The History of Midwest Volleyball Instructors

Midwest Volleyball Instructors (MVI) had its beginnings in the 1970's when the late Roger Gulbransen, then coach at St. Catherine's College, and Jake Lacis, then assistant coach at Osseo High School, organized and ran perhaps the state's first volleyball camp at CAMP KOAC, on Lake Koronis near Paynesville, MN.

The coaches at the camp included Walt Weaver, now head coach at Apple Valley High School, Monika Lacis (now Getchell) 4 year starter and Hall of Famer at the U of M and now Grade 9 Coach at Maple Grove High School, Larry Hegerle, now head coach at Kasson-Mantorville High School, Deb Bell (now Hegerle), assistant coach at Kasson-Mantorville, Kay Lawton, former head coach at the college of St Catherine (currently head coach at Mahtomedi HS) and Glen Lietzke, assistant coach at U of Texas.

These six coaches incorporated MVI in the early 80's and were hired by the College of St Catherine's to run volleyball camps for a month each summer. The group stayed together until the mid 80's when life changes required group members to go in different directions.

In the mid 80's Walt Weaver decided he wanted to continue MVI so along with Sam McCreedy, then Grade 9 coach at Apple Valley High School and a 3 year MVI coach, and Tracey Gilbertson (now Weaver), then head coach at Clayton, Wisconsin, he put together a volleyball camp and clinic business.

That business has grown into the summer camps at

Macalester, and St. Olaf Colleges, the Coaches Clinic

held each spring at the end of March or beginning of April at Apple Valley

High School, the community camps that are at schools

across the Upper Midwest and the MVI Coaches Workshop, a three day event held in conjunction with the Elite Camp at Macalester College. Sam McCreedy has now retired from MVI to begin life with his new family in Winnipeg, Canada. Sam and his wife, Theresa welcome their new son, Jack to the family. Jon Hegerle and Monika (Lacis) Getchell work with Walt and Tracey in the administration of the summer camps at Macalester and St. Olaf Colleges.

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