Brad Lawson continues in his 7th total season to help cement Summit Volleyball's place in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. Previously with Summit Volleyball as a club director and head coach, Summit made tremendous advances towards their goal of returning to the top of DFW club volleyball. This past season, his 14 Mizuno team finished 4th at the Lonestar Qualifier and 5th at the NTR Regionals, and also helped Andy Gass and 16 Mizuno to a 3rd place open division finish at the 2017 Girls Junior National Championship.
Before last season, Brad spent the previous two years in his home state of New Mexico. During this time he worked as the COO, Club Director, and master coach for Ardent Volleyball Club, formerly New Mexico Juniors. Helping restructure and rebrand New Mexico Juniors to Ardent Volleyball Club and also contribute to revitalizing the club into one of the most successful clubs in New Mexico and Albuquerque area. Brad also spent time coaching with Sandia Prep (4A) and Cibola High (6A) Schools, winning back-to-back state championships at Sandia Prep in 2015 and 2016. Brad started his coaching career in the Houston area as a former college assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for three years at Alvin Community College; he also spent four years as the women’s club team head coach at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
Brad has spent a large part of his career working in conjunction with Andy Reitinger at developing and implementing logistical solutions for large tournaments and events. Some of their clients include entities such as FIVB, USA Volleyball, Southern California Volleyball Association and Club Sports of North Texas just to name a few. Along with coaching Brad also sits on both the Junior Board of Directors and Board of Directors for the North Texas Region of USA Volleyball. Brad has been coaching volleyball for the past 20 years, and his tournament, coaching and region board experience will prove to be an invaluable asset to Summit Volleyball.
Brad is currently an IMPACT, SAFESPORT, and a Gold Medal Squared certified coach.
During his 19 seasons as a Collegiate Volleyball Coach, Mike has earned a reputation as one of the best skill development coaches in the nation. In his time at the University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma, Seward County Community College, and most recently at the University of Tennessee, Mike has developed and coached 10 All-Americans, four Academic All-Americans, 32 All-Conference Players, 33 Academic All-Conference Players, nine players that have gone on to play professionally, six players that have played with our U.S. National Team and 27 players that left their collegiate experience and continued as coaches of this great sport.
Every program that Mike has been involved with has reached post-season play. Mike helped lead UCO to its first ever berth in the NCAA Div II National Tournament, helped Seward County to a 5th place finish in the National Tournament, guided OU to the NCAA Tournament and coached the University of Tennessee to two Sweet 16 appearances, one appearance in the Elite 8, culminating with a spot the NCAA Final Four in 2005.
His involvement and dedication to the sport of volleyball has not been limited to the collegiate game. Minnis, along with former OU Head Coach Miles Pabst and many others, began a quest to enhance volleyball at high schools throughout the state of Oklahoma. His efforts obviously paid immediate dividends, as the number of high schools sponsoring the sport of volleyball increased from 40 in 1993 to more than 100 in 1999.
In 1990, Minnis served on the Oklahoma Region United States Volleyball Association (USVBA) Board of Directors, a position he held until 1992. From 1996 to 1998, he was an adviser to the director of the Youth National Team. In addition, Minnis served as the training site coordinator for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and assisted with tryouts for the 1996 Youth National Team. Minnis is the co-author of “Fundamentals of Volleyball,” a teaching tool for the Oklahoma High School Association. Along with Pabst, Minnis also completed three skill videos aimed at high school and club coaches.
Mike has qualified each of his teams for the Junior National Championships, including past 2 seasons in the 17 Open division. During the 2010 season Mike’s 17 Mizuno team won gold at the Lone Star Qualifier and finished the season by winning the Bronze Medal at the Junior National Championships . Mike also coordinated the PrepVolleyball Unsigned Senior Showcase in Las Vegas, which featured over 600 of the nation’s unsigned seniors. Mike currently serves on the North Texas Region Junior’s Board of Directors.