KFDM COOP Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 Pats’ coach turns eye to volleyball By Dave Rogers Published February 1, 2008 Goose Creek Memorial coach Bret Boyd said he hopes to hire the first volleyball coach for Baytown’s third high school next week. “The first priority is going to be the head volleyball coach, because of scheduling,†Boyd said as he worked his way through a stack of resumes on his desk. In all, the new coach and athletic coordinator figures he needs to hire 26 or 27 coaches before the school opens in August. Since volleyball is the first girls’ team sport to compete in the fall, Boyd has given it top priority. Once the UIL announces its district lineups this morning in its biennial realignment, volleyball coaches around the state will begin filling their non-district schedules for next fall. “Starting Monday, I want to call in applicants and try to narrow it down to a couple and have them visit with the principal (Al Richard),†Boyd said. “I want to see if we can get a coach hired in the next week or so.†Many expected Boyd to name a girls’ athletic coordinator first and let that coach play a role in hiring the other girls’ coaches. Girls’ basketball coach Terry Gray is the girls’ coordinator at Lee and tennis coach Jan Strubbe is the girls’ coordinator at Sterling. “It’ll be different from Sterling and Lee,†Boyd said. “We’re a smaller situation than 5A.†Goose Creek Memorial’s Patriots are expected to compete in Class 4A initially. The school is opening with only grades 9-11 and won’t have a senior class until its second year. “We’re not dealing with as many kids (as 5A schools). We want to get the best coaches we can for each sport, and then we’ll deal with the coordinator aspect of it.†Although Boyd doesn’t envision anyone besides a couple of assistant football coaches starting to work at Memorial until the summer, he wants his incoming hires, as he names them, to help in setting schedules and ordering equipment. “Once we get everything (head coaches) into place, we’ll work together on hiring their assistants and we’ll worry about day to day operations,†Boyd said. “The number of coaches I hire will depend on teaching fields and second sports (head coaches in some sports working as assistants in others), and the number will go up as kids do.†Boyd’s defensive coordinator, Wes Rodgers, is already in Baytown and helping the head coach run his football off-season program. They hope another assistant coach or two, including an offensive coordinator, can come to join them by spring break. In the meantime, it’s hectic. The district has been advertising for a trainer and 10 head coaches for Memorial – boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ track, volleyball, baseball, softball and tennis. “We have resumes coming in from everywhere and I’m trying to sort them out,†Boyd said. “I’m spending 12 hours a day answering phone calls, talking to coaches, trying to make equipment lists. “All the things you need to run a program, things you take for granted. You’ve got to get it all. That’s mind-boggling.â€
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