Gesteland steps down as boys volleyball coach after 17 years

Coach started boys volleyball at Burlington High School

By Mike Ramczyk

Sports Editor

The next Burlington boys volleyball head coach will have enormous shoes to fill.

How do you follow a coaching pioneer who led his program to four state tournament appearances, including Division 1 state runner-up in 2012, and multiple conference championships?

Burlington’s Tim Gesteland, a science teacher at the high school and the first and only head coach in the school’s boys volleyball program, resigned Monday after 17 successful seasons.

For Gesteland, whose team is coming off back-to-back Southeast Conference championships, it was time.

“Put a fork in it, she’s done,” he joked Tuesday night. “It’s time for the younger guys to take charge. I kind of started feeling it last year. It was a lot of time away from my family.”

Ironically, it was family that was the driving force behind Gesteland all these years. It started with wife Julie running the scoreboard while sons Zack and Joey and daughter Annie were still traveling in car seats.

Eventually, Joey and Zack would become star players and Annie a team manager.

“It’s always been a family-run thing,” Tim said. “Every good coach needs an incredible wife. In the early days, the kids were in the car seats and would be running around on the court. I wouldn’t have been as successful without Julie.”

Tim’s mom and dad would come to games, and his brother would drive two and a half hours to watch games. Julie’s large family of five siblings would also attend games.

Eventually, Zack and Joey grew up and wanted to play for dad. Joey, a 2012 BHS graduate, and Zack, a 2013 grad, both were named Racine County Player of the Year in their senior seasons.

Zack’s career culminated with a 2012 Division 1 state runner-up finish with the Demons. Tim, who played football and wrestled in high school, never even thought his boys would play volleyball. But he will cherish the memories of coaching his sons.

“Coaching my boys was the whipped cream with the cherry on top,” Tim said. “They took leadership roles. I wasn’t dad on the court, but I was dad at home. There were a lot of benefits. I spent so much time with them. I was able to teach them to lose with dignity and win with respect. We would have team dinners at our house. That family atmosphere is something I will miss.”

Humble beginnings

Tim said he played volleyball in college at UW-La Crosse just to have fun. In high school, he played football and wrestled and didn’t think much of volleyball. His school, Janesville Parker, didn’t have a boys volleyball team.

He eventually began to play club in college and got into different sand volleyball tournaments, developing a passion for the game.

In 1997, Tim was already coacing junior varsity girls volleyball and sophomore baseball when then-Athletic Director and head football coach Don Dalton presented him with an opportunity.

At the time, Tony Romo was tearing it up for the Demons on the football field, and football was extremely popular in the school.

But the Demons were switching from the Southern Lakes Conference to the Southeast Conference, which had boys volleyball in the fall.

“Don asked if I would start a boys volleyball program,” Tim said. “It was an honor to be a competing sport with football. I was a young buck, and Dalton was a legend, so I tried to listen to everything he said. He preached to have fun first, and success will come. I had always dreamed of building a successful program.”

That first year, Burlington started as a junior varsity program. The next season, the Demons were competing on varsity with the Racine schools, which were state powers at the time.

By 2001, Tim led the Demons to their first Division 1 state tournament. Burlington returned to state in 2004, 2005 and 2012, and now the program is one of the best in the state.

“It has been storybook,” Tim said. “We’ve had the county player of the year the last four years. Now kids are playing in nationals and college. I wanted to do things right and go all the way. It’s pretty much a year-round commitment.”

In 2013, Fred’s restaurant, with the help of volleyball parents and supporters, dedicated a table to the Burlington boys volleyball program. It displays team pictures throughout the years. Tim said former players will reach out to him and mention how cool it was to see their photos on the table.

“It’s one of my highlights of my career,” Tim said of the table.

Tim said he has no idea who will take over the program, but he will continue to coach seventh- and eighth-grade girls volleyball for now.

And what about the future of Burlington boys volleyball?

“It will stay strong,” Tim said. “We have some great youth coming up. The key is getting good players at each grade level. With the success we’ve had, kids want to play. I’m more than willing to help out. I know there’s an energetic, young coach out there who’s looking forward to those long bus rides on Saturday mornings.”