Lyndsey Oates felt that she wasn’t ready to be the University of Northern Colorado volleyball coach when she accepted the job 20 years ago.

In August 2005, Oates had only three seasons of experience as an assistant coach following her collegiate playing career.

Now, days away from the start of her 21st year with the Bears, Oates is arguably the most successful coach of the most successful team currently operating in the UNC athletic department.

“I don’t think there is any program that compares with the production and consistency with women’s volleyball,” said Terry Pettit, former Nebraska coach and an Oates mentor.

UNC begins its preseason Thursday, Aug. 7. The Bears’ first match is an exhibition Saturday, Aug. 23 at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The regular season begins the following week, Friday, Aug. 29 against the University of Washington at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.

UNC will host the Big Sky Conference Tournament in November as the 2024 regular-season Big Sky champion.

Not only is the volleyball team the best intercollegiate program at UNC, it’s one of the best in the Big Sky Conference — the university’s primary athletic conference.

Oates, who is from Eaton and attended UNC matches as a girl during the Division II era, has overseen the majority of the program’s short, 23-year life in Division I.

She has an overall record of 376-234, and she’s a five-time Big Sky coach of the year — including last season when the team won its seventh regular-season title either outright or shared.

The Bears have won 14 Big Sky titles under Oates, and they’ve earned seven bids to the NCAA Tournament.

Oates, 45, had never been a head coach before UNC. She was then only four years removed from her own college career at Louisiana State University. In 2002, the year she graduated from college, Oates was an assistant at Samford in Homewood, Alabama. Oates came to UNC as an assistant in 2003, which was the first season at the Division I level and the first of three seasons as an independent.

UNC didn’t join the Big Sky Conference until Oates’ second year in 2006. The Bears have been among the conference’s most consistent programs in those 18 years. There has never been a significant or prolonged dip in results.

Pettit met Oates in her early years with the Bears, and he recommended her for the head job to then athletic director Jay Hinrichs. Oates was an assistant to head coach Ron Alexander when he left a few days before the season started in 2005.

Pettit coached at Nebraska from 1977-1999. He remained with the Cornhuskers athletic department for a few years, mentoring coaches and working with administration. He and his wife moved to Fort Collins in the early 2000s because their daughter played volleyball at Colorado State University and they wanted to become more familiar with the area.

Pettit started consulting on leadership for coaches in Colorado and became acquainted with Oates. She was then known by her maiden name, Lyndsey Benson. Oates and her husband, Mark, married in 2012.

Pettit said he recommended Oates to be the UNC head coach based on her character. He described her as thoughtful, organized and collaborative.

“Nobody is really ready,” Pettit said. “You don’t know what it’s like being a head coach in college until you’re a head coach in college. There were people who would’ve taken the job with more experience. I’m more interested in where someone can end up.”

Change is key to success

Oates said a part of her success and the program’s success has come from her willingness to change. Oates and her staff have evolved with the times in college sports over the years, adapting and modifying how they operate in all phases of the program — from recruiting and training of athletes to selling tickets and hiring staff.

Changes had to be made early in Oates’ time as the head coach. There are big differences between Division I and Division II athletics, and the program had to adapt right away. This included athletes staying on campus and working out over the summer with the move to Division I.

Oates has never hesitated to ask for help, reaching out for feedback from other coaches such as Pettit, Alexander or Linda Delk. Delk, a UNC Hall of Famer, had a 702-290 record in 26 seasons from 1976-2002 when the Bears were a Division II power.

“I don’t want blind spots,” Oates said. “I think that’s my biggest thing. And when you stay at a place for a long time, it’s going to be natural to get blind spots. You can get the kind of mentality of, ‘This is the way we’ve always done it,’ and that’s the worst mentality I could possibly have.”

What has not changed is Oates and her staff emphasizing the athletes and the culture of the program, she said. “Culture” is an often-used word in UNC athletics. Culture, in part, means coaching people, not only coaching volleyball, Oates said. Culture is also the standard of behavior and professionalism in the program from year to year.

The culture, behavior and pride in the Bears program must be re-established each season and discussed often, Oates said.

Associate head coach Pi’i Aiu has been with Oates and the program for six years. Aiu coached at the University of Colorado for 12 years before coming to Greeley, and he’s been familiar with Oates for many years.

