This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

With 12 years of experience under his belt, Tom Hubbard found himself without a coaching job.

After running the girl's volleyball program at Christian Heritage High School for the past six years, Hubbard was wondering what he was going to do with his spare time when the school was closing after 16 years due to financial reasons.

Hubbard didn't fret; in fact, he was at peace with the situation until he got a message one day that turned everything around.

"Well, they were closing down and I got an email about two athletic directors needing a volleyball coach, and so I responded and it just went from there," said Hubbard.

One of those emails was from Darren Morrison, who is currently taking over the role of athletic director at Concordia Preparatory School — formerly Salt Lake Lutheran High School. Hubbard was the man Morrison wanted, and Morrison got him. With over a decade of coaching experience on the club and school levels, Hubbard hopes to be the one to bring prominence to the program. The Lady Lynx haven't had a winning season since 2006.

Hubbard and his new team have only had a handful of practices, but he likes what he sees so far. The team is young, but has embraced his message of "playing hard and having fun."

Pete Wangsgard, who coached junior varsity for Salt Lake Lutheran, is staying on staff and will be at Hubbard's side as the new coach and team transition into their new relationship.

Hubbard says that at the 1A level, everything is a challenge and that it takes a special kind of commitment to overcome the obstacles of being a smaller school with lower enrollment. But he's very optimistic about the future and believes he will make an instant impact.

"I see the same things with this group here that I did at CHS although it's only been three days," said Hubbard. "But the players who are back have played here before and definitely are right in steps with the teams I've had in the past. I think this year we can get it done and get back to state."

Tom Callahan worked with Hubbard on the CHS staff the past couple of years, sharing duties coaching the junior varsity and varsity teams. Callahan isn't coaching at the moment, but is instead enjoying his free time. He's happy for his friend and believes that Concordia is getting a very knowledgeable and dedicated coach who will turn the program around.

"We really worked well together because he was good with studying and knowing the technical parts of the game," said Callahan. "We just tried to work with each other's talents and worked as a team and hoped that if we should how well we worked together, our student athletes would do the same."

But while Hubbard's arrival may be Concordia's gain, some of his former players and colleagues wish they sill had the opportunity to work with him.

Sally Roberts was the athletic director as CHS and worked with Hubbard every day. But Roberts is also a mother, and her daughter played for Hubbard for two years. Robert's daughter was one of the many student athletes at CHS who had to find a new school, and a new program, to play for when the days of being a Crusader were over.

Roberts moved her daughter to Bonneville High, a huge jump from 1A CHS to the 4A Lakers. But she made the team and is one of two juniors who will strictly play varsity ball. Roberts knows that her daughter was prepared for the challenge of stepping up to a bigger class, and she credits Hubbard for that.

"Concordia is getting a dedicated man of high integrity and somebody who is dependable, and a man who knows volleyball," said Roberts. "He's technical and just knows the game and will make the girls better players. They might go through a learning curve at first that's uncomfortable, but he just wants them to have a good foundation." —

Tom Hubbard file

Coached volleyball at Christian Heritage School until it closed.

He's now the coach at Concordia Preparatory School.

Concordia was formerly Salt Lake Lutheran High.