Celebrating Women in Sport and Physical Activity - Profiles
Kristy Bayer, '01 - 2018 Honoree
Kristy Bayer, ’01
Deputy Director of Athletics at Emporia
State University
Learn about and register for the annual event: Celebrating Women in Sport and Physical Activity.
Kristy Bayer said the cards were stacked against 14 years ago her when she accepted the head volleyball coaching job at Arkansas Tech University.
Case in point: the team was coming off a 4-25 season; at that time, Arkansas had few high schools that offered volleyball; and Bayer had only three years of experience as an assistant coach.
"I was kind of shocked Arkansas Tech offered me a job," said Bayer, who started a new role as deputy director of athletics at Emporia State (Kan.) University in December. At Arkansas Tech, she also served as associate athletic director and senior women's administrator.
However, Bayer quickly turned the program around, largely based on her experience as a player and assistant coach at Grand Valley. She said she found a formula for success that included recruiting players who lived within a six-hour radius of Russellville, Ark., and emulating the Laker program built by head coach Deanne Scanlon.
"We take a lot of things that I learned at Grand Valley, and make it our own, like drills and how we run practices," Bayer said.
In her first year at Arkansas Tech, Bayer led the team to the Gulf South Conference Tournament. The following year, 2005, the Golden Suns had a 25-12 record. In 2015, Bayer earned her 300th victory and the team earned its third conference regular-season title in five years; she is the winningest coach in ATU history.
Bayer served as assistant volleyball coach at Emporia State and Grand Valley after earning a bachelor's degree from Grand Valley in public relations and advertising. She earned a master's degree from Grand Valley and is pursuing a doctorate in higher education from the University of Memphis.
A few years into her head coaching job, Bayer established a club volleyball team in Russellville. "I wanted to do something to improve the level of volleyball in the area," she said, adding it was also an outlet for her collegiate players who wanted to coach.
"Women can't be what they can't see. It's so important for young women to see successful females in coaching and athletics," she said.
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