John James Hulsebus

Location: Plainwell, Michigan

Team(s) You Coach: Head Coach: 2003 Michigan Hurricanes (Kalamazoo, New Jersey, and Nationals tournaments), 2004 Michigan Hurricanes (Kalamazoo, New Jersey, and Nationals tournaments), 2005 WMU Broncos and Kalamazoo Chaos (Kalamazoo tournament), 2006 Michigan Spitfire (Kalamazoo and New Jersey tournaments). Assistant coach: 2003 WMU Wrecking Crew (New Jersey and Nationals tournaments), 2004 WMU Wrecking Crew (Kalamazoo, New Jersey, and National tournaments).

Introduced/Started Coaching: Sometime in the summer of 2002, "The Grand Rapids Press" ran an article about a youth goalball tournament being held in the area. I was interested in volunteering, so I repeatedly attempted to contact both people the article listed as running the event. After having numerous phone calls not being returned, I searched the Internet and found a goalball forum. I posted a message asking if anyone was playing goalball in the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo area. That request put me in touch with Sherry Gordon which got me involved in helping out at practices. My wife, Olga, and I then attended our first goalball tournament held in Grand Rapids in December 2002. There, we learned how to keep score, the rules of the game, etc. Mike McAbee then spent a lot of time at practices teaching me the various aspects of coaching. The rest, as they say, "is history".

Most Memorable Coaching Experience(s): At each tournament, I try to take away at least one memorable moment. What follows are some of my favorites.

My first memorable moment came when coaching the Michigan Hurricanes for the very first time at the 2003 Kalamazoo tournament. At the start of a game, Nick Gasaway asked me to keep a watch out for his girlfriend who was going to come watch him play. During the second half, we had a big lead, so I substituted Nick out. As he sat next to me on the bench, he looked across the court and saw that his girlfriend had just arrived. I thought, "Great, Nick's girlfriend shows up just as I took him out." After a few minutes, I put Nick back in. He was then trying so hard to score a goal for his girlfriend. When he did, I will always remember the big smile on his face.

My second memorable moment came in the 2004 Kalamazoo tournament while again coaching the Michigan Hurricanes. We had a pretty horrible tournament and didn't play very well during the round-robin games. However, we were fortunate to qualify for the quarterfinals. There, we faced Northeast Florida, who, I think, had gone undefeated throughout the round-robin competition. Jim Debus, Steve Zoot, Nick Gasaway, and J.J. Meddaugh played a great game, but we were down by one goal with just a couple of minutes remaining. All game, we had been throwing to the two hole, setting up throws to the four hole. Then, within a matter of seconds, Nick buried two goals into the four hole. Suddenly, we were winning and I shook like a leaf waiting for the few final seconds to expire. When the game ended, the Hurricanes had pulled off a major upset victory. I was so proud of the guys that they weren't intiminated going into the game and not giving up after trailing for most of the game.

My third memorable moment revolve around the 2003 and 2004 national tournaments. It was quite an experience to be a part of the national championship games with the WMU Wrecking Crew. I especially enjoyed helping Dan French with his pre-game rituals of jogging around the court...trying to get loose for the upcoming games. It was so cool being on the bench with the guys. By now, all of the other teams were in the stands watching the game so everytime someone scored, the whole place erupted with excitement. It was quite an experience to remember.

My fourth memorable moment was in coaching the Michigan Hurricanes at the 2005 national tournament in Spartanburg. Overall, it was a great experience for all of the players. We stayed in this fancy motel and the local newspaper ran big articles and colored pictures on the players. They even listed the tournament results and schedules next to the Major League Baseball scores. During the tournament, the Hurricanes, made up of Jim Debus, Nick Gasaway, J.J. Meddaugh, Brad Lucas, and Carl Love met with a lot of adversity. Jim blew out his knee so Brad had to become the emergency center. By the second day, Brad's shins were so beaten that he could hardly stand, so J.J. had to come in. Meanwhile, Jim got taped up and came back in to play with only one "good" leg. Think goalball is difficult? Try playing with only one leg. Jim did! Through all of this, the guys played great. Nick and Carl scored a ton of goals and the guys kept giving each other encouragement even when things didn't go our way. Everyone stayed positive and most of the games were high scoring and so exciting. This was definatly my most memorable tournament.

My final memorable moment came in the 2006 New Jersey tournament when coaching the Michigan Spitfire. We opened the tournament against Northeast Florida and, by the second half, had built a 4-0 lead. J.J. Meddaugh, Matt McCubbin, and Nick Gasaway were playing great. Unfortunately, the 4-0 lead evaporated into a 5-4 deficit. We had used up all of our time outs, so with 3 seconds left in the game, I called a double substitution, which, in essence, acted as a fourth time out to stop the clock. When the refs yelled "play", Nick launched a beautiful cross-court shot which blazed into the goal to tie the game just before the buzzer sounded to end the game. That tie ended up being the only tournament blemish for Northeast Florida as they went on to win the tournament.

Most Embarrassing Coaching Experience: During a game at the Kalamazoo tournament, I was on the bench coaching the Michigan Spitfire against the Pennsylvania Venom when my three year old son, Luke, came running into the coaches box to give me a hug. I quickly whisked him away from the court. I'm not sure if any of the refs saw Luke since the game was in play. However, it would have been very upsetting if we had been assessed a team penalty because of a person, not on the game roster, illegally entering the coaching area.

Thing You Like Best About Coaching: The people...players, coaches, referees, etc. It's great to go to the tournaments and see everyone who dedicates so much time and effort to make such a great sport possible.

Thing You Like Least About Coaching: People who think they have all of the answers and therefore are unwilling to learn or listen to others. Everyone has something to contribute and none of us know everything. We all become better human beings if we are willing to listen and learn from each other.

Comments: I'm thankful to have had the opportunity to be apart of the Michigan goalball family. As a Western Michigan University graduate and employee, I'm also proud that Kalamazoo has such prominece in the national goalball scene. I also enjoy it when Dr. Ponchilla refers to Kalamazoo as "Goalball Town". There is a lot of great tradition with all of the players and teams who have excelled from Michigan throughout the years. Thus, I hope that more kids in Michigan get involved in goalball as they should take advantage of the opportunity to play this great sport. Kalamazoo is fortunate to have so many goalball resources. I hope the "next generation" of players realize what a great thing they have available right "in their own backyard".