He said Oates cares about the players as people first.

“I think one of the biggest challenges for a coach is to get players to play hard for you,” Aiu said. “She’s really good at motivating kids and keeping them engaged. She makes players better in all phases of their lives, in academics and in volleyball.”

Among the biggest changes in college sports in the last few years has been the introduction of the transfer portal and NIL (name, image and likeness) opportunities for athletes. These newer components of college sports are continuing to evolve and change, and Oates is still figuring out how to use them, she said. She sees pros and cons to the portal and NIL.

“As soon as I feel like I have it a little bit figured out, the next day, there’s a new rule, or I learned something new where I go, ‘Oh man, that’s not the path we’re going to take,’ ” she said.

Oates said with the approval of the landmark House v. NCAA settlement several weeks ago, there may be a benefit for a mid-major Division I program such as UNC. A part of the lawsuit settlement set caps on how much schools may pay athletes. For the upcoming school year, the cap is about $20.5 million for schools with financial resources to go that high.

Oates said even bigger schools, such as those in the SEC, likely won’t send NIL money to volleyball programs. A mid-major program where volleyball is prioritized, like UNC, might then be able to attract athletes with community support.

UNC athletic director Darren Dunn used the same word: “priority.” Volleyball is a priority for the university from the board of trustees to President Andy Feinstein to the athletic department.

The success of Oates and the program has increased the visibility of UNC volleyball, Dunn said. The sport was certainly successful at the Division II level.

“She has continued that tradition and raised the bar,” Dunn said. “It’s never easy at Division I.”

Dunn said Oates embraces change. She does not fear changes in the industry, and she’s always interested in how the program can improve or grow.

“Student-athletes, in my opinion, have changed over time, and she gets the most out of them,” Dunn said. “She has been able to figure that out — how to work with student athletes to get the most out of them, and that has not changed.”

Oates as a mentor

Five years ago, Oates and her staff brought in an athlete who developed into one of the best in the history of UNC volleyball. Syd Cole was an all-state player and team MVP at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora.

Playing the key position of setter, Cole was twice named an All-America honorable mention selection by a coaches association. She is the only player in the Division I era to earn these honors. Cole was also a three-time Big Sky Conference first-team selection, and she was named conference MVP, setter of the year and player of the year through her career.

As the Bears’ setter, which is like the quarterback in volleyball, Cole worked closely with Oates. Cole was impressed with Oates from the first time they met, she said. Cole liked the quality of the UNC program. The Bears were winning before Cole arrived in 2020. She liked that Oates played top-level, Division I volleyball at LSU. Cole saw all of this and realized she wanted to be part of Oates’ program.

Cole said Oates has changed and evolved as a coach. Cole isn’t a fan of being yelled at by a coach. Oates saw this, and the women developed a closer player-coach relationship in Cole’s five years with the Bears.

Cole said Oates changed each season in how the coach was able to connect and communicate with all of her players.

“It’s amazing and hard to do,” Cole said.

This year’s UNC team appears to be different from last season when the Bears won a Division I-program record 28 matches. They won the Big Sky regular season, reached the conference tournament championship and then played in the postseason. After losing to Sacramento State in the tournament championship match, the Bears qualified for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship and reached the tournament semifinals.

Cole exhausted her college eligibility. Gabi Placide, a dominating sophomore outside hitter on last year’s team from Centennial and Grandview High School, transferred to the University of Mississippi.

Placide was the Big Sky freshman of the year in 2023 and on the conference’s first team after the 2024 season. She and Cole were named to the conference tournament team last year, after the Bears’ five-set loss to Sacramento State.

Cole said Oates won’t have to rely on a special level of growth and change this year as a coach to compensate for the loss of two strong players. Cole said many of the players on the roster have been in the program for a while. Athletes such as senior outside hitters Brynn Reines and Bella Van Lannen, senior middle block Isabel Bennett, junior defensive specialist Bella LePore and sophomore outside hitter Alayna Tessena have experience, have started matches and are ready to show what they can do.

“I think losing those pieces won’t be that big of a deal,” Cole said, adding Oates knows how to manage a team and a program.

