Gig Harbor’s new athletic director was a star volleyball player in the South Sound

Blair Suek is trading one picturesque waterfront town in Pierce County for another. The Peninsula School District announced that Suek will replace Bob Werner as the athletic director at Gig Harbor High School. Werner recently retired after serving in the position since 2011.

Suek, 31, spent the past four years as the athletic coordinator at Steilacoom High School. She also coached volleyball at Steilacoom, which competes in the Class 2A South Puget Sound League.

“Last year, my husband and I both did the admin program at Eastern Washington (University),” she said. “I was just thinking, every couple of years, I like to try new things. … I didn’t really plan on leaving Steilacoom because I loved it. But when Gig Harbor opened up, I just felt like I had to apply.”

Suek, who graduated from Puyallup High School in 2009 before attending and playing volleyball at Pacific Lutheran University, coached a club volleyball team in the Gig Harbor area when she was in college. She was hooked.

“I loved the families and kids,” Suek told The News Tribune on Monday. “It was just really fun. The concentration of those kids and families were just really fun groups. The dynamics of those kids and the families that live out here made me want to apply.”

In the Suek household, it’s all sports all the time. Her husband, TJ, coaches soccer at White River High School in Buckley, where he also serves as the dean of students. They have a two-and-a-half year old “very wild” boy, Suek added with a laugh. Blair and TJ met at PLU; Blair played volleyball and TJ played football.

Suek takes over a Tides athletics program that has traditionally been successful across the board. During Werner’s tenure, Gig Harbor High School moved from 4A — the state’s largest classification — down to 3A prior to the 2016-17 school year. Gig Harbor, now a member of the 3A South Sound Conference, had previously competed in the 4A Narrows League.

Werner’s rationale to facilitate the drop down to 3A was based on a 12-year population forecast, hoping to keep the Tides competitive in all competitions.

“Looking at the numbers, there’s not an expected uptick at Gig Harbor High School for quite a while,” Werner told The Peninsula Gateway in 2018. “We continue to get smaller, relative to everyone else. It’s been good competition for most of our programs.”

The biggest benefit of the move was putting Gig Harbor in the same classification and league as its crosstown rival, Peninsula High School. The downside is the league is a bit of a geographic mess: the 3A SSC spans three counties, with member schools in Kitsap, Pierce and Thurston counties. There are no teams from Tacoma in the league.

Regardless, Gig Harbor has enjoyed plenty of success across its programs in the 3A SSC and in state tournaments. Suek wants to keep the success rolling.

“I feel like as an athletic director, my vision is just supporting all my coaches’ visions. Supporting them, getting what they need, so all they have to worry about is coaching. … They’ve got some amazing programs and athletes. I just want to provide whatever I can for coaches and kids, to try to win a league title and grow their program. Just continue the work that Bob did. He was great for the 11 years he was here. … Just continue that legacy.”

And of course, Suek is looking forward to her first Fish Bowl.

“There’s a ton of school spirit, involvement here,” she said. “I’m excited to get to experience that.”