Texas City hires two new coaches

By Evan Mohl
The Daily News

TEXAS CITY — Texas City High School hired two new head coaches this summer to fill vacancies for volleyball and girls basketball.

Christian Dunn, a Clear Creek graduate and club coach, will lead the volleyball program. Jodi Thompson, who spent the last 12 seasons as the La Porte head coach, will take over the reins for the Lady Stings on the hardwood.

A Needed Change

Thompson has spent most of her basketball life at La Porte. She played for the Lady Bulldogs, including a trip to the 1989 state semifinals.

After graduating college, she got her first assistant coaching job at La Porte in 1994 before taking over as head coach in 1998. Thompson guided the Lady Bulldogs to nine postseasons in 12 years, three times advancing to the area round.

Despite the success and coaching where she played, Thompson wanted a change. She felt the need to do something new.

“I’ve always been there, and in some ways you kind of feel like and are treated like a kid — which can be a really good thing,” Thompson said. “I wanted something different, and I think change is good.”

Texas City’s proximity to her home helped.

“It’s a nice community, and it’s not too far,” Thompson said. “It’s a good place to make a change.”

It also will pose a big challenge. The Lady Stings have not advanced to the postseason since 2003.

Though Thompson has not met her team and possesses little knowledge of the Lady Stings — the La Porte-Texas City game got snowed out last year — she hopes she can make Lady Sting basketball competitive again.

Thompson plans to instill excitement and new ideas. Fans, parents and players can expect her traditional high-tempo style: full-court press and pressure defense that leads to offensive fast-break opportunities.

“I hope I can bring in some new blood and excitement,” Thompson said. “We’re going to make things happen.”

A Year-round Activity

For the last 13 years, Dunn coached club volleyball. He guided several teams to the Junior Olympics, including a handful ranked in the top 10 nationally. He sent athletes on to play at all kinds of colleges from Division I to NAIA.

Now, he wants to make volleyball a year-round job.

“I want to build something, and do it every month and every day from the junior high to the high school,” Dunn said. “It’s not just one team at a time and then starting over.”

Dunn started playing volleyball in high school at Clear Creek along Olympian Riley Salmon. He fell in love with what he thought was a girl’s sport because of volleyball’s quickness and speed.

It also helped that he was pretty good.

“It just came natural to me,” Dunn said. “So I thought I would keep doing this.”

Dunn inherits a team that did not make the playoffs last year and has been through four coaches in three years. The Lady Stings also graduated half their varsity roster.

Dunn will preach consistency — in coaching, development and playing style. He plans to teach the junior high players the same skills and system the Lady Stings will employ in a varsity match.

“It’s unlikely this would happen, but you want a seventh-grader to be able to take the place of a senior on the court and not be overwhelmed or confused,” Dunn said. “That’s how you build consistency and ensure growth. There’s a fundamental system that stays the same and that leads to growth — girls don’t have to try to change to adjust to something new all the time.”

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