Mission:
Vancouver Volcanoes are a sports entertainment basketball club dedicated to helping our players develop into professionals on and off the court, growing new basketball fans, and providing great entertainment, value and service for the community.
Our goal is to provide the Vancouver Washington metropolitan area a family friendly, affordable professional basketball experience to influence the local youth to reach their fullest potential.
Commitment to Community
What sets us apart is our commitment to assist players in achieving their professional goals while serving the local community. Players and coaches will conduct skills camps for children, as well as participate in community service or volunteer activities involving charitable organizations and/or local youth.
The Vancouver Volcanoes were founded in 2005 and played in the well respected
International Basketball League (IBL), winning the championship in 2011. Despite being embraced by the community, the Volcanoes became inactive after the IBL ceased operations in 2014.
My wife Sara and I took over ownership of a Portland ABA team we re-branded as the Portland Storm in 2019. After moving the team to The Basketball League (TBL), we decided to relocate the team and bring back the Volcanoes to Vancouver. After sitting out the 2021 season due to COVID restrictions, the Vancouver Volcanoes are looking forward to our inaugural season in March 2022 as part of TBL; a professional basketball league formed in 2017. There are currently 35 teams in TBL and the Volcanoes compete in the West Coast Division.
In order to thrive, we understand the importance of community partnerships. In the spirit of community, we are reaching out to local businesses for partnerships. The funds provided by these partners will go toward the cost of operating home games, player salaries, travel expenses, and community events. While we have some wonderful partnership opportunities, we also welcome donations of any amount.
Curtis Hill: President & Director of Player Personnel
Curtis Hill will serve as an Assistant Coach for the Vancouver Volcanoes. In the 2019-20 season Hill was Head Coach for the Portland Storm in their expansion season. The Storm finished with a record of 4-4 in The American Basketball Association as the team fielded one of the youngest teams in the league.
Hill served as an assistant coach at Portland Community College for the 2011-2012 season where he coached fellow Volcanoes assistant coach Maxwell D’ Auvergne. Hill served for 2 seasons as an assistant for the Volcanoes Head Coach Jeff Perrault for Team Fly Select 17U AAU team.
As a player, Hill played varsity at Newark Tech in high school for 3 seasons. After high school Hill played Passaic County Community College for the 2001-2002 season. Passaic would finish the seasonwith a 27-5 record and named NJCAA Division 3 Region 19 Champions. The team finished ranked 9thnationally.
Hill committed to play for Morehouse College in Atlanta Georgia but started his professional basketball career with the Volcanoes in 2006. Playing professionally for 5 seasons in the ABA, IBL, UBA, and the EBA he was recognized as one of the top perimeter defenders in all of minor league basketball during his professional career.
Brad Lechtenberg: President of Marketing & Strategic Partnerships
Brad Lechtenberg joins the Volcanoes front office with history and connection to the Vancouver business community.
As a former player for the team, Brad was also the Marketing Director for Big Al’s where he helped their expansion into Beaverton, OR and Meridian, ID. Later he became a Product Manager for CloudOne, a digital advertising agency owned by former Volcano owner Bryan Hunter. Brad has experience working with many of Portland’s professional sports organizations, media companies, and largest foundations.
Brad played college basketball at University of San Diego from 2001 – 2004. In 2003, he helped the Toreros win the West Coast Conference Championship and earn a birth into the NCAA tournament. His senior year, Brad was the 2004 NCAA Div 1 3pt% Statistical Champion and was drafted into the CBA by the Dakota Wizards (Santa Cruz). Brad joined the Volcanoes in 2006 and was a member of the 2011 IBL Championship team. He played 10 seasons for the team, becoming an IBL All Star, 3pt Champion, and retired Top 10 all time on the IBL scoring list.
Lesa Blanchard: Head Dance Team Coach and Vice-President of Marketing
Lesa Blanchard is the head coach for the Vancouver Volcanoes Dance Team. Learn more about our dance team here.
Lesa has been dancing her whole life. In addition to being on her schools’ dance teams, she danced for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Vancouver Volcanoes (06-09). She has coached many teams including Battle Ground High School, Camas High School, Skyridge Middle School, and the Vancouver Volcanoes.
In addition to coaching our dancers, Lesa is a middle school coding, robotics, design, and yearbook teacher in Camas, Washington. Lesa uses these skills to design and maintain our website as well as producing marketing materials for the team.
Bobby Pallotta: Producer
Bobby is returning to be the producer for the Volcanoes live streams
Mike Koreski: Game Day Broadcaster
Gary Akiyama: Game Day Broadcaster
Mike and Gary return as “the voices of the Volcanoes.” This upcoming season will be Mike and Gary’s 6th season broadcasting games for the Volcanoes.
Jamie Hudson: Broadcast and Sideline
