Traverse City Athletes Taking LEAP into Coaching, Officiating
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
March 18, 2022
Set. Spike. Jump – rather maybe leap?
Nothing new to many female high school student-athletes.
But this spring, Abigail Hicks, Keira Castle, Madeline Bildeaux and Honorae Shore made THE LEAP — as in Learning, Enrichment and Athletic Programs (LEAP). They actually leaped into coaching and officiating roles.
Hicks, Castle and Shore stepped into LEAP as coaches for Willow Hill Elementary School’s volleyball team. Bildeaux became a referee for LEAP’s 4th and 5th grade volleyball program.
All four girls are part of the North Shore traveling volleyball club. And, all four are a part of Future Coaches, its 4-year-old program preparing athletes to become effective coaches through LEAP, which is operated through Traverse City Area Public Schools.
Bildeaux and Castle played their first high school volleyball seasons last fall at Traverse City West. Hicks did the same at Traverse City St. Francis. Shore attends Greenspire, a Grand Valley State University-sponsored charter school located in Traverse City.
Parents, grandparents and school administrators love having the high school girls on the sidelines. The girls may love it even more though.
“The most rewarding aspect of teaching young girls is seeing the excitement they get when they get the hang of playing or when they win a game,” noted Castle, who started with the coaching program as an eighth grader. “I also love knowing that I've helped some of these girls fall in love with a sport.”
There may not be anyone more thrilled with the girls taking the leap than David Payne, elementary sports manager for LEAP. The student coaches help LEAP meet its vision of providing preschool through 12th-grade students with increased opportunities for engagement beyond the school day with activities to improve learning, health and wellness.
“The high school girls have a love and knowledge of the game that they share with the elementary kids,” Payne said. “Parents that were not comfortable or able to coach are finding the excitement and interaction between the high school girls and the elementary kids is very positive.
“At times the high school coaches look like cheerleaders on the sidelines,” he continued. “They keep the energy level high while supporting their team.”
The four ninth graders are the latest to make the “leap.” Jordan Bates, founder of the Future Coaches program, first connected the players as coaches with LEAP as COVD-19 shortened the 2020 season. The very first high school volleyball player to make the leap was Phoebe Humphrey, now a Traverse City Central sophomore. Humphrey coached Cherry Knoll as an eighth grader during the 2020 brief season. She is now coaching Eastern Elementary.
The pandemic also resulted in the cancellation of the 2021 elementary season. This season will conclude next week.
“The opportunities for these athletes to coach their own teams is extraordinary,” Bates said. “It would not have happened without David Payne.
“His support, scheduling acumen, and love of sports has made this program pretty amazing.”
Veronika Caughran, who plays for Traverse City Central, is helping Cherry Knoll Elementary in Traverse City. Anissa Wille, Suttons Bay High School; Jenna Flick, TC West; and TC Central’s Natalie Bourdo and Lily Briggs have coached North Shore travel teams. Briggs, Bourdo and Humphrey have been coaching in North Shore’s beach program for the past three years.
Hicks, who recalls Gladiators varsity players helping coach her in volleyball as a fifth grader, said the girls can’t go it alone. She’s found the Willow Hill school community to be extremely supportive.
“We have received lots of positive feedback from parents, our coaches, our team, and other LEAP coaches,” she said. “All the parents have been very kind and grateful and always willing to support the team by bringing in snacks for after the game — not only for our players but for the opposing team — along with being willing to help line judge and run the scoreboard.”
The high school players-turning-coaches have been attending classes with Bates and guest coaches mostly from the North Shore club. Topics covered include coaching philosophy, how to be a great referee, practice planning, tournament preparation and health and wellness.
Bates said the program benefits go beyond the participants.
“Perhaps the biggest struggle is for athletes and parents to realize how valuable coaching is to an athlete,” he said. “It not only helps them with communication, structure, planning, and strategizing, but also it makes them better athletes earlier in their journey.”
Adding fun too is important, Hicks noted.
“I hope I help make practices a fun environment and for them not to worry about making mistakes and helping them know that not everything is their fault,” she said. “And … how to learn from their mistakes.”
Castle, who started playing volleyball as a fourth grader at Willow Hill, agreed. She recalls fondly the difference past coaches have made in her life, including Bates.
“While I've been coaching I've also noticed how (Willow Hill players) interact with each other and cheer each other on, and it's been such a great experience,” she said.
“I remember the feeling I felt when a coach made me love volleyball, and from coaching these girls I'm starting to see what that's like from a coaching point of view.”
Bates created the program with interscholastic competition and the student-athlete in mind.
“There is also the coaching shortage, so creating opportunities for these athletes to coach, and ref, just made sense,” Bates said.
Castle is preparing to meet the growing needs.
“I plan to continue coaching volleyball until the end of high school,” Castle said. “In a year or two, I want to start coaching middle school volleyball.
“When I get to college I plan to either continue coaching or find a job as a ref.”
Hicks indicated her experience has increased her love for the game of volleyball and respect for coaches.
“I learned that coaching is a little more complex than it looks, and you have to plan practice and be prepared for them to have a bad attitude or unfocused after a long day of school,” she said. “You, as the coach, have to have a good attitude, have lots of patience, be ready to problem solve and get them back on track.”
Teamwork, sportsmanship and the value of hard work are among the strengths Castle and the other future coaches bring to the table.
“We had our girls practice sportsmanship by saying ‘good game’ and waving to the other team,” Castle said. “In practice, we have taught them to work as a team and to always give it your all.”
Hicks recommends coaching to all high school athletes.
