Royal changes: Woodbury brings in four new head coaches

Woodbury High School is welcoming four new head coaches – starting as soon as this spring.

According to Woodbury Activities Director Jason Gonnion, Taylor Deetjen has been hired as the new girls lacrosse head coach, Michael Moran was hired as the new boys and girls tennis head coach, Tara Schubring was brought in as the new volleyball head coach and DJ Billingsley has been hired to be the new girls track and field head coach.

Michael Moran

Woodbury High School assistant coach Michael Moran has been named the new head coach of the Royals boys and girls tennis teams, replacing Derek Otto. Moran, an English teacher at Woodbury High School and Park High School graduate, has acted as the junior varsity coach for the boys and girls teams the past three years and runs the summer tennis programs through the city of Woodbury. Otto spent four years as the boys and girls head tennis coach at Woodbury High School.

Gonnion said Moran has been “very involved with all levels of the WHS tennis programs from summer coaching to various in-season roles” along with having three years of head coaching experience as the girls coach at Richfield High School previously.

DJ Billingsley

Daniel “DJ” Billingsley is the new girls track and field head coach at Woodbury, where he’s previously been an assistant coach since 2010. Billingsley has coaching experience with sprinters, hurdlers and high jumpers at St. Francis High School and Woodbury. He is currently an engineer at 3M.

Taylor Deetjen

Woodbury’s new head girls lacrosse coach Taylor Deetjen grew up in Illinois and played college lacrosse at Bethel University, where she will be obtaining her teaching license from this spring. Gonnion said Deetjen had a “successful track record of coaching MSHSL girls lacrosse and elite lacrosse summer league play in Illinois” and an “obvious passion for the sport and high-energy personality.”

Tara Schubring

Tara Schubring is the new Woodbury High School volleyball team’s head coach. Schubring, formerly Tara Clipperly, was a college-level player at Southwest State and University of Wisconsin-Stout with “deep family ties to coaching and playing volleyball at a high level,” according to Gonnion. Schubring has been involved in many aspects of the club volleyball including private lessons and fall league/youth development programs. Before college Schubring played at an elite level in both high school at Anoka Senior High and club in the Twin Cities metro. In addition to her competition experiences, she has coached club volleyball for seven seasons, including two seasons with Minnesota Select and two seasons with Kokoro volleyball.

Schubring obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Hotel and Tourism Management from UW-Stout and is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Sheraton St. Paul Hotel.

“I am looking forward to being a great mentor to young athletes on and off the court and teaching the fundamentals of being an all-around great volleyball player,” Schubring said. “I pride myself on breaking down technique and really showing young volleyball players that if they work hard they can play any position. I focus a lot of my time and feel it is very important to empower athletes to have great communication, strategy, and anticipation.”

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