Sometimes, selecting a coach, player or team of the year can be difficult. Often there is more than a one deserving candidate, forcing tough choices.
Scott Jackson, for leading Wayzata volleyball to annual state titles, is the All-Metro Sports Awards Girls Team Coach of the Year
Scott Jackson’s Wayzata teams have won every big-class state championship available since 2018, and in 2023 the squad went 34-0.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 24, 2024 at 3:15PM
Other times, the selection becomes obvious.
Consider this the latter.
There wasn’t a lot of chatter or disagreement when Wayzata volleyball coach Scott Jackson was nominated to be the All-Metro Sports Awards Girls Team Coach of the Year.
Heads nodded and arms folded in agreement. A few other names were proposed, mostly for the sake of doing due diligence, but Jackson’s record indicated the committee need look no further.
In his 26 years as a high school volleyball coach, the past 24 at Wayzata, Jackson has won more than 570 matches. He guided the Trojans to a 34-0 record in 2023 and Wayzata’s fourth consecutive large-school state championship (Class 3A in 2019, 4A in 2021, ’22 and ’23; COVID-19 wiped out the state tournament in 2020). His undefeated state championship team in 2022 was the All-Metro Sports Awards Girls Team of the Year.
Mere days before his nomination for Girls Team Coach of the Year was considered, Jackson was selected to the Minnesota Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, an honor afforded through voting by his peers. He’s not just a great volleyball coach. He’s a well-liked one.
Two years ago, he allowed his Minnesota Select volleyball facility to be used to raise funds for a fellow coach, a friend and rival who had been waylaid by an illness.
He often loans use of his gyms to help organizations willing to promote volleyball. He puts his players first, their well-being foremost. He knows how to get the best out of them without subjecting them to undue pressure. And they respect him for it.
“I love Scott,” said Wayzata’s Stella Swenson, the 2023 Metro Player of the Year who is already working out with her college team, the Gophers. “He’s done so much for my volleyball career.”
Jackson’s style is simple. “Just play normal volleyball, stay loose and have fun,” he said.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
