Todd Weimer tries to bump things from his schedule but can't help being accommodating. This summer alone, the Kaneland girls volleyball coach has taken on a second coaching job with the St. Charles North boys, been married and trained for a potential venture with the U.S. men's Deaf Olympic team. The Americans had to drop out of the 2009 Games due to a lack of funding and sponsorship, but it ultimately left Weimer a chance to catch his breath. Chronicle sports reporter Kevin Druley caught up with Weimer for this edition of the Weekend Chit-chat just in time; he's set to travel to Mexico for his honeymoon with new wife, Lisa, this week.
What do you have planned between now and the start of practices next month?
Not much, other than the honeymoon. It'll be nice to relax and not think about anything and just take a load off for awhile.
How were you able to head down to the University of Florida camp?
I've got some really good connections down there, and it's a really good connection to have. (Florida coach) Mary Wise has a top-notch program down there and gave me some really good teams and camps to work with. It was mostly teams from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, those states in the south. I had a nice time down there.
Any big differences in style of play between the southeast and Illinois?
Volleyball all looks the same to me... Certainly, there is a strong club presence in both places, but I still believe that midwest volleyball is pretty strong. In this area, the suburban area, there are really strong roots that have been planted for a long time.
Handicap Kaneland for me this fall.
We're very deep in talent and skill, we've got a lot of experience in club and a lot of multi-sport athletes in the mix. When I took over five years ago, we only had about two girls who were active on the club scene, but going into this fall just about everyone has that in their background. We've got Jessica Lubic, a junior in her third year on varsity, Alyssa Snyder's coming back as a senior after leading the team in blocks last year. And then you've got our libero, Abby VanDerHeyden...We've got a long ways to go after graduating five key contributors, but we might surprise some teams.
How will you remember the Western Sun Conference?
I'll remember it from a lot of different ways. Geneva, Batavia and Glenbard South always seemed to be the teams to beat. We'd always try to battle those teams as best we could. As far as location went, I thought it was great. The furthest we had to go was about a half-hour west to Rochelle and a half-hour or so east to Glenbard South. Kaneland was right in the middle of it all. There have been a lot of great memories.
Do you feel like a North Star yet?
I do. Between all the stuff I had going on this summer I was still able to get together with the boys about two or three times after accepting the position. I got to meet with the sports boosters, and they're a great group of parents and excited as I am. There's a lot of athleticism there with the boys and I think we can do great things there.
Do you see more volleyball coaches doubling up since the seasons are at opposite ends of the high school calendar?
You've really got to love volleyball to do that, but that won't be a problem for me. About the only thing that could be stressing about North is the commute because I teach at Kaneland Middle School. But that's not until the springtime yet, so I've got time to figure it out.
What is the boys' game going to have to do to match the girls in popularity?
To me, it just depends on where you go. Different states, different towns, different counties, it's different ... Up here in the Chicago area and the state of Illinois it's just not as popular as girls, but I think it's coming. With more guys playing club and getting that exposure, the play gets better. Plus, it really helps when the U.S. wins gold medals in the sport for both men's and women's.
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