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Mike Hulett Nominated For Coach of the Year
By Beth Bourgeois // U.S. Paralympics // April 14, 2005
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Mike Hulett, who led the Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team to the bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games, has been nominated by U.S. Paralympics for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s National Coach of the Year Award.
Hulett began coaching the USA Women's National Sitting Volleyball Team two years ago. At the time, the athlete base was nonexistent, so Hulett, in conjunction with U.S. Paralympics and USA Volleyball, identified and trained a core group of athletes ranging in age from 16 to over 40. It was that team that went on to win the bronze medal -- the USA's first ever Paralympic volleyball medal -- at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
“It is tough to judge the competitiveness of a team when a sport is brand new on the Paralympic Games program,” said Joe Walsh, managing director, U.S. Paralympics. “Mike took a team that at the beginning of 2004 really struggled in international competition and he developed it into a team of medal winners.”
Hulett began his Paralympic coaching career as head coach of the U.S. Paralympic Men's Sitting team in Atlanta. He then repeated as head coach with the 2000 U.S. Paralympic Men's Sitting Team in Sydney.
He has also coached collegiately, at his alma mater Northwestern and at several high schools in the Chicago area. His Junior Olympic Club "Adversity" was formed in 1997. Currently 10 boys' and 12 girls' teams train with this program, which has seen over 40 alumni move on to the collegiate level.
Hulett’s talent has not gone unnoticed. He has received many awards for his dedication and accomplishments including Disabled Sport USA’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 1997, the Great Lakes Region Outstanding Clinician Award in 1998, as well as the prestigious USA Volleyball Leader Award in 2002.
The USOC Coach of the Year Awards ceremony will take place on May 1st, 2005 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
For more information, please contact Beth Bourgeois, U.S. Paralympics at (719) 866-2039 or beth.bourgeois@usoc.org.
About U.S. Paralympics:
U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is dedicated to becoming the world leader in the Paralympic sports movement and promoting excellence in the lives of persons with physical disabilities. For more information on U.S. Paralympics, visit http://www.usparalympics.org/.
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