Coaches

COACHING STAFF

Our coaches are dedicated to making the club season a positive and fun experience for all players. They have a wealth of experience, both playing and coaching, and look forward to transferring their love and knowledge of the game to their players. 




Amanda Jellema

Amanda has been playing volleyball for 11 years now. She started out at Prairie City Monroe and Finished at SE Polk High School… yes she is our first Alumni Coach. She finished her collegiate carrier at Grand View University as libero and/or back row specialist. She has been coaching for the Rams Juniors for the past five years. Some of Amanda’s favorite things to do in her free time are exercising, being a couch potato, long walks on the beach and baking cookies for her players.

 


Dawn Wood

Dawn is a graduate of Pella Christina High School and had the opportunity to play in the state tournament her senior year. She played college volleyball at Dordt College in Sioux Center and Central College in Pella. She is in her fourth season coaching club volleyball for the Rams Juniors. She coached Junior High volleyball at Pella Christian and for our own SEP Junior High. Outside of coaching, Dawn also currently enjoys playing on adult co-ed and female club volleyball teams and eating the cookies that Amanda makes for their players!




Alyssa Rughair (Hyler)

Alyssa played High School volleyball at SE Polk where she led the team and league in digs. She attended Indian Hills Community College and is currently taking classes at Iowa State. She continues to keep her killer digging instinct by playing in high performance co-ed leagues in Des Moines. This is Alyssa’s sixth year coaching with the Rams. During her free time she enjoys helping out with volleyball camps, quality time with her family, and teaching turtles how to spike. She just got married, but we were told that we could still call her Hyler.
 



Janee McBride

Janee played HS volleyball on a state qualifying team for Knoxville and continued on to play College ball at Graceland University. Primary position is setter. This is Janee's 5th year coaching for the Rams and we're excited to have her back. Janee is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator and works in sales for Bayer Healthcare. She has 2 children, Brennan and Molly.




Hollie Heffelfinger

Hollie is an SEP alumni and this is her second year coaching at the 15s. She played volleyball at Central College and is currently a student there. We are psyched to have her with the Rams. During her free time she enjoys listening to music and playing the banjo! If you are one of her players, please ask her to play a song for you some time.




Jim Schwake - (Beach Volleyball)

Jim has been involved with volleyball for many years. He's reffed high school and Division III ball since '87 and currently is a Regionally Certified referee for the Iowa Region. He's played adult volleyball for 20+ years and just won the Iowa Regional Championship in 2007. His most recent coaching position was with Norwalk and is helping start the Iowa Boys Division. This will be Jim's fifth season with the Rams. When he's not playing, refereeing, or coaching volleyball, he enjoys watching sporting events and playing fantasy sports. A big congratulations for his USA Cap I coaching certification too!!!




Brooke Niemuth

Brooke, who doesn't seem to want to send me a picture is an alumni of SEP and has been coaching the 12s for two years now. She was an outstanding middle hitter for SEP and has been a great addition to the coaching staff. She currently is a student at Simpson college and enjoys petting turtles, matching different colored socks and learning how to eat crackers :-).




Jodi Stoker

Jodi, an IPVA standout, was a four year starter at Indiana State University. She is back in the Des Moines area and has coached for several clubs since her return. She currently is Southeast Polk's Sophmore coach and we appreciate her dedication and commitment to helping with our club kids. During her free time she enjoys spending time with her siblings in Iowa and getting back to her home state of Hawaii ... where she enjoys long walks on the beach and singing native Hawaiian songs. 




Tom Brown

Tom has been coaching for many years in football, baseball, ballet and soccer. His daughter Sophie is an alumni and currently playing at Luther College so he's been around volleyball for a very long time. He has already devoted a ton of time attending coaching clinics and we anticipate having Tom around for years and years to come. Thanks for joining the crew!




Brandy Beyer

Brandy played college volleyball as a middle blocker at Indian Hills Community College, and then at Iowa Wesleyan College, where she was a 2-year All-Conference Volleyball and Academic All-American selection. She coached at Nevada High School for 3 years, and then Colo-Nesco High School for 1 year, and then with Iowa Heart in Ames for the 17's and 18's for 5 years. She stays active by playing competitive women's, co-ed 4's sand, doubles sand, and mud volleyball. Her son Greyson is almost 2 and her boyfriend's Shawn two kids are Tiffany who is 8, and Devin, who is 11. She enjoys riding her motorcycle, riding horses, hanging with her pets, dancing and singing.




Jenny Bell (Shep)

Jenny played High School volleyball at PCM. She went to college at UNI and played on many recreational leagues while pursuing her education degree. She began her coaching career as the 7th grade volleyball coach at Jesup Middle School.  The following year she accepted a Varsity coaching job at Malcolm Price Laboratory (NU) in Cedar Falls. She now coaches at SE Polk High School. This is her fifth year coaching. In her free time, she enjoys working out, traveling, playing volleyball, softball, and spending time with her family. She's also very good at helping Six remember his keys, bag, drill sheets etc. Without Shep he'd still probably be looking for something at the gym :-).




