Craig Allred (far left) and his family.(Photo: Desert Hills Athletics Twitter account/@DhillsAthletics.)

About one month after Desert Hills ran the table and finished the 2019 volleyball season as the 4A runner up, the Thunder have a new coach.

Desert Hills announced on November 19th that Craig Allred would be taking over the volleyball program, bringing over 20 years of experience to the sidelines.

Allred is also bringing some important perspective with him, which he found while being a part of the volleyball community in Montana.Allredcoached withhis best friend, who is a two-timebreast cancer survivor.

"There were times I had to take over the team for her while she was going through surgeries," Allred said. "Some of those life experiences give you a little bit of perspective on the sport."

Allred also currently lives with his brother, Desert Hills baseball coach Chris Allred, who's wife Becky is finishing her breast cancer treatments as well.

Experiences like this provide an overarching lesson about sports that Allred like to ensure he's getting across.

"We're all driven to win and we want to be competitive," Allred said."But,sometimes there's good perspective to keep on things and to make sure our kids are learning

Allred also brings 22 yearsof volleyball experience to Desert Hills, including time in Southern Utah. He coached Dixie High's volleyball team for two seasons

Allred directed Montana AAU Volleyball for 15 years when he was in Billings, and spend the last year in Austin, Texas before moving to St. George.

Desert Hills volleyball coach Craig Allred.(Photo: Desert Hills' Staff Directory)

"We decided to try something new last year and went to Texas," Allred said. "It just wasn't a good fit for our family and we just started looking for something else this summer."

That's when Allred moved back to St. George and began seeking opportunities.

"Originally, I thought I was going over to Crimson," he said. "I was really just looking for a math job. Then my brother, being here at Desert Hills, said I think we're going to have a spot."

Allred now teaches math at Desert Hills and assisted Sharon Christensen, who was the head coach of the Thunder Volleyball team for the past three seasons.

Christensen retired after 34 years in education, and spent two of the last three seasons coaching her daughter, Kylee,at Desert Hills. In a text to The Spectrum, Christensen said it was time to move in another direction.

Christensen earned13 region titles and five state championships as a coach and held a 66-31 record at Desert Hills.

"Life is good!!!!" she wrote in a text.

Allred is taking over a team that will lost three seniors, including Region 9 co-MVP Kami Bliss. But the Thunder will have six seniors next year on a team that's looking to contend.

"Even just being here one year, there's the expectation on the Desert Hills volleyball is always going to be pretty high," Allred said. "Having the majority of the kids coming back is a big plus, but that comes with some expectations as well."

Allred pointed out that moving up levels of competition means winning is important, but this doesn't detract from the philosophy that he's derived over his 22 years of coaching. That's simply to have fun.

"If the kids aren't having fun, it starts to become a chore going to practice and they're not really enjoying it,"Allred said. "I want it to be fun for them."

Follow Chris Kwiecinski on Twitter @OchoK_. You can contact him atCKwiecinsk@thespectrum.com, or (435) 414-3261.

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New Desert Hills volleyball coach boasts 20 years of experience and life perspective - The Spectrum