Assistant coach Terry Sweasy talks with members of the Columbus East volleyball team before their match against crosstown rival Columbus North at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Sept, 28, 2023. Sweasy announced his retirement before the start of the match.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
During Terry Sweasy’s 17 years as an assistant volleyball coach at Columbus East, Ellyn McIntosh has been a player, assistant coach and now head coach for the Olympians.
Next year, McIntosh could be forgiven if she feels a little lost. Sweasy is retiring at the end of this season after a three-decade coaching career in Columbus.
“I don’t know that there’s a word to describe what he means,” McIntosh said. “His role has changed over the years, and he’s been able to adapt. When I was there, he was our mediator between us and (then-head coach) Faith (Wilder-Newland). Terry is still a go-to for these girls. He’s super knowledgeable. He’s helped me out. He’s been a big part of my volleyball career. A majority of my volleyball career has been intertwined with Terry’s some way or another. I’m going to have to find another go-to person, a person that understands me and my thought process when I’m not sure what to do. Exponentially, he will be missed.”
Sweasy, 69, has been a high school coach for 30 years. He also spent 15 years as a club coach until retiring from that role in 2016.
Ann Rottinghaus gave Sweasy his first coaching job at Central Middle School in 1994. He moved on to become JV coach at Columbus North for four years and was the Bull Dogs head coach for six years.
Sweasy went back to Central in 2006. He has been an assistant at East since 2007.
“The thing for me these last 30 years are the kids,” Sweasy said. “I had the privilege to coach some of the most wonderful kids, watching them from seventh grade to seniors, college. To watch these kids grow and become successful adults, and they still call me, it’s the kids. That’s the one thing I’m going to miss the most. I love the game, but I love the kids.”
Sweasy’s favorite on-court memories have included becoming the first North coach to beat East in 2002 and then beating North as East’s interim head coach in 2014. The Olympians went on to win the sectional that year.
“Winning the sectional in 2014 was big for me,” Sweasy said.
In club volleyball, Sweasy coached with Hoosier Region Volleyball Club in Bloomington for 11 years and Circle City Volleyball in Indianapolis for four years. He founded the Columbus Volleyball Academy, along with former East head coach Stacie Pagnard and former North coach Caitlin Greiner and helped run that for three years until Pagnard and Greiner resigned as coaches at East and North.
Around that same time, Sweasy became commissioner of the Hoosier Region for USA Volleyball.
“When I became commissioner, it was just too much for me to try to commissioner and run a club, too,” Sweasy said.
Sweasy has been married to his wife Pam for 38 years. They have a son Kyle, who played football and wrestled at North, and daughter Sierra, who played volleyball at North and East.
“My wife did not tell me to do this, but my wife has sacrificed so much in 30 years,” Sweasy said. “Fifteen of those years were high school seasons and club. Also, I was head referee for 22 years and traveled all over the country. She supported me in that. Now, I’m commissioner of Hoosier Region for USA Volleyball for the past three years, and she supports me in that. It’s time for me to support her. It’s time for me and her to have some fun together, and I want to spend my time with her now. That’s the most important thing.”
The Olympians will compete in this week’s Whiteland Sectional, beginning with a semifinal match at 11 a.m. Saturday against the Franklin-East Central winner. The sectional final is at 6 p.m. Saturday.
While additional travel may be on the agenda for Terry and Pam, he plans to continue catching many of the Olympians games.
“I’m a little concerned because it’s just going to be weird for me not to be coaching,” Sweasy said. “I’ll find something to do. I’ll still be around. I’ll still come in here and see the kids and come to the matches. I still have the commissioner position, so I’ll be all over the place with volleyball, so it’s all good. Thirty years is an awful long time, and Columbus has been good to me. Parents, kids — they’ve been good to me.”
