3rd year with Thunder.  Coach Newman’s love for volleyball began at a young age when he would play with his parents on indoor and sand recreation teams.  He is a 1993 Francis Howell North High School alumni where he played on the varsity boys volleyball team as a middle hitter and middle back defensive player (before rally scoring and the libero was a thing).  After High School he continued playing on various club teams and quickly realized he was not as good as he thought he was.  He was playing with and against more experienced players, mostly college players, but embraced the opportunity to learn from them and improve as a player.  

In 1999, while attending Lindenwood University he began coaching the boys and girls volleyball teams at Francis Howell South High School.   While he was the assistant varsity coach, the boys volleyball team won the schools first State Championship in 2000.  He continued to coach till 2005 but decided to take a break because life was getting busy with a wedding planned with his now wife, Chrissy, and the birth of their first child, Wyatt, the following year.  Their second child, Cammie, was born three years later.  

In 2011, the Newman family  moved to Pleasant Hill so Chrissy could finish her Air Force career at Whiteman Air Force Base.  She retired with a little over twenty years in 2017 and began a new career at Honeywell.  Coach Newman has a Bachelor′s Degree in Business Administration and an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.  Since 2007, he has worked as a Senior Investigator with the U.S. DOL, Office of Labor Management Standards. 

Coach Newman still enjoys playing and coaching volleyball but because of his and his wife’s busy work schedules along with Wyatt and Cammie’s schedules can’t commit to coaching full time; however, he is excited to build a successful volleyball tradition in the Pleasant Hill community with Thunder any way he can.

Coach Newman is open to innovative and new ideas while combining his past experiences to provide guidance to  the athletes.  He hopes to enhance their leadership skills and work ethic to create well rounded individuals on and off the court.  He believes a positive attitude is everything and an athlete’s character is more important than their talent.