“I’ve learned a lot,” she said, “and this has been a positive, fun experience that I definitely recommend.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, Honorae Shore, Abigail Hicks and Kiera Castle coach their Willow Hill elementary volleyball team this season. (Middle) Madeline Bildeaux, far left, also has joined Castle, Hicks and Shore as part of the LEAP coaching and officiating program. (Top photo by Tom Spencer, middle photo courtesy of Allie Walters.)
Niles' Arnold Remembered as Teacher & Leader, 'Doing Exactly What He was Meant To Do'
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
January 13, 2026
NILES – Throughout his 22-year career coaching varsity girls basketball at Niles High School, Jim Arnold required one thing from his players.
Just have fun.
"Jim always stressed to his players that the one thing he wanted them to do when on the floor was to just have fun playing the game," said George Brawley, who served 15 seasons as one of Arnold's assistant coaches at various levels.
Arnold, 81, died Dec. 9 following an extended illness.
But throughout his career, Arnold's teams did much more than just enjoy themselves. The Benton Harbor native built a highly-successful program at Niles, where he achieved an overall win-loss record of 360-139 from 1986-2008, with 19 winning seasons. Under Arnold's watch, the Vikings captured seven conference titles, 10 District championships – including nine straight from 1997-2005 – and five Regional crowns.
Among Arnold's other accomplishments were being named Class B Coach of The Year by The Associated Press in 1998 and receiving honorable mention in 1997, along with selection by the Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan as Region 5 Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2004. He was also named conference Coach of the Year seven times and received the Herb Quade Memorial Sportsmanship Award for the 2002-2003 season.
Arnold also coached Niles to back-to-back District championships in softball in 1993 and 1994.
As young athlete himself, Arnold excelled on the baseball diamond. A successful player while at Benton Harbor, he also played on Twin City American Legion teams and was known as a team captain and a coach on the field. Arnold later had an invitation to try out at the professional level with the Baltimore Orioles, but an injury ended his pursuit of that dream.
Arnold later played third base for Bargain Center, a slow-pitch softball team that won a regional championship and went on to play in the national title game in St. Louis, Mo.
His daughters Sonya and Allison were among the athletes that Arnold mentored during his coaching career. Sonya (Martinez), his oldest daughter, played for her father in eighth grade.
"He made the game fun, and you wanted to do your best because you didn't want to disappoint him. He poured his heart into each and every practice and game because preparation mattered to him. He demanded excellence, and every player became better because of his coaching ability," said Martinez, a 1986 Niles graduate.
Allison (Clay) his youngest daughter, played on the 1990 Niles varsity squad that finished 25-1, winning conference, District and Regional titles. She is a 1991 graduate.
"It was awesome playing for my dad. Some of my best memories in my life were during that time,” Clay said. “He had high standards and inspired others to be the best version of themselves. He put his heart and soul into what he did, and I had a front-row seat to that."
Linda Arnold has fond memories as a coach's wife.
"I loved watching my husband coach because of the joy it brought him. His passion, intensity and the love he had for his players was genuine,” she said. “It was more than a game. It was more about developing players in the area of discipline, teamwork and giving your all. Even in the busiest part of the season, he always made me feel like a priority. I didn't just watch a coach. I watched a man doing exactly what he was meant to do.
"My husband coached with passion, but he loved his family with intention. My girls would go to his practices and we all attended his games, and we had the team over for team dinners. His players were a part of our extended family. He made sure we felt a part. He was the best coach in the world, and he was mine."
Jim Arnold was highly respected by his coaching peers. He was kind and treated everyone with dignity. The community of Niles knew what he stood for and they knew his standards were high. He was admired for his preparation and understanding of the game as well as his commitment to doing things the right way. He was strict but fair and treated everyone the same, whether you were the star player or last one off the bench, Martinez explained.
"Developing his players' character was far more important to him than winning," she said. "Dad lived what he taught. He modeled humility, hard work and lived a life of integrity. He made people better by being a part of their lives."
When Jim Arnold first began his junior high teaching career in Niles, he also coached the boys junior high basketball team. There were no girls basketball teams at the time, so a girl tried out for the boys team. She was good enough to make the team, so Arnold kept her. The following school year, the principal asked Arnold to organize a girls team – and the rest was history.
Former Niles varsity girls basketball coach Jessica Johnson, a teammate of Clay’s, recalls the experience of playing for Coach Arnold.
"Coach Arnold taught us discipline, resilience and always required 110 percent effort from you. He would instill confidence in you while still holding you accountable," said Johnson, now an assistant women’s basketball coach at Southwestern Michigan College.
Johnson recalls Arnold's use of comic strips as a teaching tool to help his players improve upon their mistakes.
"If you had a game where you didn't shoot very well or took questionable shots, he would place pictures of bricks in the gym the day following the game," Johnson said.
"Coach Arnold went out of his way to build that relationship and trust with his players. He gave us lessons that extended way beyond the court that made us better people."
Mark Haase, a Niles alumnus and the current Vikings head varsity boys basketball coach, also had the privilege of playing for Arnold.
"I played freshman basketball for Coach Arnold. It was one of the most disciplined and well-conditioned teams I ever played on. He ran a tight ship, but it was done out of love and concern for his players. He has a great family and is a Niles legend," Haase said.
Niles athletic director Matt Brawley referred to Arnold as an amazing teacher, coach and individual in the school and community.
"Coach Arnold would never ask you to do anything he wouldn't do. He was very structured and expected a lot out of his players, and he got results without excuses,” Brawley said. “He was a true leader of Niles athletics. He was an unbelievably kind and humble individual.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Jim Arnold poses for a photo with his granddaughters following a Niles girls basketball game. (Middle) Arnold signals for a timeout. (Below) Linda and Jim Arnold, seated (middle) take a photo with their daughters and their families. (Photos courtesy of the Niles athletic department and Arnold family.)