Entering 2019-20 season
Thomas is one of two lead assistant coaches for UBC women’s volleyball. He has been a big part of the program’s greatest successes, having been an assistant to Doug Reimer since 2001. In Thomas’ time at UBC, the Thunderbirds have won a remarkable eight U SPORTS titles, as well as three silver and two bronze medals at the national championship tournament.
For three decades, Thomas has been dedicated to building the sport of volleyball locally. Thomas has coached girls’ teams at Hugh Boyd Secondary in Richmond, where he has been a teacher since 1991. He also started the UBC volleyball-coaching clinic for teachers in BC 11 years ago to improve coaching and give back to the sport.
Thomas is also the lead coach at the Volleyball Centre of Excellence at the Richmond Olympic Oval, coordinating and running training for the top athletes from the Lower Mainland.
He’s a head coach and an executive member with the Vancouver Thunder, a club he’s been associated with since its inception in 1999, and has guided Thunder to BC club provincial championship victories. He has held numerous head-, assistant-, and guest-coaching roles with Team BC for the past decade and participated in Team BC selection camps.
During camps season in the summer, Thomas is UBC’s head high-performance camp coach and technical director, and can be found instructing children from the ages of eight to 18. Two years ago, Thomas was the head coach for Canada at the inaugural FISU America Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil and worked with the Hong Kong youth teams prior to the Asian Games.
Thomas has a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Bachelor of Education degree, a Diploma of Education, and a Master of Education degree, all from UBC. He lives in Vancouver with his wife Darrell, and three daughters Caitlin (17), Keira (15), and Jordan (11).
