Ohio State softball head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly talks to the opponent coach at home plate before a game. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
Starting in Pittsburgh and eventually finding their way to Ohio State, softball head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly and women’s volleyball head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg have had a close relationship since they were young, which has continued throughout their careers.
Oldenburg said Schoenly was first friends with her older sister, Lori Oldenburg, when they played middle school volleyball together. Jen Flynn Oldenburg said her mom used to bring her to her sister’s volleyball games, and Schoenly quickly became her idol from the talent she showed.
“As I get older, and my competitive fire comes out, I want to be better than Kelly,” Oldenburg said. “She was like a role model, but she also pushed me more than she even knows because I wanted to do more, and that wasn’t in spite of her, it was because of her.”
Oldenburg was a four-year starter on Ohio State’s women’s volleyball team from 1996-99, and began her coaching career as an assistant for nine years at Illinois and club director for the Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Association for six. In 2020, Oldenburg found her way back to the Buckeyes as head coach.
Prior to her current role at Ohio State, Schoenly played four years at Michigan from 1992-95, and started coaching as an assistant with the Wolverines from 1996-98. From 1998-2006, Schoenly was an assistant coach for Penn State and then made her head coaching debut in 2006 with Miami (Ohio) until 2012 when she came to the Buckeyes.
Schoenly said Jen Flynn Oldenburg has been like a little sister to her and is glad to see her success as she has followed her over the years and more now than ever.
“She was the little kid that followed us around. She always wanted to be a part of things,” Schoenly said. “I was super proud when she came back to coach, and I think that program has benefited from all of her experience.”
Paul Hindes, former coach and teacher at Baldwin High School, coached Schoenly and Jen Flynn Oldenburg when they played softball, volleyball and basketball.
Hindes said Schoenly and Jen Flynn Oldenburg were great students, leaders and role models, leading by example through their care about not only each other, but their teammates, family and community.
“No one has gone through Baldwin that could possibly be – ever be – better than those two, in ways that go far beyond athletic ability and talent,” Hindes said. “They are very, very special people.”
Hindes said he realized as a coach he must prepare his players to play together not only as a team, but as a family.
From movie and game nights to dinners provided by his wife, Hindes said the team spent a lot of time together outside of practices and games.
“It was really an effort to take that extra step to create a slight edge that you weren’t just a team, you were a family,” Hindes said. “You had to care about each other and count on each other, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Schoenly said she owes a lot to Hindes when it came to his coaching philosophy. She said the way he coached translated to how she and Jen Flynn Oldenburg coach their teams.
“When I watch Jen coach, and I hope people think this when I coach, but I see her empower her athletes as I do with my girls and that’s what he did,” Schoenly said. “It was never his team. It was our team.”
Hindes said both Schoenly and Jen Flynn Oldenburg were great competitors and worked hard to be great athletes, something he said they carried over to the coaches they are today.
“You can see a calmness, a competitiveness, you can see a smile and yet at the same time, you know that there’s a tremendous desire for both of their teams to be the best that they can possibly be in any moment of any game,” Hindes said.
Jen Flynn Oldenburg said she even though some days were tougher than others, she’s thankful for the ways Hindes coached the team, which helped her become the athlete and person she is today.
“The lessons we learned during our time in high school from Paul Hindes, I think that made us into the athletes we were and the people we are,” Oldenburg said. “It’s pretty cool. It’s a cool place to be, and I feel fortunate but also driven because of who we are.”
Jen Flynn Oldenburg said some days it feels surreal to be where she is at, but at the end of the day, she feels both she and Schoenly were meant to be at Ohio State.
“I think that’s why I’m emotional about it because it’s full circle. We’re here in charge of big time programs and doing great things, and to know that she’s a couple blocks away, it’s pretty amazing,” Jen Flynn Oldenburg said. “She’s part of our family and always will be.”
