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Keswick's King will no longer coach volleyball

The longtime coach plans to focus on basketball and her duties as athletic director.

By BOB PUTNAM, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 13, 2002

Keswick Christian volleyball coach Karrmayne King, who guided the program to consecutive state final four appearances in 1998 and '99 and won 305 matches during her 18 years at the school, has decided to step down in order to concentrate on basketball and her role as athletic director.

"It (18 years coaching volleyball) was long enough," said King, who ranks second in victories in Pinellas County behind former Clearwater coach Anne Balderson (500).

"I had been looking for a few years to find someone else to take over the program."

Taking over is Julie Hubbard, the Crusaders' junior varsity coach who was an All-American at Clearwater Christian College and led the Cougars to the NCCAA Division II national title in 2000.

"My goal has been to find a different coach for each of the girls varsity programs," King said.

For the past two decades, King was the only coach most of Keswick's girls knew.

As recently as 1997, King coached three sports -- volleyball, basketball and softball.

But it is her two latest roles, motherhood and athletic director, that have made her pare down her coaching duties from three sports to one.

King gave up softball in 1997, the same year her son was born. In July 2001, she had her second child, a daughter. She took over as athletic director a month later.

Those events all contributed to her decision to limit herself to coaching basketball.

But King also said she made the move because she wanted each of the girls programs to get the attention it deserved.

"Coaching so many sports, I know how difficult it is to concentrate on each one," King said. "With successful teams, the season overlaps and it's tough for one person to coach back-to-back-to-back.

"There is no offseason anymore. So one coach for each sport is a situation that works best."

Volleyball was the first sport King coached at Keswick and her tenure (18 years) trailed only Balderson (20 years at Clearwater) for longest in the county.

King said she will continue to help out and the volleyball tournament the school hosts each September will remain.

"It's fun to see the volleyball program grow into what it has become," King said.

"I'm sure it will be hard to watch someone else coaching it, but I felt the timing was right."

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