​​Oates and Cole met regularly when Cole played for the Bears. Cole said she liked Oates’ open-door policy at the coach’s office. The women talked about a variety of things, relating to life and volleyball. The conversations continued when Cole left UNC late last year for her first professional opportunity.

Cole, 23, played through the winter and spring with the Vegas Thrill of the indoor Pro Volleyball Federation. She’s leaving for Switzerland later this month to play for a club in the Swiss League.

The all-important athlete connection the program stresses was clear and easy to see for Cole. She considers Oates a mentor, and a person Cole will look up to for the rest of her life.

“I can call her anytime, and she’s willing to talk to me,” Cole said. “Seeing her with her family, I want to be the great mom she is.”

Balancing head coach with family

Being the head coach of a Division I athletic program, which is a role essentially similar to a chief executive at a company, in addition to having responsibilities of spouse and parent is not an easy load to juggle.

Mark Oates and the children, Dylan and Rylee, are often at matches, and they take a big interest in UNC volleyball.

Dylan and Rylee are both interested in sports, and found perks and benefits from being the children of a college coach. Rylee attended a UNC volleyball camp earlier this summer. Lyndsey said the kids have also attended other camps at UNC or worked with coaches.

“They are a part of it,” Oates said. “I kind of check in with them every year: ‘Are we still up for me coaching again?’ They’ll say ‘yes.’ They love it.”

Oates said Mark is a hero in their family story because he manages the children when coaching duties keep her away from home. They also receive help from Lyndsey’s mother, Connye Benson, who lives in the area.

Lyndsey was coaching at Samford in October 2002 when her father was killed in a vehicle crash. She returned to Colorado for a graduate assistant role at UNC to be closer to family.

Benson introduced Lyndsey to volleyball when Oates was a girl in Eaton. Benson taught the sport at Aims Community College, and she coached at Eaton High.

Oates said she’s also learned through the years to be present where she is when conflicting feelings creep in surrounding the team and her family.

“It’s just to be where my feet are,” Oates said. “There’s always something more to do with work, but when I’m home, I need to be with them. That’s easier said than done. I’m not perfect at that. If I can be emotionally engaged with whatever I’m currently doing, that has helped the mom guilt or the job guilt in both directions.”

Editor’s Note: The Nasdaq and S&P aren’t far below all-time highs. Big Tech earnings, overall, are wowing Wall Street. And FOMO is rising.

But as we’ve seen before, not every rally ends well.

Today, we’re turning over the Digest to our macro investing expert Eric Fry for a timely take on what’s unfolding in the markets.

In his essay below, Eric draws an unexpected – but surprisingly revealing – analogy between his decades playing beach volleyball in Southern California and navigating today’s investment landscape.

You’ll see why some stocks soaring right now may have run too far, too fast… why others are starting to break down mid-rally… and why only a select few have the fundamentals in place to deliver real, lasting gains.

If you want to avoid the AI hype stocks and find the companies with strong footing and room to run before their next earnings drop, today’s Digest is essential reading.

Enough introduction. I’ll let Eric take it from here.

Have a good weekend,

Jeff Remsburg

I’m a native Southern Californian, so it probably won’t surprise you to hear that I’m an avid beach volleyball player.

In fact, I’ve been playing for decades, and spent my “crazy youth” of the 1980s at the volleyball nets ofCalifornia’s beaches.

Although I have jokingly referred to the sport as my “real job,” the truth is that playing volleyball has similarities to playing the market, especially during a rally.

Like the one we’re experiencing right now.

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes both hit record highs during intraday trading. They started out even higher today largely due to optimism surrounding yesterday’s trade agreement between the United States and European Union

This upward trend may continue this week, as several big tech companies deliver earnings.

While the “fear of missing out” may have you wanting to participate in this rally, you should still do so cautiously.

Here’s what my time at the net has taught me about smart investing…

Beach volleyball, like the markets, also consists of rallies. In the sandy game, though, a rally is the sequence of hits back and forth between teams during any given point.

A volleyball rally always starts with a serve – and it ends in only one of three ways…

1. The ball lands out of bounds.

From an investing angle, you can think of this as companies with sky-high valuations. While these firms may seem attractive to investors, like Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), the truth is that their valuations are overshot, landing them in the stratosphere.

For instance, Nvidia’s market cap sits at $4.23 trillion, the highest in the world. It is currently trading for 56X its trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, or about double the market average.

