Logan Tom Retires [Rumor?]

[mapuan]

Logan (33) changed 12 clubs in her career, while last season she finished as a member of Ornavasso.

In her rich trophy case, American has two Olympic silvers, one World Championship silver, three Grand Prix gold medals and many other awards with USA national team.

Logan will now start coaching career as she accepted offer from Stanford University.

Logan Tom Retires

[ballervolley]

woah woah woah this can't be happening.

[c4ndlelight]

Am I the only one who' a bit skeptical that a Russian sports site is breaking news about Tom? Especially if it involves a coaching spot at a highly watched U.S. program, one would think there would be whispers here first.

[Wolfgang]

What Stanford offer?

[nothingbutcorn]

If true she had an amazing career.

[geddyleeridesagain]

Jun 26, 2014 11:13:55 GMT -5 c4ndlelight said:

Am I the only one who' a bit skeptical that a Russian sports site is breaking news about Tom? Especially if it involves a coaching spot at a highly watched U.S. program, one would think there would be whispers here first.

I don't find it unusual that her retirement would first be reported on a foreign site. I agree that it's unusual that her taking a job at Stanford would also first be reported there, however. So color me unconvinced at this point.

[akbar]

Jun 26, 2014 10:19:35 GMT -5 mapuan said:

Logan (33) changed 12 clubs in her career, while last season she finished as a member of Ornavasso.

In her rich trophy case, American has two Olympic silvers, one World Championship silver, three Grand Prix gold medals and many other awards with USA national team.

Logan will now start coaching career as she accepted offer from Stanford University.

Logan Tom Retires

What? No runner-up rings mentioned.

On a serious note, if true, best of luck to her. One of the best to ever where the RWB.

[Wolfgang]

Does Logan Tom even have her Stanford degree? I remember Kerri Walsh had to return to finish up her required credits for her degree. She had to take Physics or Calculus or something like that.

Would she even make a good coach? If you don't have your degree, could she be hired as a coach? She's also too temperamental and impatient to be a coach, if you ask me. Well, unless you lead by fear.

Perhaps it's a volunteer assistant gig at Stanford while she finishes up her degree. I just don't know.

[Deleted]

She finished her degree this past semester.

[pass]

If this is true, great for her. She's a remarkable player, having mastered every skill at the highest level...knowing her fight and will to win, she'd make an excellent coach, or at least work very hard to become one....bittersweet news.

[moody]

she has no Stanford offer

[MTC]

She has had an interesting and fun first career and probably wants to get to something different. Good for her.

[Cubicle No More ...]

Jun 26, 2014 14:30:23 GMT -5 MTC said:

She has had an interesting and fun first career and probably wants to get to something different. Good for her.

whoa, hold on there ... let's not go overboard on the hyperbole ...

[vbnerd]

Logan

[vbnerd]

From back when it started...

Logan Tom, the Future of Volleyball Right Now
By Brentt Eads

In four years, the world's spotlight will focus on Salt Lake City when the 2002 Winter Olympics come skating into the Utah capital.

What the international competitors and bureaucrats will find is a pristine city -- surrounded by the beautiful Wasatch mountains -- founded over 150 years ago by Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet and leader. He looked over the valley from his covered wagon and announced, "This is the place."

In the world of girls volleyball, Salt Lake City can also proudly claim "This is the place." Based on the exponential progression of one of its very own, it's safe to say that the court sport's most promising future prospect lives within its borders.

Did we say the future? The future could actually be right now.

Logan Tom, a tall, model-attractive 17-year-old senior at Highland High, is still months away from trying to win her third straight state title, let alone graduating from high school. Still she is quickly becoming the Michael Jordan of her field.

Tom has already graced several magazine covers (besides this one), has her own trading card and signs dozens of autographs whenever she competes.

One observer predicts that whichever college she attends will win the national title next year.

"That's not pressure," she responds dryly.

But if Olympic officials had their way, Tom wouldn't even be in school in the fall of '99, but rather would postpone college a year to work with the U.S. team in preparation for the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia.

Tom was even asked by National Team coaches if she'd consider transferring to a Colorado high school to be closer to the Big Girls. That idea was politely turned down.

The senior athlete has already played 27 international matches against the best in the world -- many when the ink on her driver's license was barely dry. Not even high school hoop phenoms Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett did that.

More than one coach, scout and/or administrator predicts Tom will be the biggest thing to hit the volleyball world since... well, Karch Kiraly.

Now that's pressure.

Bob Gambardella, a director of youth development programs for USA volleyball, which is governed by the U.S. Olympic Committee, remembers the first time he saw Tom on the volleyball court.

"It was 1996 in a gym in Northern California. No one knew who she was and all of a sudden she went up and hit some balls and everyone went, ' Who is this kid?' "

U.S. administrators and coaches, including the then new national coach, Mick Haley, reviewed more footage of Tom in action. They immediately chose her to be the first of a new USA Volleyball program to integrate talented teens with their more experienced countrymates.