Ashley Lathrum (Ash)

Ashley started playing volleyball at PCM High School in Monroe. After graduation, she went to Iowa Lakes Community College and played MB. She then transferred to Iowa State and played for the club team as well as coached the 12U team for Iowa Heart. She now coaches for SEP High School. This is Lathrum's third year of coaching with the Rams. During her free time she loves to spend time with her husband and baby, play sports, dance and travel. She also plays a mean game of Mud Volleyball! Ashley was extremely instrumental in our Varsity home tournament win this year with a clutch timeout and team inspirational speech!




Deb Sixta - Beach Volleyball

Deb began her volleyball career by playing in 5th grade for 4H club. She played her high school ball at Western Dubuque and has been playing competitive ball for over 30 years. During that time period she’s played for the following teams: Floaters, Skeeters, Going No Where, RTs, Flamingo Row, YWCA, Victors, The Wine Experience, The Game Party. She currently plays on coed teams year round is the team director for The Game Party. She;s a big Hawk fan and helps out at numerous camps and clinics. During her free time she enjoys scrapbooking and is a first degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

A huge thanks to Deb for her help with the Beach Volleyball program this summer.




Lindsay Warren

Lindsey played volleyball at SE Polk. She currently attends Simpson and will graduate in December of 2012. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially her daughter, and is always looking for a new challenge, and pushing her limits. This is Lindsay's third year coaching with the Rams and is great with our younger upcoming players! Great job at the coaching clinic and congrats again for winning the Mac and Cheese cook off!!!




Bud Simpson - Beach Volleyball

Bud has been playing mens and coed volleyball for the past 20 years. He enjoys spending his free time with his family and playing golf. Bud has coached the Rams for three years now and we hope to have him for many many many more years!!!




Kylie Von Hemel

Kylie is an alumni of SEP Volleyball and great addition to our coaching staff. We look forward to having her pass on her vast knowledge and love of the sport to the girls in the program. In her spare time she likes to knit, cook, crochet, ride horses and spend time with her family. She's great with our younger kids and we look forward to her being here for years to come.




Matt Parker - (Parks) Varsity Head Coach, Skills Coach and Camp Director

During High School Matt played for the Capital City Juniors club team, then continued to play for the Fort Dodge Juniors Club team, and finally for the Two Rivers volleyball club. While obtaining his teaching degree at UNI, he played for the UNI Men’s Volleyball club team and eventually became the club’s director and secretary for the UNI Club sports council. He’s coached club volleyball for the Black Hawk Saints, Johnston IPVA, and Rams Juniors. He was also an assistant and head coach at Southeast Webster, and now is the Head Coach for the SE Polk High School team. He’s was the founder of the Rams Juniors club team and Director of the adult Spiking Rhinos Men’s team. He currently plays for the Men’s team On Ice and won a Meritorious Service Award from the Iowa Region for all his hard work and time towards Iowa Volleyball. He is also now an Assistant Men's Coach for GrandView University! He enjoys listening to music, watching movies, playing volleyball, and spending hours and hours watching Glee and scrapbooking with his new wife Katie :-).




Jim Sixta  (Six)
 
“Six” – is the Club Director of the Rams Volleyball Club. He is the Assistant Volleyball Coach for SE Polk High School and helps run, organize, and participate in various camps. His club coaching experience has been with IPVA and the Rams Juniors. He is involved with Iowa Juniors Beach Volleyball, and is a Board member of Iowa Region Volleyball. He is CAP II certified, and has played volleyball for the past millenium. He enjoys sand doubles in the summer, and indoor coed 6s and 4s during the rest of the year. He also enjoys line judging and refereeing area matches. While he’s not doing something volleyball related, you can find him biking, fishing, or enjoying time with his family Deb and Samantha.




Jessica Osterhaus - Camp & Skills Coach

Jessica played volleyball in high school at Dyersville Beckman where her team was state runners up her senior year (Go Blazers!). She attended the University of Iowa and played indoor and sand intramurals. She has coached a club volleyball team at Dyersville Beckman. Her hobbies include reading, running, and she loves to watch football! Go Hawks! Jess is busy with numerous activities, but we hope to have her back in the ranks of coaching soon!




Heidi Dibbet - Community Service Coordinator & 12s League Director

Heidi played for four years in high school and went to college at The University of Iowa where she played both sand intramural and regular intramural volleyball. She’s coached at almost every age group and is currently the Junior High Head Coach. Heidi will also be directing the 12 and under league that recently moved to SEP.  When she's not teaching or coaching she enjoys cooking, cheering on the Hawks and making sure Six's daughter learns History!




Katie Parker - Beach Volleyball

Katie Parker is a big help to the club as she's always willing to lend a hand and She attended high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and was a starting middle for their 4A squad. She currently plays competitive adult volleyball –doubles sand volleyball and womens’ and coed 6s indoors.

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ALUMNI COACHES




Jay Chung




Jeff Featherstone




Brittany Fowler




Amy Kaldenberg




Shannon Rayhons




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