I recommend avoiding out-of-bounds stocks like these because their high valuations yield to low valuations… eventually.

Instead, you’ll want to focus on companies that land squarely within the winning parameters of the court. That is why I look for companies that have a promising runway built by strong fundamentals – attractive valuations.

In fact, I recommend one such company over Nvidia. And it is set to report its second quarter earnings for 2025 tomorrow, July 29. Analysts expect this company to beat estimates with over 20% year-over-year earnings growth and nearly 7% year-over-year revenue growth.

You can learn how to access all of the details about this company – before its earnings call – by clicking here.

This brings me to the second way a volleyball rally…

2. A team commits a fault, like failing to return the ball over the net.

You can think of this as companies that miss the mark. Like Tesla Inc. (TSLA), as we talked about in last Saturday’s Smart Money.

The company announced last week that it missed both top and bottom lines for the second quarter of 2025. This is largely due to declining vehicle sales. CEO Elon Musk said that the company “probably could have a few rough quarters” ahead.

What’s more, Tesla is well behind the pace needed to meet its stated goal of producing at least 5,000 Optimus robots this year. The company has so far only produced a few hundred.

Tesla is failing to return and is, therefore, not a stock that we want in our portfolios.

I’ve got my eye instead on a company that is successfully sailing over the net. It’s a robotics company that is a direct competitor to Tesla, and its current backlog means there’s another $23 billion in future sales already baked in the cake. You can learn the name of this company, for free, here.

Of course, the most favorable way to end a beach volleyball rally for the serving team is when…

3. A point is scored.

You don’t have to be a beach volleyball fan, or even a sports fan in general, to know that scoring a point is the only way to win.

Of course, as investors, we also want to “win” the rally.

The best way to do that is to play it right. You don’t want to stock up on overvalued or faulty companies. In fact, I recommend selling those types of stocks if they are in your portfolio right now.

You want to invest in the right stocks at the right time.

That’s why I’ve compiled a list of three companies that I believe are “Buys.” These are under-the-radar, early opportunities that can help you protect and multiply your money during make-or-break markets.

You can find the details of these companies – ticker symbols and all – in my brand-new special broadcast, free of charge.

Regards,

Eric Fry

Editor, Smart Money

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In New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, The Armory has withstood the test of time. The wartime structure, once home to the New York State militia, is now a track and field cathedral, where youth and seniors alike come to learn and play.

The original wooden floor still sits beneath the track, recognized as one of the fastest on Earth. More than 100 track and field competitions are held here each year. More than 57 high school and 13 professional American records have been set here. More than 220,000 athletes, many from New York City, walk through its doors each year. It’s home to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

“When those young athletes come here and know that they’re running on the same track and jumping at the same facility and throwing at the same facility as these world record holders and these current Olympians and these past Olympians,” said The Armory Foundation co-president Jonathan Schindel. “It’s a special experience for them.

“It’s sort of, as a kid growing up as a basketball fan, walking into Madison Square Garden, knowing that Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere all played there.”

amNewYork spent an afternoon at The Armory. We toured the facility and spoke with the organization’s co-presidents, Schindel and Rita Finkel, about The Armory’s evolution from a military facility to homeless shelter and to the hallowed track and field ground it is today.

The Armory’s military past

People have been running at The Armory for more than a century.

The present-day banked track sits on top of the state military’s former drill floor. It was once home to its tanks. Its troops trained here. By the edges of the track, the original floor is still visible.

“The person in charge,” Schindel said, “The lieutenant, I guess, wanted his troops to get a little bit of exercise, so he painted some lines on the wooden floor.”

The facility became a homeless shelter in the 1980s, Finkel added. The city eventually bought the building from the state. In the early 1990s, Dr. Norbert Sander, the late founder of The Armory Foundation, had a vision. Track and field had changed his life. He sought to change the lives of others, particularly the youth, through fitness and education.

The Armory is also known as “The House that Doc Built.”

“When the state mandated that you couldn’t have 2,000 people under one roof,” Finkel said, “The city bought the building from the state for about $1. They said, ‘What shall we do with it?’ Dr. Sander stood up. He was a medical doctor, a sports doctor, and he considered Track and Field the Savior in his life, and prompted him to go to medical school.

