Caitie Greiner and Ilya Schwartzman entered coaching at a young age and over the past several years have built their high school programs into competitive teams.
Neither Greiner nor Schwartzman got into coaching to earn accolades. That’s why their selection Monday as this year’s women’s and men’s Jack Cramer Ideals of Athletic Competition Award winners came as a surprise to them.
“It’s an incredible honor,” said Schwartzman, the girls soccer coach at Columbus East. “Being recognized among such a prestigious group, it’s very, very humbling, and I’m just very, very honored to be in that group. I certainly don’t do these kind of things for awards. It’s just been a labor of love.”
Greiner, who coaches the volleyball team at Columbus North, was similarly moved by her selection.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“I was shocked,” Greiner said. “I’m very excited. It’s a great honor. It’s a great award. It means a lot to even be nominated. I don’t coach, and I don’t work with kids just to be honored. When people start to see the hard work I put in, it’s nice to know. I’m still trying to process it a little bit.”
As a kid, Greiner participated in dance and figure skating, along with volleyball and basketball. She played basketball her first three years at East and played volleyball all four years, earning All-State honors as a senior in 2003.
Greiner went on to play volleyball for two years at Miami (Ohio) before transferring and playing a year at Indiana University. While in Bloomington, she coached 18-and-under and 16-and-under teams at Hoosierland Volleyball Club.
After moving back to Columbus with her husband Zach Greiner, the former Caitie Watts became an assistant coach at East for one season, She then went back to coaching at Hoosierland before taking the North job in November 2011.
Shortly after starting at North, Greiner formed the Columbus North Volleyball Club. Last year, she helped combine the North and East clubs to form Columbus Volleyball Academy.
“It’s exciting because (winning the Cramer Award) shows that people are noticing the change in my program and what I’ve envisioned the volleyball program to be,” Greiner said. “Just because I am young, and I am a young coach, there’s always room to grow and to get better. The other people who have won the award have done some great things. It’s very exciting that people in the community think that I am worthy of the honor. But there’s so much more that I intend to do.”
Meanwhile, Schwartzman spent the first 15 years of his life in Russia before moving with his family to northwest Indiana. He played soccer at Munster High School and Wabash College and started coaching in the Montgomery County Youth Association while at Wabash.
Schwartzman earned a M.D. from Indiana University, and came to Columbus in 1991 to start a medical practice. That year, he began coaching soccer in the parks and recreation programs for 10 years before starting to coach Columbus Express Soccer Club teams.
Schwartzman was assistant girls soccer coach at East from 2002-04 before taking over as head coach in 2005. Since then, he’s led the Olympians to 12 Hoosier Hills Conference titles in 13 years, plus three sectional and two regional championships.
“The kids have been great,” Schwartzman said. “It’s a great opportunity to work with young people. I love the game and love sharing the game. It’s great to watch these young women develop into great people and great soccer players.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Cramer winners” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Caitie (Watts) Greiner
Age: 34
High school: Columbus East
Colleges: Miami (Ohio), Indiana University
Occupation: Office assistant for Dr. Kathryn Watts DDS and head volleyball coach at Columbus North
x
Name: Ilya Schwartzman
Age: 56
High school: Munster
Colleges: Wabash, Indiana Unversity
Occupation: Doctor at Columbus Family Medicine (part of Columbus Regional Health Physicians), head girls soccer coach at Columbus East
[sc:pullout-text-end]
