[Sly Fox]

From the Tallahassee fishwrap:

Originally published September 1, 2006
Bolton retires at Tallavana
Coach leaves volleyball to focus on teaching, family

By Jim Henry
DEMOCRAT CORRESPONDENT

Ron Bolton was a beginner, too, when he started coaching volleyball at Tallavana Christian School in 1984. In fact, after the Lions played Maclay in their inaugural match, Bolton and his players remained to attend a clinic hosted by the Marauders.

“They clobbered us in the match and then were nice enough to hold a clinic for us,” Bolton said and laughed. “I didn't know a thing about volleyball.”

Bolton and the Lions were quick learners.

From that opening match, which was played outdoors on grass, Bolton built Tallavana Christian into a perennial power in the Panhandle Christian Conference. Bolton coached 436 varsity matches in the past 22 years, leading the Lions to seven Final Four appearances for Christian schools.

While Bolton has plenty of fond memories and his desire to help student-athletes remains strong, he has retired from coaching volleyball at Tallavana Christian to focus on teaching and his family.

Bolton remains a teacher at Tallavana Christian, having arrived at the tiny school in Havana in 1978 from Liberty University. In fact, the name Bolton is synonymous with Tallavana. Bolton's brother, Tom, coached boys' basketball for 20 years, and the brothers' children attended Tallavana.

Ron Bolton has seen plenty of changes over the years, including the school's name. It had been called Gadsden Christian Academy until the early 1990s. Bolton has taught many different classes, including Bible, and over the years helped coach baseball, golf and soccer. He coached more than 700 volleyball matches at the varsity, junior varsity and junior-high levels.

“You name it and I was involved with it in some capacity,” said Bolton, whose daughter Lydia played volleyball at Tallavana and is attending the Baptist College of Florida in Graceville.

Tallavana was also a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association when it started playing volleyball under Bolton. The Lions' best finish in the FHSAA was 11-9 in 1991.

In the past 15 years in the Panhandle Christian Conference, Bolton led Tallavana to 11 winning seasons and a record of 164-144 overall. The Lions' best mark was 18-5 in 1993. They won the conference's Eastern Division in 1996 and notched a runner-up finish in the 2001 Final Four for Christian schools.

Debbie Robinson is coaching the Lions this season.

“There have been ups and downs, but I don't have any regrets,” said Bolton, who added he may return to coaching boys' basketball in the future.

“I just felt it was time to hand (volleyball) over to somebody else.”

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS