BOWLING GREEN — For Mo and Jon Stansbery, what started out as a trip to check out the newly-built Stroh Center on Bowling Green State University’s campus in 2011 has turned into a significant and meaningful friendship with the Falcons’ volleyball team.
Because of that, the Stansberys wanted to give back to the players and coaches they love supporting. A generous gift that will soon be revealed will do just that.
A financial donation from the Stansberys will provide a new Taraflex floor for BGSU’s home volleyball games beginning this season. BGSU, which will be one of just a few Mid-American Conference schools to utilize a Taraflex floor, will name it the “Mo and Jon Stansbery Court,” and it will be unveiled prior to the Falcons’ 2024 season opener at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Chicago State.
“[Jon and I] were just talking this spring and just between the two of us because we love the program, we love what they do, it was just our way of giving back to them what they’ve given to us,” Mo Stansbery said. “... Once [BGSU coach Danijela Tomic] told the girls, our phones just blew up with text messages from all of the girls thanking us for such a wonderful gift and how much they love us.
“It meant everything. We knew we made the right decision to do it. We’ve seen a couple times, some of the girls have come over and they talk about it and they’re just very excited to be able to play on it and enjoy the benefits of it.”
The Taraflex floor, used at not only the highest levels of NCAA volleyball but throughout the world, is much softer than a traditional hardwood floor. With its durability and shock absorption properties, the Taraflex floor is designed to optimize player performance while minimizing the risk of injury.
“Our players jump a lot, land a lot. It’s a good surface to absorb some of that stress,” said Tomic, who is entering her 13th season as BGSU’s coach. “It doesn’t get as slippery as a hardwood floor, and the players, we’ve played in the past on Taraflex at other schools.
“We played in 2021 in the NCAA tournament in Omaha, we played on Taraflex. The players really enjoyed making diving moves and emergency moves when the body hits the floor. It is softer than hitting the hardwood floor.”
After going to a BGSU volleyball game in 2011 “because we wanted to see the Stroh after it had been built,” according to Mo Stansbery, the love for the program continued to grow year after year. They enjoyed that first contest they saw, went to a couple more games the following year, then got season tickets in 2013.
For a handful of seasons beginning in 2017, the Stansberys went to every BGSU volleyball game — home and away.
“The more we went, the more we enjoyed it and we got to know Danijela, and then just the way she runs her program,” Stansbery said. “We got to meet some of the girls.”
Tomic and her players have nothing but good things to say about the Stansberys. The veteran BGSU mentor said she was “speechless” and “teared up” when they broke the news to her on a recent visit to them in Findlay.
“And I’m not often times speechless,” Tomic said. “Just the generosity and selflessness that they’ve shown over the years, it’s inspiring and so touching.
“... Jon and Mo have been amazing supporters and friends of the program from day one, I feel, since I came to BGSU. I’m going into my 13th season, they’ve been with us through thick and thin, literally, as supporters. They never wavered their support, even when we were going through some rough patches. They stuck with us. They’re a part of our program.”
Isabelle Laube, a redshirt sophomore defensive specialist for BGSU, has known the Stansberys since her older sister, Hanna, played for the Falcons from 2018 to 2022. She said it was “shocking” to hear of the donation, and that she immediately reached out to thank them.
“This court means so much to the team and to our program,” Isabelle Laube said. “I’m so happy that their names are on the court that we have the privilege of playing on every home game.
“It gives us the opportunity to play for them and honor them every time we step on the court to compete. They’re like family, they constantly support us, and they’re just great people.”
Along with BGSU, Western Michigan and Ball State are other MAC schools to have announced this year the installation of a Taraflex floor. Ball State unveiled its floor Friday. Laube, who has played on the surface before, said it will be a benefit for the Falcons to have it.
“It’s better physically for the players, so like for your knees jumping and stuff, also landing. It’s also grippy, but at the same time, it allows you to slide really nicely,” Laube said. “So it’s an advantage to have it, and a lot of elite programs do.
“I think that as our program continues to improve, this is a testament to the quality of our program.”
BGSU volleyball has been “very special” to the Stansberys, and the family atmosphere that it provides to the players and fans is among the many things that stand out to them. They are grateful for how much the team has welcomed them over the years as well.
“The coaches, the players, the parents; here we were, these two older people going to these games, and we always wondered how they would accept us,” Stansbery said. “They just loved that we were coming and watching their girls play, and they just embraced us with open arms.
“They’re amazing, the fans are amazing. It is a fun place to watch volleyball and see how they’ve excelled, and the program over the years has just gotten better and better. We just love it.”
Local News
