Jon Lee (volleyball player)

Jon Lee (born 1949) is an American indoor and beach volleyball player, coach, and journalist.[1] He won a national championship indoors in 1969 at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) where he was a three time All-American. After graduating from UCSB, Lee played professional indoor volleyball with the Santa Barbara Spikers ('75) and with Son Amar in Spain ('74, '75), including winning the Spanish National Championship in Mallorca ('74).[2]

Playing career

Lee began playing beach volleyball at age 10, competed throughout high school and college, won his AAA two-man rating on the beach in 1971, and maintained that rating for well over a decade.[3][4] Between 1971 and 1983 he teamed with three-time Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly; former Stanford men's and women's volleyball coach Don Shaw; NBA player, basketball All-American; and pro volleyball player Greg Lee, AVP Pro John Hanley; and many others.[3][4] In 2015, he won the 60+ Sand National Championship for the third consecutive year and has won 10 other age-level titles at the annual Motherlode Volleyball Classic in Aspen.[5][6]

Journalism

After finishing his professional volleyball career, Lee become a writer and Senior Editor for Volleyball Magazine, the world's first volleyball publication.[4][7] He covered Olympic, Pan American and World Championship competition around the world and authored over 100 articles about the sport. He also worked as an ESPN color commentator on television, covering beach doubles and four-man tournaments as well as NCAA and professional indoor matches.[4]

Coaching career

For 23 years Lee was a highly recognized indoor coach at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California, where he also taught writing and English.[8][9] He coached 46 consecutive seasons of both the boys and girls volleyball for the Royals, from 1986 to 2009, while also mixing in stints as an assistant coach for three seasons at Westmont College and one at UCSB.[9] His high school boys and girls volleyball teams both won CIF (Southern California) Championships and many collegiate and Olympic stars emerged from his programs, including U.S. Beach Volleyball Gold Medalist Todd Rogers, AVP Professional Dax Holdren, U.S. National Volleyball team members Brook Billings and Jeff Menzel, and West Coast Conference First Team player Mandy Bible among others. He was named CIF Coach of the Year three times.[10] Remarkably and most enduringly, 52 of Lee's players have gone on to become volleyball coaches. In 2009, San Marcos High School honored Coach Lee by naming the Lee Court in the new gymnasium in his honor.[11][12] In 2013, the City of Santa Barbara Parks and Recreation Department, local media and the Semana Nautica Association awarded Jon the R.F. MacFarland Memorial Trophy for his 22 years of service to youth.[9] In 2017, Jon was inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame.[13]

Personal life

Jon's younger brother Greg Lee is a retired American basketball player.[14]

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References
  1. "Noozhawk.com Your News and Information Source". www.noozhawk.com. Retrieved 2016-01-23.
  2. "Santa Barbara Spikers Rooster".
  3. "Beach Volleyball Database".
  4. "Coaches' Coach, DIG Magazine, 2009".
  5. "30th ANNUAL MOTHERLODE VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC results".
  6. "MotherLode Volleyball Classic Results".
  7. "Volleyball Magazine 30th Anniversary Throwback".
  8. "Jon Lee profile in Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable "Coach of the Year" 2000" (PDF).
  9. "'Lee honored for his volleyball service to youth,' Santa Barbara News-Press, May 17, 2013".
  10. "Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable "Coach of the Year" award 2000" (PDF).
  11. "Letter from Norm Clevenger, Principal, San Marcos High School" (PDF).
  12. "San Marcos gym and court to honor Lee, Halleck". Presidio Sports. Retrieved 2015-12-05.
  13. "Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony".
  14. "Inductees: Greg Lee". CVBA. Retrieved 2017-02-20. He was introduced to the beach game by his older brother Jon and learned at the feet of the masters at Sorrento.
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