Fairbanks High School head volleyball coach Ed Marsman, left, gives instructions to his team during a timeout in this file photo. Marsman has announced his retirement from coaching the sport after 34 years, five of which were spent at FHS. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
A coaching career that has spanned nearly five decades has come to an end.
Ed Marsman, who has been Fairbanks High School’s head volleyball coach for the past five seasons, has announced his retirement from the sidelines.
Marsman began his volleyball coaching career 34 years ago, but first started coaching back in 1972 after his graduation from college.
Along the way, Marsman coached high school football, boys and girls basketball and club soccer.
However, it’s volleyball for which he’s better known.
“I got started with volleyball when I was teaching at Miller City,” said Marsman. “They hadn’t had much success, but my first year there, we went 11-10.”
His stint at Miller City was followed by stops at Findlay Liberty-Benton, Thomas Worthington, Centerburg, Olentangy Orange and finally Fairbanks.
During the past five seasons, the Lady Panthers posted a won-loss record of 99-26.
They won three consecutive outright conference titles, shared a conference crown one year with Springfield Catholic Central and this past season, tied with West Liberty-Salem for second place.
The 2019 campaign, which ended last weekend with a tournament loss to Johnstown, saw Marsman reach the 600-win milestone.
He retired with an overall volleyball record of 610-216.
“I’ve had a lot of good players at each place I’ve coached,” said Marsman. “We’ve worked hard to build good programs.
“I’ve been very blessed not only with good players, but parents, communities and administrators who have also been very supportive.
“I feel I’ve always left each volleyball program better off than when I first starting coaching at any particular school,” said Marsman.
“Volleyball at Fairbanks is in fantastic shape… it’s not like I’m deserting a sinking ship,” he said. “The seventh grade, eighth grade, freshmen and junior varsity teams all had good seasons.”
Panther athletic director Larry Morris agreed.
“Our volleyball numbers are outstanding,” he said. “We’ve got five good rosters throughout the district.”
Morris has served as the athletic director for the past three years and said he’s like what he’s seen from Marsman’s program.
“Ed made winning look very easy,” said Morris. “He’s gotten us to the point where year-in and year-out, we’re looked at as the team to beat.”
Marsman, who recently turned 70 years of age, said he began thinking about retirement early in the 2019 season.
“We had team camp last summer and it took me a little longer to bounce back from that,” he admitted. “My eyes have gotten tired from all the film work and keeping all of the statistics.
“Stats seem to be a big thing in volleyball right now, but they’re all very subjective,” Marsman said. “It’s not an exact science.”
The veteran coach also said he’s become a bit disillusioned over the quality of officiating of high school matches and cited that as another reason for his retirement.
“I thought maybe I could go one more year (2020), but I’ve always been the type of person who has never second-guessed himself,” said Marsman. “When I make a decision, I follow through on it.
“Just the fact that I had begun to think about retirement early in the season told me it was time.”
Marsman said he and his wife, Karen, who is also a retired educator, plan to do some traveling next fall.
However, he won’t completely stay away from Panther volleyball.
“I’ll be back to see a few matches here and there,” he said.
One match that he knows he’ll attend is next year’s senior night.
Why?
That’s because senior night is when Marsman’s singing voice will take center stage prior to the varsity match.
For the past several years, at the urging of his teams, Marsman has sung the National Anthem before varsity matches.
“I’ve already been asked by the girls to sing it next year,” he said. “I told them I would do it.”