With only a few days before the fall semester starts for San
Benito High, and with it a new high school sport season, some
coaching spots remain unfilled – but hopefully not for long.
With only a few days before the fall semester starts for San Benito High, and with it a new high school sport season, some coaching spots remain unfilled – but hopefully not for long.
With two high-priority coaching jobs still open as of Wednesday – boys basketball and baseball – Athletic Director Tod Thatcher is digging in, hoping to fill those positions in the next month – and perhaps sooner.
“By early September we should have those filled,” he said.
The department is in the final stages of hiring a new basketball coach, Thatcher said. Officials have targeted one applicant and are in the process of finishing a background check and calling references.
“Hopefully, I will have something to announce soon,” he said.
As for the baseball coach, Thatcher is preparing for interviews next week and a month-long review of those interviews and applications.
Other open positions include boys golf, girls track and field and boys volleyball. The department is still receiving inquiries for most of their vacant positions, but most calls ask for an open teaching job.
Currently, the school does not have any open teaching positions.
“That’s something we just can’t offer right now,” he said. “I’ll receive 50 calls on a position but only receive a few applications.”
It’s difficult to get an outside applicant because of the unavailability of a teaching job – something that most applicants want when they have to travel from neighboring cities such as San Jose, Thatcher said.
“You have to give a lot of time in Hollister,” he said. “Some can’t do that for a $3,000 stipend.”
Regardless, the district receives a lot of interest, from both inside the school and outside, on its athletics because of their success, Thatcher said. The department does focus on “tapping” into all options within the district because current teachers already know the school, the system and the students.
“We know if a teacher has a background in a sport,” Thatcher said. “There are not too many people on staff that we do not tap into.”
For the athletic department it’s important to bring in coaches that have sense of the community and get along with students, parents and staff.
“We want them to be an expert in the sport but also be a match for community and the school,” Thatcher said.
But the district won’t turn away coaches that don’t live here because of success with past coaches such as former baseball coach Michael Luna, who traveled from out of town.
Luna’s replacement Jason Bugg didn’t meet the school’s expectations in his first year and was let go after a confrontation with a player during the season.
To help determine the best fit for the school, Thatcher and the rest of the coaching search committee will use the Bugg fallout to help find a new coach, Thatcher said. But it won’t change what the school does during the hiring process.
“It won’t change anything,” he said. “We want to find the right fit for the school.”
The high school recently hired a new girls golf coach in July, former Baler Corryn Martin. She was hired as an English teacher during the spring semester last year. Martin graduated from San Benito High in 2005.
Endless Summer Nights
The Baler Backers Athletic Organization is hosting the fourth annual Endless Summer Nights on Aug. 20th. The event will start at 6 p.m. at Bolado Park and will end at midnight. Hors d’oeuvres will be served as well as no host cocktails. A Block H Raffle, a live and silent auction will also be held during the fundraiser. Tickets are $50 per person and all proceeds benefit San Benito High Haybaler athletics.
For more information, or to buy tickets, contract Mary Breen at 831.902.7542 or visit the Student Activities Office at San Benito High.
