Jake Raff
Coach Jake grew up in Lehi, Utah; fun fact: what once was a small town is now in the top ten fastest growing cities in the US. Jake works in the insurance world and is currently employed at Farmers Insurance in town. He tells us “I married the prettiest woman in the world back in July and that has been the best decision I’ve ever made. While visiting some future sibling-in-laws, I fell in love with Sheridan. I mean who wouldn’t?!” After he and his wife, Maryn, were married, they decided there couldn’t be a better place to start as a newlywed couple, so here they are, and we are ecstatic to have them!
Volleyball Experience
• Coach Jake began playing volleyball as a freshman in High School. He picked it up quickly and realized pretty fast, too, that volleyball was super fun and easy to love.
• Utah is full of volleyball opportunities for young men, so he was able to dedicate his time to playing volleyball year round.
• He competed on his club team each season and on the boys club team at his High School too. He also spent a lot of time after school playing volleyball with his friends.
• Jake was voted captain on many of his teams and loved getting to serve his team in that way.
• He got the invite to compete in private tournaments with D1 men and women volleyball players and “I’ve even stuffed STORM FA'AGATA-TUFUGA.”
• Jake is eager to step into the coach role this season at Blacktooth, where he will be coaching his wife, Coach Maryn.
Why do I coach?
“I want to help kids better themselves! Volleyball is a sport about trust and taking ownership, two qualities that I think are vital in life. I also believe youth need to learn new skills that will help them throughout their lives. I’ve seen how volleyball has helped me in my life and I want to help the youth find the same thing!”
What do I look forward to teaching my team?
“Similar to my why for coaching, I believe in what the youth can learn from a sport like volleyball and that they can greatly benefit from those lessons. When you play a team sport, you learn to play outside yourself, and that’s just one of the valuable things we can gain from the sport of volleyball, and something I’m excited to help my team understand and believe in.”
Why the philosophy of coaching "person first, athlete second" is important to me:
“People come first. It’s not just about winning the game (although that’s a nice part of it all). I remember having a few coaches that cared about me and how I was developing as a person not just a player and to this day I still have contact with them and am appreciative of how they put helping me as a person first over teaching me how to hit the ball right.”
Other Tidbits
When he’s not playing volleyball, you can find Jake dirt biking, hiking, watching movies with popcorn, spending time with his family and nephew, golfing and learning new things.