Heath leaving New London for West Burlington

NEW LONDON — New London volleyball head coach Maureen Heath will be a little farther down Highway 34 next season. The third-most winning coach in the state of Iowa has officially taken the helm at Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division rival West Burlington.

Heath says when she heard the West Burlington job was opening, she decided to take on a new challenge after a lengthy stint with the Tigers.

“I wasn’t searching or anything,” Heath said. “I wasn’t planning on leaving New London, but I just thought it was maybe time for a change.”

Heath has coached New London for the last 22 years, appearing in eight state tournaments, including a five-year run from 2005-2009 and the Tigers’ most recent appearance last fall.

“I’ll really miss New London, obviously,” Heath said. “I had a lot of great times there and great kids.”

Along with being the head coach for New London, Heath also ran the team’s volleyball club and ran all the summer programs.

“I put a lot of my heart and soul there,” Heath said.

The Tigers went 6-2 in conference play to split the SEISC South Division last season. The team that matched their 6-2 mark was none other than West Burlington.

The Falcons and Tigers played twice last season with West Burlington winning both matchups. Heath says she already knows she’ll more than likely see her former team multiple times next fall.

“It will definitely be different,” Heath said. “I haven’t been on the other side of that for 22 years.”

It will be the third Burlington area team Heath has coached. Before New London, she coached at Burlington and Notre Dame.

Heath currently has a 960-727 record in 37 years. She was 716-188 at New London.