Hanson won’t be back at helm

Mike Sciacca

The only thing Curt Hanson said about not having his contract renewed

as volleyball coach at Laguna Beach High was short and simple.

“I’m disappointed,” said Hanson, who has not talked to the press

since learning of his fate earlier this month.

Hanson guided the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams at Laguna for

the past year.

“I was shocked, too,” he said. “I was really looking forward to

working with the girls’ team this summer and during the fall season.

“The girls should have a really good team this fall. They have a

great class of returning sophomores and juniors and a few outstanding

players. I would have liked to have been a part of that.”

Hanson did not delve into the specifics of not having his contract

renewed.

Mario Morales, who recently resigned as Laguna’s athletic director

to take on a teaching and coaching position at Long Beach Wilson,

said it was an “administration decision” to not renew Hanson’s

contract.

“The main thing is that the school administration saw the program

heading in a different direction,” he said.

Hanson had served for six years as an assistant coach in the

Laguna boys’ and girls’ volleyball programs.

He took over the Breakers program for the 2002-03 school year from

longtime coach Sean Patchell who left the program after the 2001-02

school year to take an assistant coach position at BYU.

Last fall, Laguna’s girls’ team struggled to a 1-19 record, the worst in school history.

“The team had lost some key players from the year before and this

team did the best it could,” Hanson said.

This past spring, Hanson led the boys’ team to a second-place

finish in the Pacific Coast League and an overall record of 17-17.

The Breakers reached the quarterfinal round for the seventh

consecutive year, where they were eliminated by eventual CIF-Southern

Section Division II champion, Valencia of Valencia.

“I enjoyed my time with both teams,” Hanson added. “I’ll be

looking for a job but I don’t think I’ll be coaching anymore. I may,

one day, look to return to the junior college level in the future.”