Ted Keyser, longtime teacher and Hall of Fame coach at Haverford High, has died at 97

Ted Keyser, 97, formerly of King of Prussia, retired teacher, athletic director, and Hall of Fame coach at Haverford High School, club team volleyball national champion, lifelong athlete, and veteran, died Monday, March 17, of a pulmonary illness at his home in Irvine, Calif.

Mr. Keyser coached and taught at Haverford for three decades, from the mid-1950s to 1987. He started the boys’ volleyball program in the 1960s, created a dominant game strategy he called “power volleyball,” and led his teams to 17 District One championships and nine state titles, six straight from 1966 to 1971.

His signature attack on the volleyball court featured intricate ballhandling and passing, and a 70-mph spike or subtle tap at the end to frustrate opponents and score the point. He was a master at recruiting the school’s best athletes to his teams and had a knack for turning untested newcomers into stars.

“It takes about two years before a player learns our system and fits in,” he told The Inquirer in 1981. “The ones who stay are the ones who understand what volleyball is at Haverford.”

He and his teams were featured often in The Inquirer and other publications, and colleagues named him local volleyball coach of the year in 1971 and ‘74. He was a demanding and inspiring coach who talked often about “intestinal fortitude,” his former players and colleagues said in tributes. They nicknamed him T.K.

He also coached boys’ soccer, golf, tennis, and baseball, and was Haverford’s athletic director in the 1960s. His soccer teams won seven Central League titles and three District 1 championships. “I always wanted to do right by T.K,” a former soccer player said in a tribute. Another said: “We were boys, but he treated us like men.”

“We’re virtually trying to knock the other team down. ... It takes almost a year to learn how to spike the ball properly, and the good players must really work at the sport.”

Mr. Keyser was inducted into the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Haverford High School Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, and his 1974, ‘76 and ‘81 state championship volleyball teams joined him in the Haverford Hall in 2003. He directed a junior club volleyball team to an Amateur Athletic Union national championship, coached intramural volleyball and soccer at Haverford College, and refereed club soccer games.

He taught biology, physical education, and driver’s education at Haverford, and physical education at Manoa Elementary School from 1987 to his retirement in 1991. Haverford continues to host the Ted Keyser Invitational boys’ volleyball tournament and present the annual Ted Keyser Award to a multisport player “with a competitive spirit, good sportsmanship, and loyalty to the school in their attitude and actions.”

Former students recalled his impressive iron cross gymnastics move on the rings, trademark high-top black sneakers, and gym class discipline. He played baseball at Frankford High School and Temple University, and soccer on Temple’s 1952 national championship team. He even had a tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

He enlisted in the Army in 1946, became a paratrooper, and served two years in Japan. He picked up volleyball at the Main Line YMCA. “He believed in discipline,” said his daughter, Lynn, “and that hard work paid off with success.” A former player said: “He not only made us better athletes but also better people.”

“The boys just kept battling, and we had our best performance under pressure at Penn State in the state tournament, where we needed it.”

Theodore Ira Keyser was born March 13, 1928, in Philadelphia. He played saxophone and clarinet at Frankford and Temple, and earned an outstanding senior award and bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1952. Later, he earned a master’s degree in physical education at Pennsylvania State University.

He met fellow teacher and volleyball player Joan Waterfield at Haverford, and they married in 1957, and had a son, Scott, and a daughter, Lynn. They divorced later. He lived in King of Prussia and West Chester before moving to California when he was 80.

Mr. Keyser was a whiz at Ping-Pong. He enjoyed hiking, was good at golf and calligraphy, and went paragliding when he was 75. He was an avid photographer and gardener.

He studied genealogy, flew in hot air balloons, and collected stamps. He never stopped going to the gym.

“Coach Keyser was one of the most influential people in my life. I loved him.”

“He will be remembered for his steadfast conviction, his passion for a healthy and active lifestyle, and his dry wit and sense of humor,” his family said in a tribute. A former player said: “I think of him often, and I am beyond grateful that he was my coach.”

In addition to his children, Mr. Keyser is survived by two granddaughters, a great-grandson, his former wife, and other relatives. A sister died earlier

A private celebration of his life is to be held later.