosophy is: “Consistency creates confidence. Confidence creates consistency.”

Fred is currently a millworker working with wood to make archectitual molding. But for 32 years he owned his own landscaping/construction company. As he says, now he works on the inside of trees instead of the outside.

Fred Clark has the unique distinction of being one of BVAC’s oldest club players. He began playing volleyball when he was in Junior High. He competed on a boy’s team that existed before our club changed our name from BVAC to ATTACK. But this team was amazing. They headed to National’s during the 1979-1980 season and have the honor of being National Champions from that year!

Fred attended Graceland University and was a part of the collegiate team while studying there. Over the past years he has coached for many varied teams of different ages. Fred believes success in anything comes with commitment and hard work.

Chelsea graduated from the University of Central Missouri, (UCM), with a degree in child and Family Development. She currently works for the Independence School District. She has loved playing volleyball for as long as she can remember. Chelsea grew up watching her sister play and watching everything she could find that involved volleyball. This attentiveness to the sport helped develop her skills as a setter and outside hitter.

Chelsea has almost 15 years of volleyball experience as a player, coach and referee. Coach Hamaan has a very calm coaching style and describes herself this way; “I am very laid back, but I will call a player over to the side to tell them what they can work on or how to correct their playing form. I do not deal with disrespect and definitely expect the player to respect me as a coach and respect her other teammates.”

Chelsea’s goals are to help improve volleyball technique, bring teammates close together, and teach them good work ethic and responsibility.

Coach Jesse is a fabulous father of 4 kids, (his daughter is in the picture with him.) and happily married to his wife of 20 years. He works for Comcast Xfinity. Jesse had coached basketball and baseball for several years when he signed up his daughter over a decade ago for a volleyball league. As he sat in the stands, the director of the league asked if anyone in the crowd would be willing to coach. Jesse stepped up that day, and that’s when he fell in love with volleyball.

The rest is history.

He’s now coached for 12 years and loves teaching the kids. Jesse builds working relationships with the players, which inspires them to play for the success of the team, while they improve their individual skills. He is a strong believer in volleyball fundamentals, and builds solid players, many whom have moved on to college teams. His expectations are high, and he does everything he can to encourage the girls to meet those expectations.

Jesse’s goal as a coach is to make the girls better on and off the court. He wants to help them succeed in life.