2008 Olympic gold medalist Scott Touzinsky and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Kayla Banwarth have announced their retirement earlier this week. The 34 year old Touzinsky had to leave his Polish club due to an injury while Kayla has been hired as part of Nebraska volleyball’s coaching staff.
Kayla’s Statement
“I am extremely honoured to rejoin the Nebraska volleyball programme as a coach. I look forward to learning and growing both as a coach and a person.”
Scott’s Statement
What a career I’ve had and looking back on it you can say it was a dream come true. I never wanted to play but it started with a new pair of shoes to do so. I grew up loving the game more and more each year while quitting sport after sport by my freshman year of High school. In High school I won 4 state championships and was one of the top recruits to college. I then went to Long Beach state to be Freshman of the year and first team All-American while winning a bronze medal at the world university games in South Korea. We lost in the national championship match in Hawaii where I hit the ball off the antenna to lose and thought my life was over but in no way, shape or form was it the end.
It took another tragedy coming in my 5th match of my first professional season in Athens, Greece to change my volleyball career and one of the best things that ever happened to me. I tore my ACL in my left knee playing against Tom Hoff, Lloy Ball and Clay Stanley’s team. If you don’t believe in fate then now you may because the very next year I went to Brussels, Belgium to play again when I was told by so many people I would never play again. I had a coach named Mark Lebedew who believed in me and gave me a shot. He’s the same coach I’m finishing my career with after playing for him for 7 years. My parents came to visit me and we went to church in the Belgian center where they only had a polish speaking mass in the coldest church ever and now I’m finishing my career In Poland. I won a gold medal in the Olympics with Clay Stanley, Lloy Ball and Tom Hoff who those are the guys who i tore my ACL playing against. That same knee is the reason I retire today. Now that’s fate folks and I couldn’t be more happier that it has all happened. I won 6 titles and 3 cups in 5 different countries, champions league bronze medal, countless individual awards overseas while playing 13 seasons. On the national team I won world league, multiple other tourneys and the Olympic gold medal in 6 seasons. I never could have imagined making the amount of money I did, played with and against the best players in the world, so to say I’ve been blessed throughout my volleyball career is an understatement.
Kayla and Scott, thank you for all the volleyball memories you’ve shared to us over the years. We wish you the best as you begin a new chapter off the volleyball court.