Portales High selects volleyball coach

PORTALES — Portales High has selected a new volleyball coach, and is in the process of doing the same for boys basketball.

The school this week named Moriarty assistant Jacki Bailey as its volleyball coach, replacing Ruth Chavez, who stepped down to became the PHS athletic director at the end of June.

Meantime, boys basketball coach Rickie McBroom has announced his retirement, and the school has begun the process of finding a replacement.

For the past nine years, Bailey has served as an assistant volleyball coach at Moriarty, from where she graduated in 2008.

“I’ve known Ruth for a number of years, having competed against them in district play,” Bailey said. “I know what a great community and athletic program it is (at Portales), and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

This is Bailey’s first head coaching position. A Class 4A state volleyball champion as a senior for the Lady Pintos, she has also assisted in track and girls basketball at Moriarty.

Bailey, who taught social studies at the school, noted that both of her parents were coaches and teachers as well.

“I’m excited to work with Ruth,” Bailey said. “I think it’ll be a great situation for me.”

McBroom has been the head boys basketball coach at PHS for nine years, and served as an assistant for several years prior to that. He said his wife, Donna, also a teacher, was able to retire this year and figured this was a good time to move into thenext phase of their lives.

“I’ve coached for 41 years,” said McBroom, 63. “There are things we want to do in our lives. We want to travel and do some things along those lines.

“I basically grew up in Portales. It was a great honor to come back to Portales and be able to end my career here.”

His wife Donna has served as the scorekeeper for many of McBroom’s games during his career, which started in Aztec and has also taken him to stops at Moriarty and Lordsburg. They will celebrate their 42nd wedding anniversary on Tuesday.

McBroom’s overall record in 30 years as a head coach was 402-361, including 139-91 at PHS. The Rams reached the Class 4A state quarterfinals six times, including a 2017 loss to Hope Christian in the championship game.

A 1976 PHS grad, McBroom earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees at Eastern New Mexico University. He has primarily taught high school English level for 35 years.