Volleyball officials felt something dramatic had to be done; 14 years ago, at the L.A. Olympic Games, the U.S. Women's Team took the silver medal. Two years ago, however, the squad finished a disappointing seventh before the home country fans in Atlanta.

"We needed to get more aggressive in identifying athletes and giving them high level training and competition," says Gambardella. "There is such a strong correlation between international success and preparation at a young age." The typical member of the Chinese national team has played 120 international matches. A Russian player even more, about 133 matches.

"Logan is the foundation of our competitive programs for young players. Her amount of skills, experience and knowledge now is equal to that of a world class player," he continues. "Because of her, we are going to the world junior championship next summer."

"The things she does right now are unbelievable. Logan could be the best outside hitter in the United State right now."

Right now, on this hot summer afternoon, Tom wants something -- anything -- to eat. University of Hawaii coaches have just left after a home visit lasting a couple of hours and she's about to pass out from hunger. She disappears for a few minutes for a run to a nearby Jack In The Box. The diet of champions it's not.

Being able to eat a normal, uninterupted meal when you're famous can be harder than you'd think. Take, for instance, the time the outside hitter was in a Dallas McDonald's after nationals competition.

"It's after a match and I'm starving," recalls Tom. "Suddenly, this guy stands up and starts shouting, "I know you, you're on the cover of a magazine.'Then he starts announcing for the whole restaurant to hear, 'We have a celebrity here. It's Logan Tom!' It was embarrassing."

Celebrity can have its scary side as well.

"I've gotten a few fan letters, mostly sent to the school. One time a guy wrote some nice things on the internet and i was naive and gave him my home address. Later, I got a letter from the guy, addressed from the Georgia State Penitentiary. That was the last time I did that."

It's surprising Tom even had the time to write. Fresh off her junior season in high school, Tom spent two January weeks in Colorado Springs working out with the national team before playing in the Dominican Republic for two more weeks. Shortly after, the team traveled to San Antonio, where she helped the USA team qualify for the world championships by going 8-4 against other North American teams like Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Barbados.

This summer she worked out with the junior national team in New York before heading to Mexico for matches. Her club team, Klub Boom, also participated in the Junior Olympics held in Houston.

This fall, Tom plans on playing with her Highland High team, which won the Utah 4A title last season and the 5A title her sophomore year. During the last half of the year, she'll also take her official visits to colleges this fall. UCLA, Stanford, and Penn State are in her final three with Nebraska, Florida, Hawaii, and USC also in the hunt.

Over 100 universities originally contacted the student-athlete and over the last six months she has either written or told by telephone almost all of them, "Thanks, but no thanks."

"I don't have a top choice," she says diplomatically, and i don't have a bottom choice."

While admittedly she's loved her time spent with the national team, Tom concedes that the next Olympic Games are probably not in her future.

"I really haven't thought about the Olympics, to be honest. I don't think I'd be ready by 2000. I just was to have fun right now."

It's likely Tom will continue to work out with both the junior national and national teams when possible and shoot for the 2004 Olympics. Playing with American national stars like middle blocker Valerie Sterk from Michigan State and opposite hitter Allison Weston of Nebraska, Tom has demonstrated she can already more than hold her own against the best.

But when asked by her mother, Kris, what it was like playing with such talented players, her answer was surprising.

"I felt bad for them," she humbly responded, "having to practice against me."

Indeed, when asked what Tom remembers most playing with the country's top players, she volunteers what she describes as the most embarrassing moment in her life.

"It was last January, when we played against the Dominican Republic. I still can picture the exact moment: the second game of the first match. The ball was set to me and I totally missed. It was like it was in slow motion. That just doesn't happen in volleyball. It got dead silent, except for the chuckling of a few players on my team."

Her self-deprecating humor was one reason Logan won the Hershey Kiss award after the nationals for being chosen by the crowd as the "most liked athlete based on demeanor on and off the court."

Gambardella says the newcomer is also well-liked by her peers.

"Logan's junior club team played in a tournament in Denver at the same time the national team was scheduled to do a clinic and exhibition. After the older players finished their demonstration, they ran over to Logan's game to cheer her on."

Approach the front door to Tom's home nettled in the eastern slope of the mountains and you will find a doorstep the says "Go Away." There's also an imposing black dog hiding behind the screen door which, to the timid, resembles a Doberman.

A purple bandana wrapped around the benign canine's neck, however, is the first sign that these are token gestures to keep away the outsiders that will inevitably try to -- figuratively if not literally -- break down the Toms' door.

Over the living room fireplace, a family portrait dominates the mantle and the high schooler's many volleyball honors. Upon closer inspection it becomes clear that this is not your typical family ensemble.

