The relationship between Taylor Kurtz and Dwight Gingerich goes back more than a decade.
Back then, Taylor was a kid in Kalona playing basketball with Dwight’s daughter.
They have stayed …
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The relationship between Taylor Kurtz and Dwight Gingerich goes back more than a decade.
Back then, Taylor was a kid in Kalona playing basketball with Dwight’s daughter.
They have stayed in touch over the years. So, when Gingerich, a longtime basketball coach who is now principal at Hillcrest Academy, needed a volleyball coach for this fall, he called Kurtz, a 2019 University of Dubuque graduate.
Kurtz is a Mid-Prairie High School graduate, but arriving at Hillcrest on August 10 for the first volleyball practice of the preseason was like a trip home.
“I am so happy to be back at Hillcrest in a coaching position because I love the welcoming environment and how close knit everyone is,” Kurtz said.
It is actually the second trip to Hillcrest for Kurtz. She was an assistant coach for the softball team from 2016 to 2019 while Kurtz attended college at Wartburg University and then the University of Dubuque. Following graduation, she became a kindergarten teacher in Iowa City in January 2020. She’ll continue in that role this fall.
And then, there is volleyball.
“Dwight said they needed some help with volleyball,” Kurtz said. “He called me up and we talked it through. I hadn’t played volleyball in a little bit, but it’s always been a huge passion of mine. I’ve loved it so much.”
She is not only reunited with Gingerich, but also with Chris Nachtigall, the new athletics director at Hillcrest who was the softball coach at Iowa Mennonite School (now Hillcrest) when he tried to recruit Hurtz as an athlete.
“He tried really hard to get me to come here. I was super close, but I ended up going to Mid-Prairie,” Kurtz said.
Kurtz inherits a volleyball squad that did not win a match in 2019, something she wants to help the team improve on. But there is a bigger picture.
“Winning isn’t our biggest concern,” she said. “It’s about creating well-rounded athletes that are also great people. We have a great start to that. Our girls, and our boys, are so nice and well-rounded. It’s all about teaching them the morals of the game and what you can get from it.
“Softball, as much as it’s been a fantastic part of my life, it has taught me how to be a determined person, how to be a leader, how to be great at communicating.”
The season begins for the Ravens on August 27 with a multi-team tournament at Fairfield High School. Their first home match is a week later against Lone Tree.
