Incredible journey

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/03/2020 (2282 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite being a smaller province, Manitoba has consistently ruled the volleyball scene.

If you look closely, you’ll see Garth Pischke’s fingerprints all over that.

The mark Pischke left as a player, coach and father have helped shape the local volleyball community into what it is today.

Without a doubt the best Manitoban to ever play the game, he led both of his hometown schools, the Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons, to national championships and represented the country at the Olympics on two separate occasions (1976 and 1984).

As a coach, he took the reins at the U of M in 1979 and went on to become the all-time winningest coach in North American men’s volleyball history, while capturing nine national titles. He also had an impact on the national program, coaching the Canadian men’s team between 1996-2000 and improving their world ranking from 21st to 10th.

And last, but definitely not least — especially in Pischke’s eyes — he taught both of his children, Dane and Taylor, a thing or two on the court. Dane played five seasons for the Herd under his father and became an all-Canadian. Taylor was also a standout at the U of M, as she was a key member of the women’s team that captured the national championship in 2013-14.

The last page of Pischke’s long and storied career will be written next week when the U of M hosts the U Sports Men’s Volleyball Championships (March 13-15). It’s a fitting sendoff for Pischke, who announced before the year that this season, his 38th at the helm, will be his last. On Thursday afternoon at Lot 88 Steakhouse on Pembina, the Bisons held a press conference to honour Pischke. The chair of the Bisons alumni committee Bernie Plett, the school’s director of athletics and recreation Gene Muller, Volleyball Manitoba executive director John Blacher and several Bisons volleyball alumni were on hand and shared their favourite memories of the man of the hour.

‘You can trace, I would say, almost every successful men’s volleyball player in Manitoba, back to him’
– Scott Koskie, on Pischke

If there’s anyone who knows what Pischke has meant to volleyball, it’s Scott Koskie. A member of the Bisons from 1989-1995, Koskie, a setter, became a two-time national champ, a two-time all-Canadian and a Player of the Year award winner. Koskie went on to play 13 years with Canada’s men’s national team, five of which were coached by Pischke.

“I think he should be remembered, on the men’s side anyway, you don’t want to say singlehandedly, but for playing a large part in building men’s volleyball in the province,” said Koskie, now Volleyball Manitoba’s high performance provincial team coach.

“Russ Paddock went on to build Brandon University, he’s a Bison guy. Larry McKay’s been building the U of W for a long time, he’s a Bison guy. You look at all the guys who are doing great in high school, Lloyd Voth and Phil Hudson, right? You can trace, I would say, almost every successful men’s volleyball player in Manitoba, back to him. He built a community and he just worked tirelessly to have the community recognized. Even when he was with the national team, he would have liked nothing better to have played here and have taken Winnipeg and Manitoba to the national stage. I don’t think many people would know that about him because he’s so understated about it. But he’s the foundation a lot of (Manitoba’s success) sits on, for sure.”

Koskie wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, sitting out his first year with the Herd and becoming Dale Iwanoczko’s backup in Year 2. Under Pischke’s grooming, Koskie ended up becoming one of the school’s all-time greats.

“When he believes in you, then that gives you a little extra belief in yourself. And he did,” said Koskie, who now gets to watch his son Darian, a first-year middle, play for Pischke. “I was able to make that jump and then when he took the (national) team, I was able to progress and keep going. The way my story played out, it wouldn’t have been the same if I didn’t cross paths and play for him.”

Paddock joined the Bisons in 1985 as a middle blocker and went on to help the program to four straight medals at nationals. In 2005, he helped launch Brandon University’s volleyball program and coached the men’s team until 2012 when he became the school’s athletic director. Paddock, who also played for Canada at the 1992 Olympic Games, guided Brandon to a U Sports bronze medal in 2009 and a silver in 2011 despite only being years removed from the volleyball program’s inception. Brandon will be hosting next year’s men’s volleyball championships.

“The mindset we developed when I was a Bison member was that our goal was to be the best. I’ve taken that with me wherever I’ve gone… When I started the program in Brandon, we had a lot of work to do. When we eventually got to that level where we truly were competitive and knew we had a chance to win against (Pischke) it was a special time. We knew we had arrived and the opportunity to beat my mentor was an exciting time but I’m sure something he was proud of as well.”

Pischke said that’s one of the things he’s taken the most pride in — seeing his former players go on to accomplish big things.

“Hopefully, they took a little bit of what I gave them. I know they took a lot of what they had and just made the game better. That’s the neat thing for me,” said Pischke, who turns 65 in August.

Now that his final tournament is staring him right in the face, has it hit Pischke that his incredible run is at the finish line?

“It really hasn’t. I expected it to just hit me and think ‘What am I going to do?’ In fact, I remember sitting in the gym about four or five years ago going ‘Gee, what’s it going to be like when I have my last practice in here?’ But it just hasn’t hit me. It’s been a long time. It’s been a really long time. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s time to move on,” Pischke said.

It’s easier to walk away when you’ve accomplished everything in your career that you set out to do. With all the milestones in his career, Pischke was asked what in particular would he like to be remembered for.

“I hope just the sport, how much it’s changed over time, and I hope that I had an impact on creating that change,” Pischke said.

“I think we’re in a very good place in men’s volleyball in the world right now. Our national team is very good. I really believe that we were so good in the beginning that everybody wanted to be like us. And a lot of people copied what we did and then took their own ideas and their own skill and just made it better and better. The game has just skyrocketed and that’s been the fun part watching the evolution of the sport of volleyball.”

Pischke couldn’t ask for a better finale than hosting nationals. However, it’s unlikely he’ll ride off into the sunset as a 10-time champion as the Bisons went 8-14 this season and failed to reach the Canada West playoffs. But perhaps the veteran coach has a couple more wins in him.

“We’ll take it one match at a time. Anything can happen,” Pischke said. “That’s why we play the game. We’re definitely not going to be the favourites, that’s for sure, but hopefully, we play the best that we can and see what happens.”

He’s unsure of how he’ll react when the final whistle is blown in his last game, but whatever happens next week, Pischke is eager for his next opportunity where he’ll get to be a full-time beach volleyball dad. Taylor competes on the world professional beach volleyball tour with her partner Sophie Bukovec.

“I’m looking forward to still being involved in volleyball, but maybe a little more enjoyable setting on the beaches.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31