EIVA Hall of Fame Inductee: Tom Tait
Photo Courtesy of USA Volleyball
In the weeks leading up to the EIVA Championship match,
EIVAvolleyball.com will feature each of the six inductees into the
league’s inaugural Hall of Fame Class. The EIVA is in its
40th year as the leading men’s volleyball
conference in the east after being founded as the Eastern
Collegiate Volleyball League (ECVL) in 1971 and changing its name
in 1985.
Tom Tait is considered the father of the Penn State
men’s and women’s volleyball programs – a pretty
impressive feat considering the success of his
“children.” After leading one of the best men’s
club teams in the nation, he turned the Nittany Lions to Division I
status in 1977, also acting as the first women’s head coach
from 1976-78. But with all of the success of the programs, Tait
remains humble about his induction into the inaugural class of the
EIVA Hall of Fame.
“Considering the large number of individuals who have made
significant contributions to the development, improvement, and
positive image of the ECVL/EIVA, the selection committee must have
had a very difficult time narrowing the list of possible inductees
down to the final six who are to make up the inaugural
class,” said Tait. “I am humbled and pleased that the
selection committee saw fit to honor me along with such a fine
group of men, each of whom I greatly admired and enjoyed working
with and competing against while we all worked to make the league
better.”
He led the Nittany Lions to four NCAA Championships and coached 20
All-Americans during his tenure. He is a five-time Eastern
Collegiate Coach of the Year and earned Coach Emeritus status from
the EIVA in 1990.
“[Coach Tait] is absolutely deserving. He was one of the
driving forces of putting [the ECVL/EIVA] together and holding it
together, especially in the early years when there were a lot of
club teams in the conference,” said Frank Guadagnino, who
played for Tait from 1975-1978. “Through his developing love
of the sport, he was one of the main reasons behind eastern
collegiate volleyball. The influence that he had on me was in
understanding that when you do something, you need to do it 110
percent. That’s how I would describe him. Everything he has
done in his life, he has done with great passion.”
Tait still maintains ties with the Penn State programs and also
travels around the country as a top cadre (instructor) with USA
Volleyball’s Coaching Accreditation Program (CAP) among other
involvement with the USA Volleyball programs. He was recognized by
USA Volleyball as an All-Time Great Coach in the Pioneer Division
in 2007 and was inducted into the AVCA Hall of Fame in 2003, also
receiving the AVCA Founders Award in 1999.
“[Coach Tait] is just so committed to volleyball. There are
lots of stories of how he ruffled the feathers of the
administration in order to get the men’s volleyball program
its due. He was 150 percent committed and without that, we never
would have gotten the program to where it is
today.”
Photo Courtesy of Jen Armson-Dyer
Story Courtesy of Jen Armson-Dyer, EIVA Communications
Director