Virgil Hooe

Virgil Dean Hooe (born 1947 or 1948) is an American volleyball coach who played a central role in the development of high school and club volleyball in Alaska.

A multi-sport athlete in his youth, Hooe played football, basketball, track, and baseball while growing up in Illinois. He was introduced to volleyball only after moving to Alaska during his U.S. Army service in the 1970s. Hooe went on to coach at the high school level in Anchorage for over three decades, guiding three different teams to 17 total ASAA state championships as a head coach and as an assistant, becoming known as the "godfather of Alaska volleyball". He also founded the state's premier club team, the Midnight Sun Volleyball Club, which is credited with spurring the growth of the sport throughout the state and developing most of Alaska's top talent.

Hooe was inducted into the Alaska High School Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in 2018, with the latter describing him as being "synonymous with volleyball in Alaska".

Early life and education Virgil Dean Hooe was born to Virgil and Mary E. Hooe. His father was the principal at Pesotum High School, where he coached the basketball and track teams in the early 1930s. The Urbana Daily Courier noted that he did "wonders... with his high school teams". He died of polio in 1950. His mother was also a teacher and operated a local beauty shop for many years, in addition to serving as a member of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary. She died in 2007. earned a letter in basketball, and was the "top miler" on the track team. He was a member of the Future Teachers of America and was awarded a teacher education scholarship, graduating from Sullivan in 1965. Hooe also played on the local American Legion Baseball team.

Hooe accepted a scholarship to attend nearby Eastern Illinois University, where he captained both the track and cross country teams. He competed at three straight NAIA Cross Country Championships from 1966 to 1968, and helped the Panthers to a runner-up finish at the 1968 NCAA College Division Cross Country Championships as the only senior on the team. They also won back-to-back Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) titles in 1967 and 1968. In track, Hooe ran the three miles outdoors and the two miles indoors, As a junior, he set the Lantz Field House two-mile record twice within the span of a week. Finally, in 1969, Hooe helped the Panthers win both the IIAC and NAIA indoor track titles.

After earning his B.S. in education from EIU, Hooe began teaching biology and physical science at his alma mater, Sullivan High School. He served as head coach for both the junior varsity (JV) basketball and the freshman football teams, as well as an assistant on both varsity squads. Hooe also played for his local softball team, the Sullivan Chiefs, helping them win the 1970 Amateur Softball Association Class B fast-pitch state title, and ran the 1970 Boston Marathon. The 1970 Sullivan Chiefs squad was later inducted into the Illinois Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame in 2015.

Military service and introduction to volleyball In June 1971, Hooe was drafted into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He graduated with top honors from the Army's Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning in January 1972. Shortly afterwards, Hooe was commissioned an Army Second Lieutenant. After a six-year stint in the Army,

In a 1991 interview with the Anchorage Daily News, Hooe said that he "was one of those people who thought [volleyball] was a sissy's game" prior to his involvement in the sport. He began playing military intramural matches in 1972 and quickly "fell in love with the game’s intricacies". Hooe's playing career was hampered by chronic tendinitis, He conducted clinics, officiated collegiate games, coached the women's state representative team, and served as the United States Volleyball Association Commissioner for Alaska. At West Anchorage, Hooe eventually assumed co-head coaching responsibilities alongside coach Ellie Dudley, and the pair "began to bring Anchorage high school volleyball out of its Dark Ages". In 1984, the Eagles went 20–1 (14–1 in league play) and captured the state title under his leadership. It was the school's second state volleyball title in the tournament's 10-year history. However, Hooe resigned after the season because he felt the team was under-appreciated at the school. He guided the junior women's team to an undefeated, gold ulu-winning performance, while his open men's team took silver.

Hooe played again at the 1986 Arctic Winter Games in Whitehorse, where the Alaskan men defeated the Northwest Territories in the gold-ulu match.

Service High School (1985–2003) quote=When the door closes at 2:35 (for practice), all pretenses of friendship are dropped. And that's the one thing I really dislike about myself. I've seen some really good kids come through here that I miss and never had the chance to be friends with. But I would rather have them say, when that last ball drops on the floor, that I did everything I could to help them reach their goals. — — Virgil Hooe, March 1992, interview with the Anchorage Times Hooe served as an assistant under Holway – though she consistently referred to him as a co-coach – until her resignation following their 1989 state title win. He was officially named the team's new head coach ahead of the 1990 season. Service's 38-match winning streak was snapped during the 1992 regular season by the Tacoma 18's junior team, a top club team from Washington, which Hooe counted on his team's record despite not having to. "A loss is a loss, period," he explained. Amid an increase in the level and parity of play in the region, Service missed every state tournament from 1993 to 1996, save a state quarterfinals exit in 1995.

