Photo by Brendan Hinkle ’16 – Mr. Oldani oversees JV volleyball tryouts, Feb. 10. He coaches varsity volleyball for both Brophy and Xavier.
By Brendan Hinkle ’16
THE ROUNDUP
Volleyball coach Mr. Tony Oldani has his hands full.
He is the director of student activities and scheduling, teaches economics in the fall and helps out with a leadership class throughout the year.
Mr. Oldani played hockey and volleyball when he was in high school, and coaches varsity volleyball for Brophy and Xavier, serving as Brophy’s head coach. This is now his 21st year coaching.
“My first year coaching varsity volleyball was ’99,” Mr. Oldani said.
He said that in the past the team did well usually finishing in the top five to eight teams.
“We’ve won state three times, we’ve been runner up twice and been in the final four three other times,” he said.
Last year the team made it to the state quarter finals.
“This year we have high hopes and I think we will do good,” said Andrew Lincoln ’15.
Mr. Oldani said he thinks the team will compete for a championship this year, and some of the seniors on the team have been competing on varsity since their freshman and sophomore years, adding an advantage.
One of the varsity volleyball players, Carson Flood ’15, said that in general Mr. Oldani comes off as being strict but outgoing.
“He wants us all to get better in a volleyball sense,” he said. “He takes that off the court. He wants the best for us.”
Flood said Mr. Oldani wants the volleyball players to have a deep love of the game and having goals he wants the players to reach, holding them accountable to those goals.
Flood also said Mr. Oldani not only helps players with the game but also with academics.
“He always wants us to be passing so we can play for our own sake,” Flood said. “He’s very willing to help us with college stuff like where we want to go play volleyball in college. He’s very flexible with our schedules as well and wants us to be involved in other things aside from volleyball.”
Flood said the team does volunteer work every year by going out and helping the community, which shows that Mr. Oldani bonds the team through outside activities with the benefit of community service.
