Marysville High School girls basketball players Kassidi Lee (left) and Tinley Graves apply defensive pressure to an opponent during a 2018-19 game. The Lady Monarchs are participating in a shootout in Wilmington today.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Marysville High School girls varsity basketball coach Brooke Young has put out the “Help Wanted” sign.
That’s because she is currently the only full-time coach in the MHS program.
Mady Fogle, who previously served as the junior varsity coach, is relocating from the area.
Aaron Keighly, who was the freshman coach a year ago, will be a volunteer varsity assistant next winter.
“We have positions open for a junior varsity coach and a freshman coach,” said Young.
The Lady Monarch boss said Wednesday morning that she doesn’t have any coaching prospects at this point.
“I’ve reached out to some folks, but they are people in my age range,” she said. “Several of them are starting families and don’t have the time to coach.
“It’s the time commitment factor as far as coaching,” said Young. “That can be a problem in finding coaches.
“Several of us (boys basketball head coach Ryan Grose and head wrestling coach Shawn Andrews) are still looking for people to fill out our staffs.”
Young said she is hoping to find coaches who will “be good role models for the girls.
“They obviously need some type of basketball background and coaching experience would be preferred,” she said. “Even if someone doesn’t have coaching experience, as long as they can be good role models, we can build on that.”
When asked when she hopes to add new assistant coaches, Young smiled and said, “any time.”
As she is the only coach on staff, Young has had a busy summer, supervising open gyms and guiding the Lady Monarchs in shootouts
She took a pair of squads to a shootout at Ohio Dominican University a couple of weeks ago.
“We had one JV-type team with all freshmen and a varsity squad with the girls returning from last year,” said Young, who led MHS to a 10-12 record a year ago. “Both of them went 2-1 during the shootout and looked good.”
The Lady Monarchs were also scheduled to compete in a shootout today in Wilmington.
Next week’s schedule will include shootouts at Baldwin-Wallace and Wittenberg.
“Between practices and shootouts, we will use all 10 of our off-season coaching days,” said Young.
Although the summer has been hectic, Young said she is pleased with what she has seen this off-season.
“The girls are working very hard, both on the court and in the weight room,” she said. “”They are getting stronger and developing their basketball skills.”
Despite the fact she has so far been a coaching staff of one, Young said this summer has been much smoother than a year ago.
“I was hired as head coach during the last week of May in 2018,” she said. “We basically had to throw activities together for the summer.
“With a year under our belts, I’ve gotten to know the girls and they’ve gotten to know me better,” said Young. “I’ve had more time to prepare for our off-season and I feel I’m a lot more organized going into next season.
“The girls and I grew together as a team and we now know what needs to be done (to improve upon last year’s record).
“We’ve got a lot of excitement and energy in the program heading into next season.”