Men's Volleyball

NEW DIGS FOR FORMER SAINTS VOLLEYBALL STAR

Emmanuel College alum Steve Yates ('06) is the Saints men's volleyball program's first graduate to become an NCAA Division I coach.

Steve Yates

Steve Yates

Sept. 7, 2011

A lot has changed since Steve Yates graduated from Emmanuel College in 2006, but like they say, sometimes change is a good thing. The college itself has almost doubled in size, adding more than 800 undergraduate students compared to the 1,000 that were in enrolled in 2002 when he began his journey in collegiate athletics as a student-athlete. The Saints Men's Volleyball program that he helped build from the ground up has turned from a team struggling to field a full bench into a regional powerhouse. And for Yates, what once looked like a career destined in the family sheet metal business has transformed into a dream job coaching at the NCAA Division I level.

After getting a taste of the athletics field as an intern at the Bay State Games in 2006, Yates knew that there was a future for him somewhere in an athletic environment. Unfortunately at the time, he had little experience other than his collegiate playing background and decided to head home and take a job at his uncle's business to make and save some money for whatever would be next. In the meantime, Yates decided to give coaching a shot, accepting the volleyball head coaching job at Greater New Bedford Vocational Tech in 2007.

Little did he know that after working for almost two years with his uncle, he would be offered the chance to take over the and run the family company which would ultimately crush his dream of returning to a collegiate athletic setting in a fulltime capacity.

"It just wasn't the right fit for me and I knew that it wasn't what I wanted to do for a career," said Yates. "That's when I knew I had to get moving if I ever wanted to coach at a higher level and go back to school so that I could get my foot in the door."

Yates did exactly that and began applying to graduate school programs all around the country. His applications were going out very late in the 2008 admissions process but he finally got a call from Concordia University in Irvine, Cali. saying that he'd been accepted and was all set to enroll in classes for the fall of 2008 semester.

"It all happened very quickly," Yates admitted. "Within one month of being accepted, I was all packed up and driving across the country to start a master's program in Athletic Administration and Coaching."

With no job, no income and only one contact in his new roommate who he'd found through Cragislist, Yates was really on his own, 3,000 miles away from home. But that didn't stop him from jumping into his new surroundings head first and making the best of this opportunity. Shortly after his arrival Yates met with Katie Sheahan, the Director of Athletics & Recreation at Concordia, to see if he could find some type of work within the athletic department. She was able to accommodate his request with a graduate assistant position assisting with Sports Communication and Game Event operations.

"It was a great opportunity for me to just learn about how a collegiate athletic department runs," said Yates. "If it meant keeping livestats at a volleyball match or helping supervise a home soccer match, I looked at it as a chance to learn about a field I knew I would end up in, so in that regard it was perfect."

While studying at Concordia, Yates decided to reach out to a contact he'd made through his involvement and play in the US Adult National volleyball tournament. A friend had told him that if he ever was looking for a coaching job in California, to call Neil Mason, founder and CEO of the TCA Volleyball Club. Yates had been told that Mason, a former Division I volleyball player and the 2006 United States Olympic Committee Development Coach of the Year, was always looking for young, athletic coaches that could help him build the club's reputation.

"It was pretty neat," Yates boasted. "I called him up one day and told him about how I would love to get into coaching and after just a few minutes on the phone, Neil knew that I was very passionate about the game and invited me to a practice that night. It wasn't very long after that, I was coaching my own club team and gaining valuable experience with some of the best club players in the country."

Yates started off as a volunteer coach at the TCA Volleyball Club before taking teams of his own. He coached 12-18 year olds and helped coach the TCA Team Black to a ninth place finish at the AAU National Championship in the 16 Open division in 2010. While coaching at TCA, Yates also served as a volunteer assistant coach at Concordia University-Irvine in 2009. The Eagles finished the 2009 season 30-8 overall and 13-7 in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

"I learned a lot at both TCA and Concordia," said Yates. "The level of play was so high that I almost had to forget a lot of what I had been taught because these athletes were training at a much higher level. It forced me to really be a student of the game which ultimately has helped me get to where I am today."

That would be on the sidelines as the newest assistant coach for the women's volleyball program at Coastal Carolina University, an NCAA Division I member of the Big South Conference, located in Conway, South Carolina. Earlier this summer, Yates was contacted by Tucker Short, a former TCA club coach, as well as a current assistant at CCU. Short wanted to let his old club coaching buddy know that there was an assistant opening and that he thought Yates would be perfect for the job.

"It was exciting to hear from Tucker because he knew through our conversations coaching together at TCA that I was really serious about getting into coaching at the next level. After flying out and meeting with Head Coach Kristen Bauer and the CCU staff I knew it would be a great fit for me."

Forty-eight hours after getting offered the assistant job at Coastal Carolina, Yates began another cross country journey back East to start the next phase in his coaching career. After spending a few weeks at home with his family in Massachusetts, Yates was off to Conway, S.C. to embark on the start of his collegiate coaching career.

Yates admits that there was a bit of a learning curve to start, but by the time his team moved in for the start of preseason on Aug. 6, he felt very confident that he'd made the right decision and was ready to get the season underway.

"No matter where you go or play, the X's and O's of volleyball are very similar," said Yates. "It took a little time for me to learn our system, but now that everything is in place I'm just excited to see where this program is capable of going over the next few years. We're a young and super talented group that reminds me a lot of my first few playing years at Emmanuel."

Yates was a member of the inaugural Men's Volleyball team at Emmanuel College in 2002, which made the jump to varsity after only one year of the college going coed. Over his four years, Yates saw three different head coaches take the helm, but recognizes that a new program will experience some growing pains before it can achieve its goals. "It was hard and those were certainly some tough times for men's volleyball at EC," expressed the four-time team captain. "We were very lucky to have such a great core group of guys to help build the foundation and I was honored to be a part of that unit." During his career with the Saints, Yates was a three-time All-Conference selection and became Emmanuel's first player to surpass 1,000 career kills. He remains the program's 4th all-time leader for kills in a career.

As Yates' professional career has taken off, so has the Emmanuel Men's Volleyball program. Last season the team posted a program-best 28-9 record and was ranked among the nation's Top 15 in Division III throughout the campaign.

"I'm very proud to be an alum of a program that has continued to grow in every season since I've left. Ultimately, that's what I would like to help build as a coach at Coast Carolina," said Yates.

Over the last five years, a lot has changed for Yates, but the one thing that has remained the same has been his rock solid character. From sheet metal to the Chanticleers, the Emmanuel alum has embraced every change with an open mind and a will to succeed, while embodying the true spirit of intercollegiate athletics.

Congratulations, Steve, on all of your accomplishments to date. As you continue to welcome change in your career, your friends at Emmanuel remind you to stay true to your roots and never change because in our eyes, you'll always be a Saint.