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Kevin Hammond has been named the new DCCC volleyball coach, taking over for Tara Desmond, who guided the Storm through their inaugural season last year. Hammond not only served as a voluntary assistant under Desmond in 2007 but he is also employed by DCCC in the school’s maintenance department.
“I am so excited to get the opportunity to coach there,” Hammond said. “ I’ve devoted over half my life to volleyball. Word gets out when you’ve been coaching and in the sport as long as I have. The position became available and I got the job.”
Don’t let Hammond’s career choice influence any doubts about his volleyball pedigree. As a player, Hammond participated in the United States Volleyball Association, receiving awards for Most Valuable Player and Most Spirited before a 2004 left knee injury turned his attention towards coaching the sport he has loved for more than 20 years.
“I can’t play at a high, competitive level any more,” said Hammond. “So I more or less changed my focus to coaching. That’s the whole thing about coaching is teaching. I just wanted to grow the sport in the community. I never really figured this would morph into a head coaching position.”
Hammond is a Central Davidson grad with many ties in the area. Hammond acted as an assistant at his alma mater and has also helped run volleyball camps at West Davidson. Hammond also coached women’s volleyball at the Junior Olympic level locally for five years.
With one year with the Storm already under his belt, Hammond said he looking forward to teaching volleyball at a high level at DCCC. While he doesn’t consider himself a disciplinarian, Hammond plans on bringing an exciting and dynamic style of play that fans will enjoy coming out and supporting.
“I have a coaching philosophy of the players don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care,” Hammond said. “I build on that. I would classify myself as a teaching coach. I would rather teach someone the game of volleyball rather than drill it in their head. You coach females different than the men. I found you get more success from more of a teaching aspect.”
The Storm return a solid team from a year ago, and Hammond’s local ties have resulted in another good recruiting class. Hammond feels DCCC is a great option for young people who, for whatever reason, can’t attend a four-year school. The Storm finished with a 3-9 mark last year.
“I feel like with the program that has been started and the girls I have returning plus the new recruits I’m getting from the area and the state, we are going to do really well in our conference this year,” Hammond said. “Pretty much nothing is going to change because I have already built that player-coach relationship and have bonded with the girls. Last year was last year. This year, the team dynamics, the way you see them move on the floor, will be off the hook. It will be totally different.”
Kenneth Kirk, DCCC’s Director of Student Life, said Hammond was the logical choice to take the job, and is excited about what the new coach brings to the school.
“[Hammond] is known locally,” said Kirk. “He has worked with some church and recreational leagues, and has done a lot of work with the Junior Olympic team in the area. In doing a lot of that work, he has already coached a lot of the players that will be returning this year. That will really help with the transition. We were really happy to get him.”
Having Hammond on the campus full-time, Kirk feels is a added bonus to the team.
“It puts him on the campus,” Kirk said. “The players, a lot of times, may have some issues or they just want to talk with him about volleyball.”
Staff Writer Eliot Duke can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 23, or at eliotduke@hotmail.com.