Connellsville fails to hire basketball coach
CONNELLSVILLE – The clock is ticking toward the 2006-07 season for the Connellsville Area High School girls basketball team, but the district board of directors has yet to hire a coach to lead the group. “(The naming of a coach) was supposed to be on the agenda,” said parent Elizabeth Giles following the board’s Monday non-voting planning session. “They tabled it last month, but here we are again with no coach for the team.”
Several parents and members of the squad turned out for the meeting in support of coaching candidate Kim Jacobs, including senior Breanna Brooks.
“I’ve been playing basketball for six years and had a different coach each of those years,” she said. “(Kim Jacobs) is the best coach I’ve ever had.”
The board opened the coaching position following the August resignation of Bob Renzi Jr.
Board member Karen Blocker, who also serves as chairman of the athletic committee, said that the position was posted in-house with three candidates applying for the job.
In addition to Jacobs, Brian Shipley, a Connellsville physical education teacher, Junior High East basketball coach and high school baseball coach, and Gary Thomas, a Geibel Catholic High School coach and volunteer coach for the Junior High East basketball team, have submitted applications for the head basketball team position and has been interviewed by James Lembo, district athletic director and various board members.
Jacobs served as the head coach several years ago, said parent Eric Brooks, and led the team to the playoffs.
“She’s dedicated,” he said of his support for Jacobs. “We think she has the credentials to be the coach.”
John Faris, whose daughter Monica plays on the team, said that he has coached alongside Jacobs and has found her to be “very qualified.”
“She knows the fundamentals and the rules of the game,” he said, adding that Jacobs is also a state certified referee.
Brooks and Faris said that certain board members have admitted that a majority of the panel cannot agree on one of the candidates.
Five of the nine members must support a candidate before a hiring can take place.
Brooks said that the inability of the board to come to a decision is detrimental to the team and to the overall program.
“We’re so far behind the other schools in our division,” he said. “We should have been in conditioning practice by now; regular practice should be starting soon.”
Blocker, meanwhile, said that it is doubtful the board will take official action in the matter at tonight’s regular school board meeting.
“We’re probably going to have to advertise the position in the local newspapers,” she said. “Hopefully, someone else will come forward that we can agree upon.”
Blocker declined to divulge why the board has been unable to reach a compromise in the matter.
The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the high school cafeteria.