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 35 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 30 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. She has sent numerous teams to national qualifiers and nationals.

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.

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.

Bio coming soon.

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Bio coming soon.

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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 20 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.” ​

Beth grew up in Independence, MO. She was a three-year varsity volleyball player and graduated from Truman High School. She went on to Graceland University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. She is currently obtaining her Master’s degree in Violin Performance and also works for the Independence School District as a para-educator and as a coach for the ATTACK Volleyball Club.

Beth began playing volleyball at 9 years old at BVAC and played competitive volleyball for 13 years. Her first club play was at BVAC, and she’s very excited to get back to her roots! Beth attended Graceland University and was a starter on the Varsity team for three years. She received many awards, including Scholar Athlete, All State Volleyball Team, All Conference Volleyball Honorable Mention as Middle Hitter and NAIA Scholar Team Honor.

Beth’s coaching goals are to create an encouraging and supportive environment where aspiring players can grow as competitive athletes while developing strong character on and off the court.

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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 certified k-12 math and K-12 PE teacher. 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 18 years of coaching experience. Kelly regularly coaches volleyball camps and clinics. She believes volleyball is a fun sport that can teach many life lessons

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.

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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.

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Guitar is originally from St. Louis, MO and she loves her Cardinals! She attended the St. Louis Community college for general studies. She currently works an Admissions Coordinator at Brookdale Rosehill.

Guitar has played volleyball since high school and still enjoys the sand courts from time to time. She has loved coaching the girls and with a daughter and step-daughter on the team really enjoys spending time with them and creating memories. She also kind of likes bossing them around. She has primarily coached on a rec level, however, working with Elijah has developed her knowledge of the game.

Guitar’s style of coaching is to have fun, with a direct approach. She likes to create a positive atmosphere for players to become the best version of themselves through proper form and instruction.

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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.

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.