By Matt Cress, Jeffersonville Evening News
11/6/2008
Bart Powell hasn’t been around as long as big-name area volleyball coaches like New Albany’s John Breeding or Providence’s Terri Purichia. And he probably doesn’t have their name recognition, either.
But it hasn’t taken him long to duplicate their success.
Now in just his third season at the helm of Floyd Central, Powell has guided the Highlanders to a second straight appearance in the IHSAA State Finals. Floyd, which lost to eventual state champion New Castle in the semifinals last season, will meet Muncie Central at Yorktown High School at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The second matchup will pit Elkhart Memorial against Indianapolis Cathedral, with the winners meeting at Ball State University’s Worthen Arena at 8:10 p.m. for the state championship.
As part of its coverage of the Highlanders’ postseason run, The Tribune caught up with Powell in an effort to get to know the 23-year coaching veteran who has saved the biggest splash of his career for his time in Floyd County.
QUESTION: Tell us about yourself and your coaching career.
BART POWELL: “I’m from Northern Indiana. I coached for nine years at Southwood, which is actually playing in the state finals this weekend and is coached by one of my best friends (note: the Knights will meet Brownstown in the first Class 2A state semifinal). I was the head coach at Peru for three years and then I was at Maconaquah for eight years. It’s my 23rd year.”
Q: How did you end up coaching down here in the south?
POWELL: “My wife is from here. I run my own business, so I was able to sort of take it with me. In May of 2005, I went to (Floyd Central athletic director Bill) Pierce and told him I was interested in helping in any way that I could. This was a year before I knew we were moving. The way it turned out, (former Floyd coach) Ty Evans quit and Bill called me and said they were going to be doing interviews for the job. So I submitted an application and here I am.”
Q: You like it down here?
POWELL: “You know, I like the warm weather. We averaged about 65 inches of snow every winter and I was a little tired of that.”
Q: What is different about coaching in the south?
POWELL: “It really comes down to the club ball that the kids can play. People don’t know how good the club ball around here is, but there are three teams from Louisville and four teams from Indiana in the top-25 teams in the country. I’ve been blessed with very talented kids since I’ve been here.”
Q: I know it’s never easy, but you guys have made it look that way. I’m assuming that’s not always been the case?
POWELL: “At Maconaquah, I took over a program that had lost 64 matches in a row. My first year, we went 1-29, the second year we were 6-27 and the third year we got to 17-18. My fourth year we were 27-8, so it definitely took awhile to build that program and it wasn’t easy.”
Q: Not quite as hard at Floyd Central, I guess...
POWELL: “All that we had to do was mold and shape. The talent was already here.”
Q: Since you guys made it to state last year, the expectations had to have been enormous coming into the season. Did you guys feel that pressure?
POWELL: “If we would have gotten beat by New Albany (in the sectional finals), we would have been 32-4 and we wouldn’t have felt that we had been successful at all. That’s how I think, and I know for a fact that’s how this team thinks. Winning creates expectations. But we didn’t fold in the face of that adversity and we’re better for it.”
Q: It’s a cliché question, but does having the experience of being at state last year have any effect on your chances this year?
POWELL: “I think it does. When they were playing the national anthem last year (before playing New Castle), I realized that I was a little nervous. I’m never nervous. I think we didn’t know exactly what we were getting into. Now we understand how the crowd is and how much pressure there is on every point.”
Q: What is the difference between last year’s team and this one?
POWELL: “Last year, we had a lot of matches that went five games. We won some in five games and we lost some in five games. This year, the kids never really put themselves in that position. I think we’ve only had three five-game matches. They’ve learned to close it out a lot faster.”
Q: What’s it feel like as a coach to finally get to this point?
POWELL: “To reach state in back-to-back years, I can only say it feels pretty awesome. I’ve been at the bottom and gone from 1-29 to 35-3 and gotten to feel all the emotion, all the tears and all the hair-pulling along the way. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the fact that I’ve paid my dues, but really I’m just happy for the kids. It’s really all about the kids.”
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