Ex-Coeur d'Alene High star Leggat named Lake City volleyball coach

Jenna Leggat is looking forward to giving back to the community that was so good to her growing up.

No matter that it is at her alma mater’s city rival.

“To me, it’s honestly one community up here,” said Leggat, the former Jenna Griffitts, an ex-Coeur d’Alene High star who was recently named head volleyball coach at Lake City.

“The community in general has been so supportive of me. Of course, the competitive side of me, it’s fun to have a rivalry ... I remembered when we played Lake City, I had some really great friends that played for Lake City, and it was so great to play against them. I loved having that opportunity. ... now that I’ve gone away to college and come back, I really see it as an amazing community that we live it, with one of the best rivalries.”

Leggat, 29, replaces Brian Hosfeld, who resigned after one season to pursue business opportunities.

“We’re super excited with hiring her,” Lake City athletic director Jim Winger said.

Leggat, a 2005 Coeur d’Alene High graduate, went to Weber State on a basketball scholarship. The two-sport standout in high school played one year of basketball at the Ogden, Utah, school, then played four years of volleyball.

While in Ogden, Leggat coached club volleyball, and also assisted for a couple seasons with the Weber State volleyball team.

After returning to North Idaho, she coached club volleyball for a year, then took time off to concentrate on starting a business and raising a family. Last fall, Leggat got back into coaching in the North Idaho Thunder club volleyball program, as head coach of an under-14 team which draws players from the Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls area.

“I always saw myself having the opportunity to coach,” Leggat said. “It was just so rewarding to see girls have that spark in their eye when something clicks. I just have always felt that I have been given so much from coaches that I have had in this community. I have always wanted to give back, and provide an opportunity like I’ve been given.

Leggat and her husband, Brad, have been married since 2006, and have owned an insurance agency since 2009. They met at Weber State, where Brad was a quarterback. They started the insurance company in Utah, then moved it to Hayden when they moved to North Idaho. The couple has a son, Van, 4; and a daughter, Phoebe, 2.

As for her volleyball philosophy, Leggat said when she played, after matches she would sign youngsters’ posters “Attitude is everything.”

She speaks of worrying about the things that you can control. A lifetime area resident who grew up in Hayden and now lives in Coeur d’Alene, Leggat said she appreciates the warm welcome she’s received from Winger and others at Lake City.

“I have had so many wonderful coaches in this area,” Leggat said. “And I have learned so much from them, and learned so much from sports in general, I just feel so fortunate to be able to share that with other girls ... I just hope I can have a positive influence on them as players, as students, and as women in general.”