Tom's parents divorced when she was one and the student-athlete has developed a long-distance relationship with her father, Melvyn Tom, a nine-year lineman in the NFL who today owns and manages a restaurant in Hawaii. She has visited him every summer since the divorce, but her hectic schedule this year will result in an upcoming Christmas on the Islands.

As the photo reveals, the Tom family, for all intents and purposes, consists of a core of five: Logan's brother, Landon, a 6-4 athlete who enjoys the martial arts and is currently on an academic scholarship at Westminster College in Salt Lake; Debbie Hill, an aunt from California who visits five to six times annually and helps defray much of Logan's sports costs, which can run upwards of $5,000 per year; Logan's volleyball club coach and mentor Keith Siddoway, who lives in the basement; Logan, like her brother a strong student-athlete with a 4.0 GPA; and the backbone of the quintet, matriarch Kris.

Indeed, the secret to Logan's maturity and success off the court, by all accounts, points back to her mother.

Kris has been very good at concentrating on Logan's emotional growth," explains her sister, Debbie. "There's never been the fear of failure, that Logan would be kicked out of the house if she lost a match. Logan has come into being because of who Kris is."

Born in California, the single mother transplanted her two children to Utah to be in a "safer environment" when Logan was eight and Landon ten. However, the genetic combination of one quarter Hawaiian, Chinese, Scottish, and European mixture meant that Landon and Logan sometime didn't fit the usual while, Mormon profile. Occasionally, the two were left with only each other to play with.

On the field of athletic competition, however, the rapidly maturing young girl was never excluded. In the sixth grade, she played baseball and won a trophy for most home runs in her league. In junior high, the first and last names were reversed to "Tom Logan" and thinking she was a boy, league officials placed her on a team where the lanky athlete was needed to pitch.

Those around her believe that pitching has directly led to her volleyball success.

"The number one thing about Logan," explains Siddoway, "is her natural arm swing, a result of throwing a baseball. There's the old adage, `Throws like a girl,' but that's never been true with her because she learned how to whip her elbow."

In the seventh grade it appeared basketball and volleyball would be her future sports, parlty because that was the direction her mother was leading her.

"I think it's important to put young people into activities they fit physically," says Kris. "Logan didn't have the build or skills for gymnastics or ballet and I didn't want her in sports where it would be difficult to excel, where her emotional self would conflict with her abilities."

The athlete's volleyball career continued to grow; however, a Highland High rule prevented club volleyball players from also competing in basketball, effectively ending Tom's hoop dream. If she had maintained both sports, many feel she could be competing in future Olympic games on two courts.

In the eighth grade, Tom met Siddoway, who would become as important of a figure to get her on the court as her mother is off it. The young coach spearheads the boys and girls Klub Boom 16-under teams and also assists at Skyline High. He remembers the first encounter with his protégé like it was yesterday.

"She was big and tall but she looked like a little girl. Logan walked into the gym with a pony tail, matching shirt and shorts and I thought, 'Oh no, this is going to be interesting. Who is this girly-girl?"

"But with her first hit I could tell she was very strong; today, there are a lot of comparisons to men because of her strength. But what I like about Logan is she can look huge on the court, then walk over and pick up a ball, smile and relate to people. She's a great athlete who's beautiful yet has a feminine, unassuming personality."

"When she started with Keith, on his 16-under team, Logan enjoyed playing for him and seemed to be having fun. Keith's style is not to berate and scream and responded to that approach."

So, besides good coaching and parenting what makes this 17-year-old potentially the greatest female player of her generation?

One West Coast scout, who cannot comment publicly because of NCAA rules, says, "Tom has no weaknesses. She can do anything and is the prototype player of the '90's at 6-1."

Her club coach says a Jerry Rice-like drive to improve is part of it.

"When Logan is on the bench -- and that's a rare moment for her -- she is always asking questions. Win or lose, she never feels she played good enough."

And what about the R-word...role model?

"I can't see myself as one," Tom confesses. "I don't understand why I stand out so much."

Those around her believe she is a person to be looked up to and they know why.

"Logan is not over the edge," says Aunt Debbie. "She's aware of looking nice and girls can say they want to be like her because she's a feminine athlete."

Adds her club coach, "At her games, she's surrounded by not only coaches but12-year-old girls who want her autograph and say, 'I can't wait, I want to be like her.'"

And, as is usually the case, Mom has the final -- and best -- word.

"Her level of play is so beyond her age. She's played with some of the best athletes in the country; I've heard people talking in the stands during a match -- who don't know I'm her Mom -- saying she's 25-years-old. And then Logan will go back to the hotel while she's on a tour and start dancing, doing a Spice Girls routine."

"Sometimes we have to remember that Logan is just a kid herself."

Yeah, maybe for right now...