ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
One of Liberal’s own is continuing to advance in her coaching career with an upcoming move.
Recently, the Pittsburg State University (PSU) athletic department announced Megan Besecker will be taking the head coaching position of the school’s volleyball team.
“The PSU athletic director, Jim Johnson, had actually reached out to me because he knew the former coach had left to take the athletic director position at Pittsburg High School,” Besecker said. “We'd coached against each other before and had kept in contact, and he'd even recruited some of the junior college athletes I'd coached. So he reached out to see if I'd be interested in the job, we had some conversations, and it turned out to be a really good opportunity I couldn't pass up. It's somewhat bittersweet because I have really enjoyed my time at Barton CC, and I've absolutely loved my players and being part of that community, but I see a lot of what I love about Barton Community College there at PSU. Emotionally, I'm very excited and ready to get to Pittsburg and start training and coaching my new athletes later this spring and becoming part of that community, but again, it's also somewhat bittersweet because I'm leaving behind a really great community and great group of players and really good people. Everyone's been so supportive and happy for me as I take this next step in my career.”
Besecker added there is a lot to be excited about in regard to working with the program.
“Working at Barton CC has created a lot of career opportunities the past couple of years, and something I'm really looking forward to with going to PSU is how it's in a really competitive conference – the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is one of the tough conferences in Division II volleyball,” Besecker said. “I'm also really excited about still being in Kansas – Barton CC has created a lot of career opportunities for me, but being able to remain in Kansas and kind of close to family is something that's really good for me, and I'll also be able to help recruit some Kansas student athletes to the program.”
With that in mind, Besecker said there will certainly be a lot of work coming up.
“I'll be moving to Pittsburg within the next week or two, so that's the first thing I'll be concentrating on with this, and then there will be the start of spring training. Recruiting is already done at Barton CC, so I feel like I've left the program in really good hands for the next head coach, and I feel good knowing there will be a smooth transition for everyone,” Besecker said. “Barton CC has done so much for me, so I wanted to be sure and leave the program in a good place that wouldn't really require any huge upheaval and so the program can continue to be successful. I'm really excited to get to know my new players and get an idea of their athletic abilities and see where they are so I can figure out how to help make the program successful for the coming season. I want to get to know everyone as much as possible as quickly as possible and get everything settled. This is kind of a slow time of the year because after spring break, everything's rather rolling downhill to the end of the school year, so I'm looking forward to meeting my players and getting to know them before everything officially gets going in the fall. I'm also working with a bigger roster than what I'm used to, so I also want to make sure I start building great relationships with everyone so we can be the most successful program possible. I'm looking forward to continuing to advance my career and competing in the MIAA and being able to recruit top-level athletes from Kansas and other states. PSU has a very successful athletics program overall, so I want to help the volleyball program reach that level and compete well with everyone we come across.”
Another change Besecker said she is anticipating is a bigger roster.
“The roster's already pretty much been built, so I just need to add a few tweaks here and there. When I took over at Barton CC, there were only four athletes on the roster, so it was pretty much a full rebuild, which I don't necessarily think will be the case when I get to PSU, because I'm going to just be building on what's already there in terms of personnel,” Besecker said. “Something else that'll be different is, junior colleges are constantly recruiting and rosters change every year, so having some stability in the roster will be nice and help develop these athletes over four years instead of just two.”
And with the upcoming season being her inaugural season with the program, Besecker said some aspects will be played more by ear.
“March is never the ideal time to take over a program, but I think we have some great athletes, and working with them and training them should be a good process,” Besecker said. “I officially met everyone over Zoom recently, and one of the goals we talked about was just competing well. It's going to be a process since I'll be new, so one of my goals will be to make it to the MIAA tournament – like I said earlier, the MIAA is one of the toughest conferences for Division II volleyball, so if we're able to get into that tournament, our program will be going in the right direction. We'll talk about some more goals when we all officially meet in person and throughout the season, but for me right now, that's the big goal. And I always tell my athletes, the goals we set can't be just my goals, they have to be goals for the entire team to work toward.”
Overall, Besecker said, she is looking forward to the new opportunity.
“I'm very thankful to the Barton CC leadership for giving me my first college head coach opportunity, and it's been wonderful competing in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) and working with the athletes and other coaches I've been able to work with,” Besecker said. “I'm also very thankful to the PSU leadership for believing in me as a young coach and seeing what I can do and what I can bring to the program.”
