1. Personal Life

2. Volleyball Career
     Head Coaching Record  

3. Game Company Ownership

4. References

Jim Dietz is an American volleyball coach, entrepreneur, and writer based in central Illinois. As a coach, he led St. Anthony High School of Effingham, Illinois to its first state-qualifying appearance and Lincoln Land Community College of Springfield, Illinois to all of its four appearances at NJCAA Nationals, including three consecutive Final Fours. During this time he also helped found the Crossroads Volleyball Club of Effingham, and the Capital Area Volleyball Club of Springfield.

As an entrepreneur Dietz has both started and owned multiple companies, including JD Properties, the Game Emporium, and Jolly Roger Games. In these companies he successfully maintained retail and rental properties, managed a chain of game stores, and facilitated the publication of original board, card, and role-playing games from conceptualization to final sales.

As a writer Dietz has published multiple articles, novels, and blogs. His work covers topics ranging from scholarly pieces to coaching aids to fiction and collections of poetry.

Personal Life

Dietz was born June 14, 1968 and raised in Davenport, Iowa. Attending Iowa State University for his undergraduate studies, he studied political science, history, and creative writing in addition to serving in student government as the president of Foster House. While in graduate school at the University of Illinois, Dietz met his wife, Julie, and they married in 1993.

During college and after Dietz held several jobs, ranging from disc jockey (KUSR-FM) to Instructor for the Adult Education program at Eastern Illinois University.

Volleyball Career

Dietz began his career in volleyball as a statistician/manager for the University of Illinois in 1990 before returning to Iowa State as a volunteer coach for the 1991 season. After that, he served as a graduate assistant for Jim Stone and the Ohio State University program, including OSU’s last Big Ten title and NCAA Final Four appearance in 1994.

Moving to Illinois after getting married, Dietz became involved with the Twin City Volleyball Club, coaching 16-and under age group for a year before being hired at St. Anthony High School where he led the school to its first ever regional and sectional titles and a school-record 33 wins in 2000.

Dietz left St. Anthony after the 2003 season and coached at Allen Community College in the Kansas Jayhawk Conference during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, compiling a record of 34-46, building the program to a victory over a national top-5 team, as well as taking a set from the 2005 national champions (the only set lost by the Johnson County team on its way to the national title).^[1]

In 2006, Dietz returned to central Illinois, assuming control of the Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) program where he has remained since. During his time at LLCC, Dietz has a 410-142 record and has won 39 in-season tournaments during that time. Eleven Loggers have been named NJCAA all-American and seventeen have been named academic all-American during his time with the program.

LLCC reached the National Tournament for the first time in school history in 2012 and finished 11th with a record of 33-9. In 2015 and 2016, LLCC reached the national championship game with consecutive 40-win seasons.^[2] In 2017, Lincoln Land reached the Final Four, finishing with a 37-7 record. The Loggers finished in the top five of the NJCAA National Poll in each of those seasons.^[3][4]

Head Coaching Record

Aside from his work as a head coach in schools, Dietz is known to conduct summer camps at Lincoln Land as well as for other institutions. Most notably he has previously been involved with the USA Volleyball High Performance Pipeline.^[5]

Game Company Ownership

Dietz founded Jolly Roger Games in 1996, owning it until it was sold in 2015 to Ultra Pro, International^[6]. Under Dietz’s ownership, JRG published award-winning and highly acclaimed games including designs by Alan R. Moon (Surf's Up, Dude), Richard Launius (Pirates vs. Dinosaurs), Jason Matthews/Christian Leonhard (Founding Fathers), and Urs Hostettler (republishing of Kremlin).

References

• Cirrhochrista trilinealis
• Cirrhochrista xanthographis
• Cirrhochroa felderi
• Cirrhopetalum elegans
• Cirrhopetalum maculosum
• Cirrhoscyllium
• Cirriaethes
• Cirricaecula
• Cirricaecula johnsoni
• Cirricaecula macdowelli
• Cirriculum
• Cirriform cloud
• Cirriformia
• Cirriformia capensis
• Cirriformia tentaculata
• Cirrisalarias
• Cirroceras
• Cirroceras nebraskense
• Cirrochrista
• Cirrochrista aetherialis
• Cirrochrista brizonalis
• Cirrochrista bryozalis
• Cirrochroa anjira
• Cirrochroa guimarensis
• Cirrochroa mithila