Being an athletic director and a coach is a time-consuming task, and after doing the job for two basketball seasons, Christian Subdon has decided to give more of his time to his family, stepping down as Whitehall boys basketball coach.
Subdon led Whitehall for five seasons, highlighted by four consecutive West Michigan Conference championships (one full WMC, then three Lakes Division) in his first four seasons, as well as a 2022 district title and berth in the regional finals.
However, it was work that, combined with the athletic director responsibilities he assumed when CJ Van Wieren moved up from that position to district superintendent, took him away from his wife Sarah and daughters Brighton and Saylor more than he preferred.
"It's a lot of time," Subdon said. "People made it doable, for sure, and I could've continued to do it. It's more about wanting to be home with my kids."
Subdon's decision to step down right after the basketball season was important for two reasons. First, it gives him plenty of time to seek out a replacement. The program needs a head coach running things less now than at any other time of year, and Subdon is already working on the team's schedule of activities for this coming summer, the only major task a coach needs to be in place to complete. Second, he feels the Vikings are in a good position for whoever that replacement will be.
While the Vikings took a step back this last season from their terrific previous four campaigns, they still were very competitive and had a winning record in the WMC Lakes. Several of the key players on the team - Pierce Westerlund, Alex Winczewski, Elijah Smith and Rex Pumford, to name a few - will be back next season.
"I still think we can be pretty good next year," Subdon said. "The next coach won't be taking over a complete rebuild. They'll take over a lot of guys who played a lot of minutes."
That doesn't mean the decision was easy, though. Anyone who has seen Subdon on the sidelines during a game knows how invested he is in coaching. The desire to bring that focus to the entire Whitehall athletic program drove the decision to step down.
"I enjoy it, and it's always a tough decision," Subdon said. "When I took over the job, I had goals to do certain things with the program. I accomplished some of them, but not all of them. I have different goals now, more broad, to attack the entirety of the Whitehall athletic department and not just basketball. I'll attack that the same way I've attacked the other stuff."
Serving as both a coach and an AD gave Subdon perspective on handling his responsibilities, which he will continue to apply now that he focuses solely on the latter role.
"First and foremost, you're asking the question, 'Did you feel supported?'" Subdon said of his relationships with other Viking coaches. "I put everything I've got into coaching, and that never came up with the other coaches. I tried to make them feel supported, coming to wrestling and to cheer and the other things. The reality is that it's different. You're splitting your time. (In coaching,) two hours minimum of every day is practice, and that's without film, and we watch a heck of a lot of film. Now we get those two hours back. Let's see what we can do."
He'll miss his time on the sidelines, but Subdon is looking forward to bringing his mentality to the other Viking programs as well.
"I really enjoyed my time with the players, parents and families," Subdon said. "It's been a good learning experience. I hope to make an impact in other ways for the school, because I love this place."
