Courtesy of Brian Snow, Concordia SID

Bronxville, NY – Director of Athletics, Ivan Marquez, has named Joel Stanford as head coach for the women's volleyball team at Concordia College.

Stanford has an extensive background in athletics since his collegiate playing days at the University of North Texas where he was a member of the soccer team. Following his collegiate soccer career, he played in the Lone Star region of USA Volleyball (USAV) where he won four regional championships as a player prior to beginning his coaching career. Joel began coaching boys' and girls' junior programs in the USAV where he won five regional championships as a coach and his 2005 14 American Junior Olympic Girls Team won the national championship.

In 2006 he began working as the Garden Empire Volleyball Association's (GEVA) Junior Competition Director. Joel organized all the junior level competition in the region and organized/ran five tournaments each year that included over 200 teams per tournament.

In 2007, Joel captured the 2007 New York Class D State Championship with Haldane High School in his first season as head coach with the school. He then went on to coach at Fox Lane High School where his teams captured two Section 1 Championships and four League Championships in four seasons.

"We are extremely pleased to have someone with the extensive experience of Joel show the desire to come lead our program" explained Marquez. "We are grateful and hopeful that he will position our program back at the top of NCAA Women's Volleyball."

Joel is also the owner and operator of the Downstate Athletic Center in Peekskill, NY where he is a head coach of one of the teams. Stanford has led the team in winning the regional championships while qualifying for the Junior Olympics Girls Championship five of the last six years.