Shaler Area’s boys volleyball coach, Mr. Paul Stadelman, has been selected as the 2023-24 PIAA volleyball coach of the year.
He started coaching volleyball during his first year here at Shaler Area and he has now been involved in Shaler Area volleyball for 22 years.
He started coaching in the fall of 2003 at the request of Mr. Kevin Mosbacher because he played volleyball in college.
“From 2003 in the fall, I was the girls volleyball assistant coach. From 2018 to 2021, I was the girls volleyball head coach. From 2004 through 2011, I was the boys volleyball assistant coach. And then since 2012, I’ve been the boys volleyball head coach,” he said.
As that timeline reveals, he spent many school years coaching both the girls and boys volleyball. After the 2021 girls season, he resigned that position, but he still follows the program and loves to see it thrive.
Mr. Stadelman was surprised when he learned he was nominated for the Coach of the Year award and said it’s based on both the success of his coaching and the team’s hard work.
“Usually teams that are unsuccessful don’t have coaches or players that are recognized that way. Usually it’s the overall success of the team and of the program. So, as much as I’m getting the accolades, I know that there’s a lot of people around me,” Mr. Stadelman said.
Stadelman has listened and learned from many people in his life to help further his coaching such as his first athletic director Paul Holzshu. Former SAHS principal Mr. Bill Suit and other coaches have shown him some of their best things they can offer and he’s taken it and woven it into his principles and ideology with coaching.
“I think part of being a good coach is then taking that information and knowing what fits your personality or what fits what you think is right about coaching. And then kind of piecing those all together,” Mr. Stadelman said.
On of those personality fits for Stadelman is his demeanor. He tries to maintain calmness because he thinks that’s the best way for his team to approach their games.
“I look at some sports, like football. And they’re usually getting amped up and fired up so they can run through walls. Volleyball is a little bit more of a calming sport where keeping yourself calm, keeping yourself composed, I think is a little bit more important than getting all fired up,” he said.
While a good coaches may have different coaching styles, Stadelman knows that all good coaches, especially ones with good teams like last year’s WPIAL and PIAA champion Titans, emphasize preparation.
“You want to make sure you’re prepared and you want to make sure they’re prepared because you know you have the skill and talent to be successful and accomplish things. You just want to make sure, as the coach, that you’re checking all of the boxes and doing all the right things to help get them there,” he said.
After being involved in coaching for two decades, he does enjoy seeing former players when they show up to alumni games or even just passing by. His coaching created bonds and memories with everyone.
“He’s still a mentor of mine. He cares about his players like no one else who ever coached me. He coached the same way if we had a winning or losing record. Kids want to play for him. They feel his support, and they want to play hard for him,” his former player and current Shaler Area girls volleyball coach Annie Carter said in the article by Josh Rizzo on TribLive.com.
Logan Peterson, a 2024 grad and key member of last year’s team, agreed.
“Coach Stadelman is the most impressive coach I have ever played for. He is more than a coach, he is a role model who we all look up to and could go to for anything,” Peterson said.
Stadelman is very proud to be part of the Shaler Area volleyball for the past 20 years and to see how the programs have developed during his time at Shaler, but he’s was quick to point out it’s more about the players.
“I’m very proud and I feel very privileged to work with this group of student athletes,” he said. “One thing that I’m always really appreciative of is how hard the student athletes here work and how much they care about it.”
