A-K Valley HOF inductee Haney was coach of year in 2006

By: Michael Love
Saturday, April 9, 2022 | 7:56 PM

When Dianne Haney stepped down as Kiski Area softball coach in 2014, she had completed 22 years at the helm of the Cavaliers and helped the program to 248 victories, 12 section championships, 15 playoff appearances, four undefeated regular seasons and a 1995 WPIAL runner-up finish.

She also garnered Valley News Dispatch Coach of the Year recognition in 2006.

“Being a Kiski Area graduate, it was nice to be able to go back and see the girls get the chance to play,” said Haney, who graduated from Kiski Area in May 1972, just one month before the landmark Title IX ruling opened many doors for female athletes at all levels.

Haney, a retired teacher in the Kiski Area School District, said she enjoyed her time coaching at the high school level and took with her many fond memories.

“It certainly was a tough decision to step away,” said Haney, who served as an assistant at Apollo-Ridge for five years prior to joining her alma mater.

“It was a major portion of my life. I had been coaching as an assistant or a head coach for close to 30 years.”

But Haney didn’t stop being involved with athletic endeavors at Kiski Area and throughout the Alle-Kiski Valley.

She volunteered for three years with the Kiski Area girls golf team from 2015 to 2017 and serves on the Kiski Area Sports Hall of Fame Committee as the recording secretary, a position she’s held since the organization’s inception in 2005.

Haney has been involved in athletics in some fashion for more than 50 years, and her dedication as an athlete, coach and instructor will be recognized May 21 as one of 10 inductees at the 51st Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame banquet at the New Kensington Quality Inn.

“ ‘Pretty cool’ doesn’t do it justice,” Haney said. “I was so honored to receive the call and humbled that I would be considered as an inductee. I was like, ‘Wow.’

“I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve been involved in. It was fun to keep score for the (Kiski Area) girls volleyball team at home games (for 15 years). Volunteering with the golf team after coaching softball was a blast. It was rewarding to watch someone develop as a student and an athlete and see them really come into their own and grow in worthwhile ways.”

The hall-of-fame selection helped Haney do a retrospective of all that she accomplished in athletics.

Haney was active at a young age and engaged in numerous sports and activities with her neighborhood friends.

“I always remember my grandmother telling me, ‘You can’t ever sit still,’ ” she said.

“People tell that to me to this day that I need to be doing something. It was a natural fit for me to be athletic and active.”

Her father, Edward Schwab, was a part of a group that chartered the Little League organization in Washington Township. He coached in the league and served as its president.

Haney remembers how her dad and her mother, Gerry, were involved in community activities and always encouraged her to be active and involved.

“It’s been a lifetime of involvement and service in my community,” she said.

“My parents encouraged that and were great examples with all they were involved in. Our dad had a ball in our hands before we were walking. But it wasn’t just sports. It was all kinds of things. They instilled confidence and taught us to believe in ourselves and our community and to give back.”

Haney played slowpitch softball in the Washington Township Little League from age 9 to 16, and as a sophomore at Kiski Area, she joined the girls club basketball team.

“We didn’t play many games, maybe a half dozen or a little more,” she said. “As athletic director, (Dick Dilts) did everything he could to try to get kids involved in sports and activities.”

Haney cheered for Cavalier team sports her junior and senior year and was captain of the squad as a senior.

She also participated in an AAU track meet her senior year in the high jump and sprints.

Haney continued to cheer in college at Slippery Rock and also took part in club track and field.

During the summers, she worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming with the Kiski Area summer swim program.

At the same time, Title IX was taking hold across the country.

“Of course, at that time, any girl my age who was interested in sports probably said, ‘Oh, we just missed it,’” Haney said. “But at the same time, I was like, ‘Well, finally!’ And my younger sister got to play volleyball and softball. It expanded her opportunities.”

After college, Haney played in an area adult softball league for three years and also transitioned into more coaching and instructor roles including a Special Olympics coach, a YMCA board member and a decade-long director of the Apollo Elks Hoop Shoot.

Haney served as a substitute teacher in the Apollo-Ridge School District starting in 1986.

In 1988, she began her long career in high school softball, mentoring players alongside then-Vikings coach Bob Zoldak.

She remembered fondly the coaches she worked with at Kiski Area including longtime Cavaliers assistant and colleague Bob White.

“Bob was so supportive of me throughout my years at Kiski Area,” Haney said.

“We’ve been friends since high school. He really cared for all of the players. He was such an important person in the program.”

While still early in her tenure at Kiski Area, Haney also coached two years for the Bell-Avon Little League softball program (ages 9-12). She helped guide a team, which included her daughter, Aaron, to a District 26 title.

“That was a real coup because that was only the second year that team was together,” Haney said. “We just had the right mix of kids. It was so important to me because I got to share that with my daughter.”

Aaron Haney went on to play basketball, volleyball and softball at Apollo-Ridge before graduating in 1999. She earned all-section in all three sports.

She didn’t play softball as a senior, opting to coach a Little League softball team in Apollo.

“I was so happy to see her grow and enjoy playing sports,” Haney said. “I am sure I would’ve played every season like my daughter. I’ve always felt there is a gift in athleticism.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area