Former Jaguar excited with first head coaching job
You could hear the excitement in Joshua (Spud) Bromberg’s voice as he talked about being named the head baseball coach for Clear Lake High School.
It is the first head coaching job for the former University of Houston-Victoria Jaguar.
“I’m real excited and ready to get going,” said Bromberg in a phone interview Thursday.
Bromberg takes over a program that has seen its share of turnover the past few years but he hopes he can continue the success the Falcons experienced last year in reaching the Class 6A bi-district playoffs.
“The first thing I want to do is try and build some stability to the program,” said Bromberg. “I want to get in and build some relationships and trust. I think they have had three different coaches the last four years and I want them to know that I am here to stay for a while.”
Clear Lake finished fourth in District 24-6A last season and lost in the bi-district playoffs to Pearland.
Bromberg has served as an assistant coach the past seven years, including the last five years as a varsity assistant, at Lamar Consolidated High School.
“This is a great example of what we do at UHV athletics,” said UHV Athletics Director Ashley Walyuchow. “We provide opportunity for student-athletes to get a degree while playing the sport they love at a high level and prepare them to be productive members of society.”
Bromberg was part of the Jaguars’ two Association of Independent Institutions Conference championships in 2009 and 2010 and played both in the infield and outfield.
He compiled a .277 batting average in 99 games for the Jaguars, along with a .482 slugging percentage and a .354 on-base percentage. He scored 63 runs and had 51 RBI, while banging out 14 homes runs, 12 doubles and a triple.
Bromberg hopes to now implement some of the things he learned on the field under the guidance of Jaguars head coach Terry Puhl and assistant coach Doug Heinold.
“I learned a lot from both coach Puhl and coach Heinold especially with the mental aspects of the game when it comes to hitting,” said Bromberg. “I hope to be able to take some of those techniques and implement those at Clear Lake.”
He was also quick to point out the role UHV played in his success as well.
“They helped me greatly especially with the education part and the teaching part,” said Bromberg.
Bromberg is married to former UHV softball player Amber Scott and they have one daughter Hayzlee (1).
“I’m proud of Spud,” said Walyuchow. “He worked hard to get there.”
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
