Longtime Indianola head volleyball coach Kent Halstead has announced he is retiring after 13 years of leading the program. Halstead took over in the 2012-13 season, immediately improving an 8-win team the year previous to a 24-14 record, and would achieve the 24-win mark every season going forward but one in the COVID-19 altered 2020 season. Halstead tells KNIA Sports two of the things he is proud of when looking back on his time at Indianola include expanding the youth program and the joy from athletes.

“We took pride in running practices for grades 3-12, and they were free. Any kid could get started in volleyball. I ran practices in the fall for 3-4th graders, in the summer for 6-7th graders, so no parent had to pick a kid. Any kid could play if they wanted to, and we provided the reps for them to get better and it was worth it big time, I was rewarded tenfold for that purpose. Then I would just say, I got some notices from some players that said thanks for making it fun.”

Halstead went 377-163 at Indianola, taking the team to three straight state tournaments, including a class 4A runner-up finish in 2023. Hear more from Halstead on Today’s Lely Radio Sports Page.