Oct. 3, 2013
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Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the University of Iowa’s Hawk Talk Daily, an e-newsletter that offers a daily look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, delivered free each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — After spending five years making travel arrangements, planning meals, and orchestrating the University of Iowa volleyball team’s schedule as the director of operations, Angie Boldt is enjoying a new role with the Hawkeyes in 2013.
After being appointed an assistant role in February, Boldt is now in charge of breaking down video, running film sessions, compiling scouting reports for the team’s opponents, training the squad’s three setters, and working with UI head coach Sharon Dingman on offensive game-planning.
“Going from director of operations to an assistant coach is different because the players come to me with different things,” Boldt said. “As the director of operations, I would be the one that they would come to for anything and everything. As an assistant coach, they’re coming to me for match things.
“It’s more of a, ‘How can I make myself better as a person?’ conversation rather than, ‘Can you just help me with this task?’ That part is different and a lot more fun.
“It has been fun to coach with Ben (Boldt), my husband, and making an impact on the players’ lives in a different way. I am able to be there for them, challenge them, and be a part of an eye-opening moment for them. My undergraduate degree is in teaching, so being able to teach and make an impact in that way has been so much fun. I feel like this is what I was supposed to be doing all along.”
During her tenure as director of operations, Boldt got her coaching fix in the club circuit gaining experience that helped her land her new position with Iowa. She was a co-head coach or assistant coach for the South Central Volleyball Club in St. Paul, Neb., from 2003-06, helping the team reach nationals in 2003.
Boldt also helped start the first club team in Tuscaloosa (Ala.), Club Crimson Volleyball Club, and coached for the Iowa Rockets Volleyball Club based in eastern Iowa. She helped the Rockets to nationals four consecutive years and to fifth place national finishes in 2009 and 2011.
Boldt has also spent time giving private volleyball lessons at the Nebraska Volleyball Academy in Lincoln, Neb.
“Coaching club was a great way for me to get coaching out of my system when I was the director of operations,” Boldt said. “I was able to be a part of Iowa volleyball, be a part of a collegiate program, and see how it all runs and watch how the team practices and trains.
“Then I got to implement those things that I was witnessing into the club program. It was an outlet for me to coach and be a voice in the gym, as well as just being able to put what I was seeing into practice.”
Bolt has jumped into her role with the Hawkeyes head on and has been excelling. Dingman believes Boldt’s skill set and experience has made the transition an easy one.
“Angie has adjusted seamlessly,” Dingman said. “All of Angie’s gifts lend her to being a coach. She’s organized, detail-oriented, and all of those things have helped her transition into being a very good assistant coach. It seemed natural for me to have her in this new role on our staff.”
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, hosting Minnesota at 7 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
