Keyano College Huskies Athletics is excited to announce the hiring of McMurrayite Tommy Sloan as the Head Coach of the Keyano Huskies Women’s Volleyball team. Sloan will also take on the role of Athlete Services Coordinator.
"Having Tommy return to Keyano College Huskies Athletics is a great benefit to our student-athletes and the entire campus,” said Jonathan Lambert, Director, Athletics and Recreation at Keyano College. “Having guided the Women's Volleyball program to the ACAC Playoffs before and considering his performance as a student-athlete with the Huskies, I look forward to supporting him and the entire program in achieving that goal again and more."
Sloan previously coached the Women’s Volleyball Huskies for three seasons from 2014 to 2017. In the 2015-16 season, Sloan coached the Huskies to a program record 13 victories and their first appearance in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women’s Volleyball Championship since the 2009-10 season.
“It doesn’t even feel like returning to me,” said Sloan. “It does feel like a new journey in a lot of ways.
“A lot of things have changed, the personnel of the team is different. I’m viewing it as a new experience rather than a continuation of something before.”
After a season with the Brandon University Bobcats as an assistant coach, Sloan was hired by the Niagara College Knights, where he’s coached both the Men’s and Women’s Volleyball programs.
The mark of 13 wins for the Women’s Volleyball Huskies was matched by the 2022-23 iteration of the program, though the team also saw a strong graduating class of student-athletes, leading Sloan to go in with a fresh slate in terms of expectations.
“I think I’m going to set my expectations when I get there and see the team in action,” Sloan said. “I’m familiar with some of the student-athletes coming back, but certainly not all of them.
“Last year was an exceptional season for them, but on the flip side there’s a whole bunch of those players that are not back; they’ve graduated or moved on. I don’t want to say we need to continue going right from where we left off. We can still build off that success in a narrative way.”
As Athlete Services Coordinator, Sloan will also have the responsibility of serving as a link between student-athletes from all Huskies programs and Keyano College to ensure they’re reaching their academic requirements and achieving their goals in the classroom.
“I have full confidence in his ability to provide our student-athletes with the necessary opportunities to achieve their academic goals, which are first and foremost at Keyano College,” added Lambert.
Before coaching the Huskies, Sloan represented the Huskies on the court as a member of the Men’s Volleyball team for four seasons, playing from 2006-09 and as well in the 2012-13 season, where the Huskies earned an ACAC Bronze Medal.
In the 2008-09 campaign, Sloan was named to the ACAC’s All-Conference Team. Overall with the Huskies, Sloan compiled 488 digs, 159 kills, 16 aces, and 15 blocks with the program.
