‘Best experience of my life’: Woodstock North volleyball coach Eric Schulze steps down

When Eric Schulze took the reins of Woodstock North’s volleyball program eight years ago, the longtime club volleyball coach and administrator didn’t envision a super long tenure.

That quickly changed for Schulze as the wins started to pile up for the Thunder.

But, more importantly, he found being head coach was something he grew attached to.

“It was the best experience of my life,” said Schulze, who led his first team to a school-record 20 wins after its previous high of 11 in 2016. “When I was first hired, I thought maybe I’d come in for a couple of years, get this thing turned around and then I’d clear the way for somebody else to step in once [oldest daughter] Kylie got into [high] school.”

Schulze did more than turn the program around. He built a consistent winner that the whole school was proud of. In 2018, in his second year, the Thunder won a program-record 22 matches and won the school’s first regional championship. Later that year, the boys basketball team earned its first regional title.

Schulze’s official resignation as head coach was recognized earlier this month at the Woodstock School District 200 board meeting, although Schulze knew he was leaving long before that. In the Thunder’s last regular season home match, assistants helped set up a going away party for Schulze. That included past players and family members that have been a part of the program during Schulze’s great eight-year run.

During his time as head coach, North won four Class 3A regional championships and three Kishwaukee River Conference titles from 2020 to 2022. In 2022, the Thunder captured a program-record 30 wins. This past fall, the Thunder sent their coach off with a fourth regional title.

“I think we were able to create a legacy that players and their families were very proud of,” Schulze said. “I think we created a culture within the school, something everybody could take pride in and the players believed in – and the community got behind us.”

Schulze said one reason he decided to step down was in order to see his daughters compete at the collegiate level. Kylie, a setter, graduated from North in 2023 and now is at NIU, while Devynn, who will graduate after the 2024-25 school year, is headed to Illinois State.

Schulze said he isn’t simply stepping down because of his two daughters alone, but that played a huge part of it. He left open the chance of coaching high school again.

“High school volleyball is a minimum six-day-a-week gig,” he said. “The reality is, between practices and matches and tournament play on the weekends, not to mention, any additional things you’re doing to prepare for your week on a Sunday, you just don’t have a lot of time to spend outside of that to just simply watch matches.

“The great news is we were able to dial into ESPN+ and be able to see some of [Kylie’s] matches. But I know my wife [Katie] and I would like to be able to go to the matches and travel around more and enjoy this segment of time. Just watching our girls play.”

Schulze still will be involved in the club volleyball world and has spent almost 30 years as an administrator and coach. He is the executive director of VC United in Loves Park and the director of business development at League One Volleyball.

Woodstock North athletic director Derek Crabill, who had two daughters play for Schulze, said Schulze will be missed.

“They’ve become a force in the KRC, a perennial program that is going to compete every year, and I think Eric did a really nice job of utilizing the pieces that he had year to year and putting those kids into a position to be successful,” Crabill said.

Schulze said the relationships he made were life changing.

“It became bigger than anything I could have possibly imagined doing when I first got in there,” Schulze said. “My expectations were certainly grounded of what we could do, but the buy-in we got from the community and players was outstanding.

“We obviously were able to do some things that were really cool. You see it in the way the alumni interact and continue to follow and want to be part of the program in whatever way they can, whether that’s going to matches or coming to working camps every year.”