ELK RAPIDS — Plenty of people saw Katie Placek’s destiny to be a volleyball head coach.
She turned down a job at Traverse City Central several years ago because where she was at professionally didn’t mesh at the time.
Not so now. The two mesh almost as perfectly as can be.
Placek takes over as Elk Rapids’ volleyball program, and she won’t have to go far to do so.
Recently hired as a mental health professional inside Elk Rapids High School at the Elks Wellness Center — part of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan — the Traverse City West grad just has to walk down the hallway to conduct practice.
“I’m always wanting to put roots down,” said Placek, who previously worked in private practice at Bay Area Counseling. “I always want to see how people run their programs. I’ve been really lucky to have the coaches in my life that I’ve had.”
Placek spent the last four years as an assistant coach at three of the area’s top programs, coaching West’s freshmen under Emily Baumann in 2021, assisting at Leland under Laurie Glass in 2022 and as an assistant coach at TC Central under Emily Wilbert the last two seasons.
“The girls and coaching staff absolutely loved her,” Central athletic director Justin Thorington said. “It’s our loss, but as we’re seeing with the Detroit Lions, when you have success, you lose good coaches.”
After graduating from West in 2015, Placek played at Ferris State University for four years, winning four Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles. Ferris State, where Placek earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in social work, also had its players run summer volleyball camps, giving them a crash course in instructing young players for three weeks each year.
She studied at the University of East London from 2020-21, earning another master’s degree in applied positive and coaching psychology.
Elks athletic director Brett Graham said he had other great candidates, but that Elk Rapids hit a home run with the Placek hire.
“We’re just really excited to have her,” Graham said. “Her experience and the fact that she’s in the building, she checks all the boxes. We’re thrilled to have her here.”
Graham coached Placek’s brother Graeme at West and taught her geography class in middle school.
“Katie is a dynamic person who will bring a fresh perspective and new energy to any program she joins,” Wilbert said. “With her deep knowledge of volleyball and natural ability to connect with kids, she’s sure to make a positive impact. I’m looking forward to seeing the growth and success she will cultivate in the Elk Rapids volleyball program.”
Placek said she intends to concentrate more efforts on the Elks’ elementary and middle school programs.
“The main thing is how to handle different situations,” Placek said. “When to push players and when not to push players.”
The Elks graduated quite a bit from a team that’s been a consistent district and regional contender under coach Connie Gorno, who led the program since 2018.
“It’s a hard-working group of young humans,” Placek said. “I want my team to have grit, work hard and work for each other.”