Nancy Diers inducted to hall of fame

Former FHS head volleyball coach Nancy Diers was inducted into the Iowa Girl's Coaches Association hall of fame last weekend.

'I started coaching in high school,” said Diers. 'Helping out with T-ball and softball through the park and rec program. I knew I wanted to get into education, so I went to South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota and majored in health, physical education, recreation and dance. I also played two sports in college, volleyball and softball for four years apiece.”

Diers didn't grow up in Fairfield. Actually, her home town of Sheldon is on the opposite end of the state, sitting in the far northwest corner.

A new home

'After graduation, I did some substitute teaching because I graduated in December and then spots opened up the following spring. There was a late-opening here in the summer of 1986. A woman whose husband worked for John Deere got transferred to the Davenport area. I had been applying to a lot of different places and when I applied here for that opening, it wasn't my intent to start off as a head coach right off the bat being 23-24 years old, but it came with the job position. At the time, it was junior high P.E. which was seventh, eighth and ninth grades here at the middle school and the varsity volleyball head coaching position, along with softball. That's how I stepped into it. Judy Schwartz was the lady whose position I took and she was very helpful in getting me started. I accepted the position at the end of July and we had to start camps right away. I took the position on a Tuesday and by the next Monday I was supposed to be here running the camps.”

30 years at the top

Diers led the Trojans from 1986 to 2015 with 15 Southeast Conference titles in 30 seasons and state tournament appearances in ‘86, ‘02 and ‘15.

'I had tons of girls who were important to the program,” explained Diers. 'From the ‘80s when I was new to the whole thing to 2015. There were just too many, I can't name just one. From my ninth-graders who came up each year, to what I call the middle-core, which is what they were always working on getting to.”

SEC rivals

'At first, Keokuk was strong and then it moved to Fort Madison and then Mt. Pleasant in the middle-2000s and now it's Fort Madison again,” said Diers.

Miss it?

'The thing I liked the most was just going to practice and being with the girls and seeing each year how we were going to put the puzzle together. When we lost our seniors, how was the next group going to fill in so we can have another successful year. I miss the girls. I miss going over there and having the communication with them and doing the drills. Just being with them and watching them mature and grow, but I found a different avenue when the middle school cross country came open and allowed me to keep coaching and also allowed me to see my son Mark run at the cross country meets. That was a big part of what I wanted to do, I didn't want to miss his running events, and I would have had I stayed as head volleyball coach.”

Legacy

'I hope the girls, No. 1, learned work ethic. How hard it is to get where you want to be, it doesn't just work like a switch you can turn off and on, you've got to work for it. I wanted them to be good citizens in the community and students in the classroom.”

Expect to get emotional?

'Oh yeah. I'm pretty hard-nosed and have a good work ethic, but I'm pretty emotional. I just always appreciated the kids.”

Closet full of SEC champion shirts

'I have a lot of T-shirts and great memories. Each season I always looked forward to what was coming next. I always missed the seniors that left, but was ready for the next group to see where they were going to take us and how they were going to keep the tradition alive.”