Ahead of the 1997–98 school year, the Alaska School Activities Association moved the volleyball season from winter to fall to align with the rest of the country, thus allowing Alaskan high school teams to travel outside the state for tournaments. In their first outside tournament, Hooe guided the Cougars to a second-place finish at the 1997 Pacific Northwest Challenge in Seattle. "[Tournament officials] had thought Alaska volleyball was very much behind the rest of the country," he said. "It took them one round to say, 'We didn't bring in enough big guns for you.'" That season, Hooe led Service to a 23–4 record and their first state championship title since 1993. He was named the inaugural Anchorage Daily News/Coaches Coach of the Year for volleyball. In 1998, Hooe again led the Cougars to the state championship game, where they were upset by first-time champions Colony High School. In 1999, Service tied for fifth place at the Adidas High School Volleyball Challenge in Portland, Oregon, going unbeaten in pool play before losing to the defending Oregon state champions, West Linn High School, in the final round. That would be their only loss on the season, as Hooe guided the Cougars to a 25–1 record and the state championship title. Notably, three seniors on the squad, including Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year Kasey Kuelper, chose to stay home and play college volleyball at Alaska Anchorage.

quote=I'm embarrassed, but I accept all this because of all the people I have worked with. People should be so lucky to go to work like I do every day. Through Midnight Sun and coaching [at Service], I have had the best of both worlds. — — Virgil Hooe shortly after confirming his retirement in November 2003 However, in 2001, the Cougars were eliminated in the first round of the state tournament by Skyview High School, marking the first time they failed to reach the semifinals in 15 tournament appearances. They suffered the same fate in 2002, as they were swept by Palmer High School in the opening round of the state tournament. In 2003, after leading the Cougars to the region tournament title, Hooe was honored in a post-match ceremony before confirming that he was stepping down as head coach at the conclusion of the state tournament. Service finished the season with a 25–2 record and clinched the triple crown – the region regular-season title, region tournament title, and state championship title. After beating Bartlett High School in the state championship match, Hooe was presented with the game ball, which he immediately handed to the team's seniors.

South Anchorage (2004–2015) In 2004, Hooe helped head coach Judy Knecht launch the volleyball program at the newly-opened South Anchorage High School. Several of his Service players followed him. Hooe helped the South Anchorage Wolverines win their first state championship title in just their second season in 2005. His daughter, Morgan, became the team's starting setter in their 5–1 formation as a freshman. Hooe served as an assistant under Knecht until her retirement in 2015. He helped the team win a total of six state crowns, including the 2011 title with Morgan.

Alaska Anchorage (2016) After stepping down from his role at South Anchorage, Hooe joined the University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball program in 2016 as a volunteer assistant coach. The club also held classes to help players navigate their college recruitment process. The Midnight Sun later opened branches in the Kenai Peninsula, the Mat-Su Valley, and Juneau. One of them, Diana Jessie, became the first Alaskan to play on an NCAA champion with the 1987 Hawaii team while another, Leisa Wissler, was Alaska's first high school All-American. By 1988, the club had over a dozen alumni that had played Division I. By 1995, the club had produced over 130 college volleyball players. At the 1988 event, he was honored with a distinguished service award for his contributions to Alaskan volleyball. The Midnight Sun under-18 girls' team won the 1988 USVBA Junior Olympics consolation bracket in Fort Collins, Colorado. In 2013, the Midnight Sun under-18 team went 10–1 and won their division at the 30th annual Volleyball Festival in Phoenix, Arizona, marking their best finish at the prestigious competition. The team, which included Hooe's daughter, Morgan, was seeded 28th out of 45 squads and beat a team from Santa Clarita, California, in the championship final. with the two teams facing off in a regular-season match at the West Anchorage High School gymnasium on March 26 in front of about 1,300 spectators.

Personal life Hooe married his first wife, Candice Kranz, in 1971. After moving to Alaska, Hooe was remarried to Celeste Anne Faris in 1976. They divorced in 1979. In 1988, Hooe married Elizabeth "Liz" Hansen, a former multi-sport star at Dimond High School whom he met while playing volleyball. They had two children, including Morgan Hooe, who was an All-American volleyball player at Alaska Anchorage before transitioning to coaching.