“He went to Mayor [David] Dinkins and said, ‘Please give me the keys to The Armory. I won’t ask you for any funding, just give me the keys.’ Mayor Dinkins, on one of his last days in office, gave Dr. Sander the keys.”

How track leads to academic success

The foundation considers track and field — in particular, running — good for students and the sport with the lowest barrier of entry. All you need is a pair of shoes.

“It’s an incredibly accessible sport,” Schindel said. “The cost to begin to participate in track and field is a fraction of every other sport.”

This is partly what makes The Armory so successful. It’s a nonprofit. In addition to the 100-plus competitions held here annually, the foundation runs a number of after-school educational programs for elementary, middle, and high school students in Upper Manhattan and the South Bronx.

The Armory College Prep High School Program is one of these. For eight years in a row, 100% of the program’s participants have been accepted into four-year colleges — many receiving financial aid.

The students learn how to do well on the SATs, ACTs, and AP classes. In the summer, they spend their afternoons at Columbia University.

The Armory’s programs all emphasize staying active. The middle school program, Finkel said, is focused on robotics and technology during the school year and screen-free in the summer. The students also try other sports like fencing, rock climbing, pickleball, and sailing.

“We don’t bring them in and make them do homework right away,” Finkel said. “We have them run, jump and throw and giggle.”

Making a difference with youth and the community

When you think about The Armory, you think of track and field.

The Armory has hosted the Millrose Games each February since 2012. The games took place at Madison Square Garden for nearly 100 years.

The facility is also home to track meets and athletic programs for participants from six to 96 years old, Schindel said. It hosts several community events, including early voting and Halloween events. Several paid events, like the New York State Bar Examination, fashion shows, and corporate events, help fund the foundation’s programs.

Like any multipurpose facility, there’s always something happening at The Armory.

“We are bursting at the seams,” Schindel said, “Which is great.”

One benefit of The Armory’s packed schedule is that the facility has become an economic engine for Upper Manhattan, attracting athletes from all over the tri-state area — and beyond.

“If you look at the people who come to the armory,” Schindel said, “Yes, it’s hyper local, a lot of youth from the local community, but then it’s the tri-state area. We have many track meets that attract people from New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, and a whole large number of track meets where they come from Maine down to the Carolinas and out west to Ohio.”

Other competitions, like the Nike Indoor Nationals, attract athletes from all 50 states.

Preserving history while building for the future

The Armory combines historic infrastructure with modern technology, comparable to Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, which were built around the same time but still stand today. Their longevity is buoyed by nostalgia and necessary upgrades.

“We have these old Fenway Park Wrigley Field type seating that Rita and I have interspersed with the most high-tech, modern equipment that is available,” Schindel said. “From our LED boards — Daktronics is a great partner of ours, and they are state of the art — to our new sound system, to the timing room, and our AV room. We try to mesh the history that’s here, not overwhelm it, but mesh it with modern technology.”

There is the Stan Saplin Media Center, named after the longtime announcer at Madison Square Garden who died in 2002.

“When he passed away,” Finkel explained, “His family came to The Armory and said, ‘Stan’s favorite sport to call at MSG was track and field. Is there something we can do in The Armory?’ And Dr. Sander said, ‘Yes, we’ll build a media center and we’ll name it for Stan.’”

When Dr. Sander, The Armory’s founder, died in 2017, the foundation added memorabilia of him and the building to the media center.

One million miles are run on The Armory’s track each year, Finkel estimated. Every five years, the track needs to be replaced. As the track gets busier, it’ll need to be replaced more frequently — last year, more people trained and competed on the track than ever before. For 31 years, the track was red. A blue one was recently installed. On the third level, two original gates from The Armory had recently been dipped and re-bronzed.

“Every summer,” Finkel said, “We sit and look at each other and say, ‘What can we do to surprise and charm the students who are coming back, the adults, the seniors, when they come back in the fall?’”

This summer, Schindel added, the foundation plans to add custom pacing lights around the track, which will both guide the athletes and add to the entertainment value during events like the Millrose Games.

Few sports facilities carry the same amount of history and records as The Armory, and its legend continues to grow with each competition it hosts.

For more like this feature on The Armory, visit AMNY.com