As the Houston High School Volleyball Lady Tigers enter the 2023 season, they will be led by a new head coach: Julia Sloan.
Sloan, 30, is a native of Cabool and a 2011 graduate of Cabool High School. During her time as a player with the Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball squad, she received multiple All-Conference and All-District awards and played on several district runner-up teams.
Following high school, Sloan received offers to play volleyball at Central Methodist University and College of the Ozarks, but opted to play basketball at Missouri Valley College in Marshall. She then transferred to C of O, where her sister was on the volleyball team.
“So I was around volleyball a lot again,” she said.
Sloan eventually became employed as a social studies teacher in the Cabool School District, first at the middle school and then at the high school. She got her first taste of coaching volleyball at the middle school before simultaneously leading the high school squad and being co-athletic director for the district for three years.
Sloan then spent the 2022-2023 school year at Licking as an elementary school physical education teacher, cross country head coach and middle school girls basketball coach. Her husband, Eric Sloan, is assistant principal at HHS and this year will be in his ninth season as head coach of the school’s football team.
In addition to coaching volleyball at HHS, Sloan will teach integrated science and health. She said she’s happy that her combined family (which includes two boys and a girl) will now spend less time apart.
“I’m really glad we’re all in the same place,” she said.
Sloan has compiled an impressive 101-36-3 record as a volleyball head coach, winning back-to-back South Central Association conference championships at Cabool.
“I’m intense and I’m very passionate,” she said, “but I’m also fun at the same time.”
Sloan had a chance to get to know her current group of players pretty well during a busy June schedule, as the Lady Tigers played close to 20 games while competing in a Tuesday summer league and a two-day camp at Rolla.
“We’re very scrappy, and I think we could scare some people,” she said. “We want to win districts and we want to win conference, and I think we have a chance to contend in both.”
While Sloan is obviously drawn to the competitive aspect of coaching volleyball, there’s another side to the job that she relishes.
“The relationships with kids,” she said. “It’s cool to see how much they grow from when they’re freshmen to when they’re seniors. Even just during this summer, I’ve already seen a big change in some of them.
“And we kind of become a big family, which is just such a great thing.”
Being away from coaching volleyball last year made Sloan realize how important being involved in the sport was to her.
“Me and my husband talked, and we realized that’s what God wants me to do,” she said. “That’s my calling, and I feel like I’m pretty good at it.”
Sloan replaces Loran Richardson, who resigned following last season after spending seven years in the position and building the program into a perennial powerhouse. Last year, the Lady Tigers went 22-10-1 overall and 4-3 in South Central Association conference play.
“I appreciate all the support there has already been from the fans here,” Sloan said, “and I hope they continue to support us during the season. We’re going to have some fun this year.”
In further preparation for the upcoming season this summer, Sloan and the Lady Tigers will gather for a week-long camp in Houston and participate in a competitive camp at Branson.
“From day one walking in with them, the Houston girls have done everything I have asked,” Sloan said, “from lifting in the weight room to work ethic on the floor. I’ve set some high expectations for them and most of them have bought in and are willing to work. I’m just excited for it to all come together now.”
