Terry Liskevych
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Taras (“Terry”) Liskevych (born October 14, 1948 in Munich, West Germany) is a former volleyball coach, who led the U.S. Women's National Team to the bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Liskevych spent nine years as the head women’s coach at Pacific (1976-1984). But he left the college coaching game and spent the next twelve years as the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team. Since 1996, Liskevych spent several years as the owner and president of Total Sports, Inc., a sports marketing and consulting company.
The Chicago native and Loyola University Chicago graduate has also spent time since 1995 as a consultant for the Australian Women’s National Team. But last year, he decided to get back into college coaching and is now ready to begin his second year as the head coach at Oregon State University.
Taras Liskevych has established a number of milestones during his tenure as head coach of the U.S. national women's volleyball team; he has more wins, has led the U.S. in more Olympics, has coached longer and participated in more international matches than any other coach.
Liskevych was born into a family of refugees from the Soviet Union. When Taras was three years old, the family settled in Chicago. Growing up, Liskevych led a life fairly typical of a post-World War II Ukrainian immigrant child: in addition to public school, he attended Ukrainian school and was a member of Plast the Ukrainian scouting organization.
It was in Plast that Liskevych began to play volleyball at the rather late age of 18. His skills developed rapidly, and within a few years he was playing for the Kenneth Allen Club of Chicago, one of the top teams in the United States.
A bachelor of science graduate from the Loyola University in 1970, Liskevych opted to pursue medical studies. After a year though, he switched to physical education, earning a master's degree in 1972. In 1976, Liskevych completed his Ph.D. in physical education – with an emphasis on sports psychology and international sport – at Ohio State University.
While studying for his master's, Liskevych's coaching career began, as an assistant at George William College. There, under head coach Jim Colman, a U.S. Volleyball Hall of Fame member, Liskevych began developing his coaching skills and philosophy.
A short two years later, Liskevych was hired as head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes men's volleyball team. He guided that team to its initial National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament appearance and two third-place NCAA finishes. For his efforts, Mr. Liskevych was twice selected as the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Coach of the Year (1975 and 1976).
Beginning in the fall of 1976, Liskevych spent nine seasons as the head coach of the women's volleyball team at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In a short period of time he was able to develop an also-ran team into a national championship contender.
Liskevych's teams won six conference titles and had top-five finishes in the nation (NCAA) four times, with the best result, a third place, occurring in 1984. Liskevych was recognized as the conference coach of the year on five occasions and in 1983 was named the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association National Division 1 Coach of the Year.
In 1985 Liskevych was appointed coach of the U.S. women's volleyball team. His international coaching debut, in fact, had occurred ten years earlier, when he was named assistant coach of the U.S. women's 1975 Pa American Games team. Liskevych's task in 1985 was anything but enviable. After the 1984 Summer Olympics, at which the U.S. team won the silver medal, the coaching staff and all the players left. It was Liskevych's task to rebuild the team – a task made more difficult by the non-existence of a national junior team from which players could be drawn.
Liskevych experimented with his line-up: some forty different players were tried in the first year. Nevertheless, the team posted a winning record in 1985 and in 1986 won the Canada Cup and placed third at the Goodwill Games.
A year later the U.S. team won the bronze medal at the 1987 Pan American Games. A second-place finish at the NORCECA Zone Championships that year qualified the long-shot U.S. team for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where the team placed seventh.
After those Olympic Games, the U.S. team underwent its second major transition in four years. Once again the objective was to build a team what would qualify for the Olympics and possibly challenge for a medal. By 1990 Liskevych had established the American team as a dominant force in women's volleyball. A third-place finish at the 1990 Volleyball World Championships and fifth at the Goodwill Games confirmed the fact.
The following year the team placed fourth at the World Cup and qualified for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Liskevych gained personal recognition that year when he was asked to coach the World All-Stars in a match against the defending World Champion USSR at the World Gala. Liskevych's squad won 2-0.
At the Barcelona Olympics, Liskevych guided the U.S. team to the bronze medal. Later that year, the Americans placed third at the Super Four Tournament.
With the United States being the host nation for the Centennial Olympics, all American teams gained automatic berths in the Games. While this eliminated the pressures involved with qualifying, it nevertheless created new challenges. But the pressure to do well at home is always present. As a result, the task of preparing for these games took on a new dimension.
The results at first were disappoining. In 1993, the team won only 36 percent of its games – the worst record since it came under the tutelage of Liskevych. A year later the team rebounded with a winning season and a sixth-place finish at the 1994 Volleyball World Championships.
As predicted, the U.S. team continued to improve in 1995. It won 78 percent of its games – the best ever under Liskevych. The Americans captured the Canada Cup (defeating among others, the Ukrainian national team), the Coca-Cola Cup and the $2 Million World Grand Prix Final defeating Cuba, PR China and Brazil, the strongest contenders for Olympic gold in 1996. The Americans placed second at the 1995 Pan American Games and a disappointing seventh at the World Cup. In both tournaments, the Americans were unable to keep pace with the eventual winner, Cuba.
Liskevych is considered to be an innovative coach. For the 1986 Volleyball World Championships he installed a new tactical system of play. Prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics, he had men dressed as women helping the team in its Olympic preparation. The starting six players from countries in the same opening pool as the U.S. were videotaped. Former members of the U.S. men's team were then recruited, asked to study an opposing player and then play exactly like her in scrimmages against the U.S. Assembled into teams, the men were also asked to duplicate the style of play of entire teams. Eventually a fake Olympic tournament was staged. The opposing teams were even dressed in authentic uniforms with correct player numbers.
