When looking for a replacement for Jeannette as Assistant Director, we looked at potential candidates both in and outside of the organization.  What we found were two outstanding candidates in our own gym.  I am pleased to announce that effective immediately, Sydney Antonio and Leeanne Gleim will be sharing the position and will each carry the title of Associate Director.

For those of you who do not know Sydney (pictured above left) and Leeanne (pictured above right), they bring a wide range of distinctive yet complimentary skills to the table.  Sydney is no stranger to TVC, having played for the club from the time she was 13 years old through her senior year in high school.  She graduated from St. Ursula Academy where she was an all-state libero and played collegiately at Miami University.  She returned to Toledo after graduating from Miami and received her Masters in Public Health from the University of Toledo.  She has been coaching for TVC for the past seven years since her return and until last year was also an assistant coach at St. Ursula.  She is presently the 17-Elite Head Coach.

Syd will focus on the recruitment and retention of our coaching staff, lesson and clinic coordination, and other gym functions.  She is also taking on the responsibility of generating non-volleyball revenue for the club.  At this point, she plans to continue coaching 17-Elite. 

Leeanne moved to Toledo four years ago from Florida when her husband was hired as a Marketing Professor at the University of Toledo.  I was introduced to Leeanne in 2011 by a former TVC player and current University of Kansas Associate Head Coach, Laura Kuhn (aka Bird).  I ran into Bird at Nationals in Miami, Florida, that year and she said, “I have a great coach for TVC, you need to hire her immediately.”  Leeanne and Bird worked together when Leeanne was a graduate assistant volleyball coach at Florida State. Originally from Decatur, Indiana, she attended Adams Central High School and played at Fort Wayne Volleyball Club. Leeanne (Gross) played collegiately at the University of Southern Indiana where, as a middle hitter, she received all-conference accolades three times and helped lead the team to two conference championships, earning trips to the NCAA tournament.  She received her Masters in Science Education from The Florida State University.  She has several years of high school varsity coaching experience in Indiana and a combined ten years club coaching experience in Indiana, Florida, and Ohio.  She and her husband Mark have two children, Maddox (4) and Annabelle (1) and they live in Sylvania Township.

Leeanne will be responsible for working with our players on the college recruiting process.  She will also be responsible for our website, social media, maintaining and updating player databases and assisting with tournament entries.  Leeanne also plans to continue coaching.  She has coached a variety of TVC club and regional teams because of her young children and this past season assisted on the 15-Mizuno team.

Syd and Leeanne will share office coverage and work together on tryouts, team formation and the training model for the coaching staff.  It is their goal to bring the position training and group training concept to our younger players while still keeping true to TVC’s philosophy of hiring and training competent coaches and allowing them the freedom and flexibility to coach their own teams.

The future looks bright for TVC!