Hamilton Southeastern head girls volleyball coach Jason Young began coaching at HSE in 2012.

Before coming to HSE, Young was the assistant volleyball coach for six years at Bishop Chatard High School. Additionally, he coached Catholic Youth Organization Volleyball at Saint Thomas Aquinas. Young still coaches club volleyball at Munciana as well as TNT Volleyball through the HSE school district.

In 2015, Young led the Royals to an Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional and regional championship. He then surpassed this mark in 2019, when the Royals achieved state runner up. His team has also won the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s All-Academic team award every year he has been head coach.

In the Hoosier Crossroads Conference, Young has three championships under his belt (2016,2018,2019) as well as three HCC Coach of the Year awards in the corresponding seasons. In 2019, Young was selected as the Indiana 4A coach of the year.

Young is also a member of the Indiana High School Coaches Associations as well as a voting member for All State and various other awards.

In 2002, Young was asked at a recreational game if he would be interested in coaching for CYO Volleyball, and he accepted. He enjoyed his experience and saw it as an opportunity to compete and work with kids. In 2010, as a result of coaching, Young made a switch from the business world to the education world in pursuit of a teaching position. He says he came to HSE because “it was an opportunity to work in a growing community.”

Young roots his coaching philosophy on “education-based athletics.” As a teacher at Fall Creek Intermediate, he has a strong belief that education comes first. While he is proud of the Royals volleyball team’s success on the floor, he equally takes pride in the accomplishments off the floor. Young encourages his athletes, even those who pursue collegiate volleyball, to set a long-term education plan and use their skills to accumulate scholarships to a university they could see themselves graduating from.

Selflessness is a non-negotiable for Young’s athletes, as he stresses the importance of putting the program over any one player or coach. “we don’t really tolerate people where ‘me’ is more important than ‘we’,” Young says. “I think the program is bigger than any one person, player or coach. we also represent a lot of things. We represent the school, we represent our families and we represent ourselves. The biggest thing that we look for are people who can be good Royals.” What does it mean to be a Royal? The way Young puts it, it is valuing the community, doing the right thing when no one is looking and always striving excellence.

Young plans the Royal’s season with strong conditioning and tough matchups throughout the fall to prepare his team for competing against the best. He strategically places his team in situations that require the best out of his players in order to come out on top. When they lose, Coach Young uses learning from mistakes to make his team better.

Young considers his 2019 season as one of the most rewarding seasons he has ever experienced. He gives props to his team and their ability to establish a community that made every practice enjoyable. Young appreciated the way the HSE community rallied around the Royals as they played their way to state finals.

The purpose of high school athletics in Young’s eyes, is to round out and enhance the individual. He also highlights the important lessons athletics teach such as teamwork, dealing with challenging situations and overcoming them and learning how to compete and be successful in competition.

Young says his program has been well represented by quality young ladies who know how to lead. He enjoys the higher-level conversations he is able to have with his athletes and their ability to comprehend deeper conversations that are long-term goal oriented.

The head coach cannot take all the credit, as he points to his assistant coaches as blessings around him. He says he is lucky to be able to hire talented people and grant them the opportunity to do what they do best.

Some of the notable athletes Young has coached are Hayden Hubers, Kenzie Hinshaw, Grace Kane, Carly Mills and Delaney Garner.

Young married his wife Jen in 2019 and they have one child together. Lauren Young was born on April 7^th, 2020. He also has 3 stepchildren: Alexis, Ella Jane and Jackson.