COACH’S PASSION LED THE WAY TO SPORTS HALL
Terry Danyluk turned U of A into a men’s volleyball powerhouse
Coaches with longevity are backed by good, maybe even great numbers.
Terry Danyluk’s are nothing short of ridiculous.
His University of Alberta men’s volleyball teams have won 672 matches and lost just 195 since he took over the program in 1991.
His winning percentage is a mind-boggling .775. His teams have won six national titles, 11 Canada West crowns. He’s been named CIS coach of the year five times.
“The numbers come with all the things that are important to me,” Danyluk said Tuesday.
“The things that were really important were to try to develop a culture of hard-working, selfmotivated, top-level student athletes who really had a desire to play the game and to grow in the game and to love the game as much as I did.”
He set the bar incredibly high. His love affair with volleyball began in junior high school in the 1970s, and hasn’t waned in the four decades since.
He played at the U of A, for Canada’s national team, at the 1984 Olympics and professionally in Japan, France and Switzerland.
He finally pulled the plug at age 31, well before they would have kicked him off the court.
The U of A opportunity coaxed him out of Leysin, a picturesque Swiss skiing village that he and wife Lori had called home for four years.
He was playing on weekends and they were both teaching at a small college.
He was making more money than he ever has at the U of A.
But it was time to change his relationship with the game, time to come home and give back to those who started him on a rewarding career path.
On Monday, 25 years later, his longevity, devotion and proficiency in the game were recognized with induction into the Edmonton Sports Hall of Fame as an athlete and builder.
He joined Running Room founder John Stanton, TrackTown Classic meet director Peter Ogilvie and orienteering stalwart George H. Murphy as this year’s inductees.
“It was an overwhelming experience,” said Danyluk, now 56.
He was previously inducted into two other halls, Volleyball Alberta’s in 2005 and the Alberta Schools Athletic Association’s in 2011.
He starred for M.E. LaZerte back in the day, and was coached there by Pierre Baudin, who would be instrumental in Danyluk’s career more than once.
In the fall of 1990, Baudin had announced his intention to retire as Bears volleyball coach. He spent some time talking to Danyluk that winter, to gauge his interest, and talk up the program. He sensed Danyluk was the right kind of man for the job.
“In the end, my vision worked out even better than I thought, because I knew it would be tough to move into coaching from being a top-level athlete,” Baudin said.
“He’s a very, very competitive person and he’s certainly driven by the wins. But he’s such a people person and it’s very important to him to give back to the sport and the people who’ve helped him.”
So yes, the numbers are meaningful, because they speak to success and reflect the hard work and healthy philosophy that are integral to a great, lasting program.
But Danyluk’s focus has also been on mentoring assistant coaches and sending players to the national team.
There is a legion of both spread across the country and another one on the squad.
Bears associate coach Brock Davidiuk ran the bench all last year, including the CIS finals. He made the calls and the substitutions, and will likely fill that same role again next season, as the Bears prepare to host the 2017 CIS finals.
But it’s just more mentorship, not a step toward the exit.
“I’m not ready to move aside at all,” said Danyluk.
“It’s just a great opportunity for us to work together. I don’t have any intention on leaving for a while. He brings a different voice but a similar mentality. He’s somebody who trained under me, played under me, he’s gone off into the world and brought back new things to add to Golden Bears volleyball.
“It’s one of those things where I’m comfortable sharing what we’ve created at the university with somebody I have a lot of trust and faith in.”
But this deep into a starry
It’s very important to him to give back to the sport and the people who’ve helped him.
career, you do have to wonder when another championship, another graduate to the national squad just won’t satisfy him. Danyluk says he finds motivation in the natural cycle of the program.
“It’s the desire to keep doing it and keep finding different ways of doing it and doing it with different people. One of my mentors told me the part of his job he loves the most is that he gets to pick who he works with each and every day — his staff and his athletes — and there’s not many jobs where you can say that.”
There is familiarity and comfort, then welcome change as new players and assistant coaches come in, all at his invitation.
“I don’t see it ever ending,” Danyluk said, “as long as you still have the love and the desire to keep doing it.”