LaClair Leads as Coach, AD, Mentor
February 18, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Leasa Griffith was introduced to Bronson’s Jean LaClair while officiating one of LaClair’s volleyball tournaments.
She received further insight into LaClair’s care for her athletes when, a few years later, LaClair asked Griffith to serve as a Legacy Official mentor to a Bronson player.
With LaClair leading as athletic director, Bronson moved this school year into the first-year Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference. So did Mendon – where Griffith is co-athletic director – and that’s given her another opportunity to appreciate LaClair’s mentorship firsthand.
“I look to Jean whenever I have a question, or even if I just want to run an idea past someone. She is always readily available and gives me great advice,” Griffith said. “I honestly cannot think of another person who deserves to be recognized by the MHSAA for a ‘Women in Sports Leadership Award’ more than Jean LaClair.”
LaClair will receive the MHSAA’s 28th WISL Award during the Class A Girls Basketball Final on March 21 at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center.
The honor, given annually by the MHSAA Representative Council, recognizes the achievements of women coaches, officials and athletic administrators affiliated with the MHSAA who show exemplary leadership capabilities and positive contributions to athletics.
“I never would’ve thought I’d receive this award,” LaClair said. “I just go out and do my job to the best of my ability every day. The people before me have done magnificent things. I’m just doing the daily grind of my job.”
She downplays as well the numbers that come with her reputation as an elite coach. LaClair is best known for leading high-achieving athletes for more than two decades as one of the winningest varsity volleyball coaches in MHSAA history.
Her accomplishments speak volumes on their own.
She has built a career record of 958-327-85 over 21 seasons as a varsity volleyball coach at Midland Dow, Pinconning, and for the last 15 seasons Bronson High School. She ranks 10th on the MHSAA career victory list for volleyball coaching wins and led her 2009 Bronson team to the Class C championship.
She also has served as Bronson’s athletic director since fall 2000 and hosted a variety of MHSAA tournament events in addition to sitting on a number of MHSAA and Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association committees. LaClair was a speaker at MHSAA Women in Sports Leadership conferences in 2006 and 2008 and also has been a registered MHSAA official for 14 years.
“Jean LaClair is a role model for her athletes, and also for administrators who look to her for expertise and mentorship,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “She is a respected voice who offers valuable knowledge and guidance to those at every level of educational athletics. We’re delighted to honor her with the Women In Sports Leadership Award.”
LaClair is a 1984 graduate of Midland Dow High School and 1989 graduate for Saginaw Valley State University, and she also earned a Master’s in sports administration from Central Michigan University. She began her varsity coaching career at Dow during the 1987-88 season and coached through 1990. She led Pinconning’s varsity from 1996-97 through 1999, then came to Bronson as the athletic director only that fall. She then resumed her coaching career in fall of 2000.
In addition to the 2009 MHSAA title, her teams have won five Regional championships. Her 1997-98 Pinconning team finished Class B runner-up.
LaClair is a member of both the MIAAA and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, and served as MIVCA president for six years, vice president for three and as a board member for 13 years. She also served a term as president of the St. Joseph Valley League and as an instructor for the MHSAA’s Coaches Advancement Program.
“I love coaching. It’s the time I get to deal with some good kids. We have a great summer, and it feeds into the fall,” LaClair said. “I feel when kids leave my program, they could be coaches. I do try to get them in involved in officiating as well.”
LaClair was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006 and was named that body’s Coach of the Year in 2009. She was named Michigan High School Coaches Association volleyball Coach of the Year in 2010 and was a National High School Athletic Coaches Association volleyball Coach of the Year finalist in 2011. She also was named a Regional Athletic Director of the Year by the MIAAA in 2009.
She previously taught mathematics and physical education before becoming a full-time athletic director, and also became as assistant principal at Bronson High School during the 2010-11 school year. She continues to pull off the time-consuming coach-athletic director double in part because of superior organizational skills, but mostly because of supportive administrators who with another game manager help her to make sure everything is covered especially during the volleyball season.
“Jean is a professional in every sense of the word. She has been able to lead seeking not only what is best for Bronson, but what is best for everyone,” said Buchanan athletic director Fred Smith, whose school also is part of the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference. “She is a role model not only for female athletic administrators, but all athletic administrators.”
Past Women In Sports Leadership Award recipients
1990 – Carol Seavoy, L’Anse
1991 – Diane Laffey, Harper Woods
1992 – Patricia Ashby, Scotts
1993 – Jo Lake, Grosse Pointe
1994 – Brenda Gatlin, Detroit
1995 – Jane Bennett, Ann Arbor
1996 – Cheryl Amos-Helmicki, Huntington Woods
1997 – Delores L. Elswick, Detroit
1998 – Karen S. Leinaar, Delton
1999 – Kathy McGee, Flint
2000 – Pat Richardson, Grass Lake
2001 – Suzanne Martin, East Lansing
2002 – Susan Barthold, Kentwood
2003 – Nancy Clark, Flint
2004 – Kathy Vruggink Westdorp, Grand Rapids
2005 – Barbara Redding, Capac
2006 – Melanie Miller, Lansing
2007 – Jan Sander, Warren Woods
2008 – Jane Bos, Grand Rapids
2009 – Gail Ganakas, Flint; Deb VanKuiken, Holly
2010 – Gina Mazzolini, Lansing
2011 – Ellen Pugh, West Branch; Patti Tibaldi, Traverse City
2012 – Janet Gillette, Comstock Park
2013 – Barbara Beckett, Traverse City
2014 – Teri Reyburn, DeWitt
PHOTOS: (Top) Bronson volleyball coach Jean LaClair huddles with her team during a match. (Middle) LaClair, also Bronson's athletic director, sits in on a league and conference meeting at the MHSAA office this winter. (Top photo courtesy of the Coldwater Daily Reporter).
2-Time Champ as Player, Haut Putting Further Imprint on SMCC as Coach
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 16, 2022
MONROE – After leading the Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central volleyball team into the Division 3 championship match last season, coach Cassie Haut had to apply for the Kestrels coaching job.
That’s because when SMCC reached the Finals in 2021, Haut was officially the co-head coach with Karen O’Brien.
“Oh, yeah, I had to go through the interview process and everything,” Haut said. “I met with the athletic director and other school officials. I was excited when I got the job.”
Haut certainly earned it.
SMCC officially billed Haut and O’Brien as co-head coaches when the 2021 season began. Haut was in charge of the team’s day-to-day activities and O’Brien – who led SMCC to Division 3 Finals titles in 2019 and 2020 – would help out as often as possible after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer for the fourth time.
O’Brien ended up being around the program often, including during the Kestrels’ postseason run.
When the season ended, however, O’Brien stepped aside, paving the way for a new coach to lead the ultra-successful SMCC program that has reached 10 Finals since 2003, and won seven of them.
Haut doesn’t feel added pressure as the next SMCC coach to maintain that level of success.
“I love it,” she said. “I’m honored to be able to be part of this legacy.”
Haut played basketball, softball and volleyball at SMCC and was part of two championship volleyball teams – in Class C in 2012 and 2014 – under head coach Diane Tuller. The 2015 SMCC grad also had an outstanding career at Eastern Michigan University, earning all-freshman team honors for the Mid-American Conference and twice being named first team all-MAC. In 2018 she was named the MAC Tournament MVP.
Soon after Haut’s college graduation, O’Brien – who was an SMCC assistant during Haut’s high school senior year – called her and asked if she wanted to be part of the program now as a coach.
“It was something that I always thought of doing,” Haut said. “After graduating, I remember thinking ‘What’s next?’ Coaching was something I felt I wanted to do. It helps keeps me part of the game that I love.”
SMCC graduated several seniors from the 2020 championship squad and had to do some rebuilding in 2021. O’Brien was there to put together some of the pieces, then helped mentor Haut as she guided the team through much of its 36-12 run. During the MHSAA Tournament run, O’Brien would funnel postgame questions to Haut, preferring to stay out of the limelight.
It was still, however, a dual coaching role until Haut took over the job.
“I was building up practice plans and ideas for the season just in case I was hired,” Haut said. “I had some things in my mind that I wanted to do. It’s nothing too crazy, but I just added my own touches.
Last year, for example, it was O’Brien who organized summer practices and helped build the regular-season schedule.
“I missed out on those parts of it, so it was something I was looking forward to this year,” Haut said. “It was exciting. We’re still in the same great tournaments that SMCC loves to go to.”
Haut is meshing the experiences she had as a player and coach to form her own coaching style and program.
“All of the coaches I’ve played for and coached with have a slightly different idea of the game,” she said. “The game has evolved in different ways. As I have gone through high school and college as a player, I felt like I learned more depth to the game every year. Then, since I’ve been coaching, I feel like it’s gone to another level.”
Before this season started, Haut had her players write down their goals.
“I want to learn everything I can about the girls,” she said. “It’s not just about volleyball, but life. My college coach really believed that. I’m excited to be part of these girls’ lives.”
Haut comes from an athletic family and has been around sports all her life.
Her father Chris played baseball at the University of Toledo. Her sister Mikayla was a four-time all-state volleyball player and Miss Volleyball finalist, and is coming off a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Year award at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Sister Maddie earned all-conference honors and helped Ave Maria University win its conference title a year ago. Brother CJ was an outstanding basketball player for the Air Force Academy.
SMCC is primed for more success this year. Haut welcomes back a solid senior group that has already showed off its leadership skills. The Kestrels will be among favorites as they seek to make a fourth-straight trip to Battle Creek.
“From the time we got into the gym, they have been leaders,” Haut said.
Two freshmen played key roles a year ago, McKenna Payne and Jessica Costlow. Payne rang up 465 kills, 360 digs and 86 aces during her ninth-grade season while Costlow had 414 kills, 275 digs and 59 blocks.
Last year, SMCC lost in the Division 3 Final to Reese. After taking a 2-0 lead in the match, the Kestrels dropped the final three games 25-15, 25-21, 16-14.
“I like a lot of what I saw in the scrimmage. It was good to get some different lineups together, and we have a deep bench,” Haut said. “I see a ton of potential with this team.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cassie Haut, middle, talks with her Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central team last season as co-varsity coach with Karen O’Brien, right. (Middle) Haut signals to her teammates while starring at Eastern Michigan. (Top photo by Tom Hawley. Middle photo courtesy of the EMU athletic department.)