Athletic Director Darren Yafai expects to have all but three
coaching positions filled as of next week, putting Christopher High
School sports in position to hit the ground running in its first
school year starting this fall.
”
I’m confident that by next week, we’ll have all of the hires
done except for football and [tennis and field hockey],
”
Yafai said.
The application deadline for the football position will expire
this Friday, while the search for tennis and field hockey coaches
has no current timetable.
GILROY – Athletic Director Darren Yafai expects to have all but three coaching positions filled as of next week, putting Christopher High School sports in position to hit the ground running in its first school year starting this fall.
“I’m confident that by next week, we’ll have all of the hires done except for football and [tennis and field hockey],” Yafai said.
The application deadline for the football position will expire this Friday, while the search for tennis and field hockey coaches has no current timetable.
Gilroy Unified School District employees Kaden Bahner (boys’ basketball), Catherine Hallada (softball), Jeff Ross (swimming) and Justin Ponzio (boys’ soccer) were all hired in late January. Each position, Yafai said, has or will be interviewed by him and a five- to seven-person panel consisting of community members and school administrators.
CHS is only allowed to offer teaching positions to those currently employed by Gilroy Unified School District, which has made the coaching pool somewhat shallower.
The football coaching position, however, has received plenty of interest, Yafai said. He added that he isn’t allowed to see the field of applicants until Friday, but numerous people in the community have approached him about the job.
“In an ideal situation, sure, we would love to be able to offer a teaching position with a coaching position,” Yafai said. “With that said, I think we’re going to get some great candidates.”
Whoever is hired to coach football, Yafai said that person will have input on filling out their staff.
“I’ll work with them,” he said. “I’m going to be as supportive as possible.
“I think I’ve got some good networking and been around long enough to know some good local coaches.”
The former Gilroy High football coach of seven years, who currently teaches history at GHS, added that there is “absolutely no chance” he would be leading a team onto the gridiron.
“In a few years down the line, I might go back and be an assistant coach,” Yafai said. “The tough part now is coaches know you do have to give your life blood for it, and almost sell your soul to it to be competitive.
“Being a head varsity football coach kicks your butt.”
CHS, which will only be competing at the junior varsity and freshman levels in its first year, will not have varsity teams until 2010-11. The hope is for coaches to build their programs as the school continues to establish itself.
Accepted as a member school into the Central Coast Section in late October, CHS will not be affiliated with any league in its first year. Yafai speculated that the school, whose nickname will be the Cougars, will likely join the Monterey Bay Athletic League or a “super equity league,” which would include the MBAL and other leagues depending on the strength of particular programs.
Athletes competing in individual sports, such as wrestling or cross country, could have the ability to compete at the varsity levels in the school’s first year and even qualify for the CCS postseason, if they have the ability, Yafai said.
“We might have a couple sports … where the athletes are capable of competing in the varsity level, which is rare, but we’re leaving that open,” he said.
With two high schools in town, Gilroy might have a better chance of keeping homegrown athletes from going elsewhere. Private schools, such as Palma and Notre Dame in Salinas and Valley Christian in San Jose, have been able to lure away local kids looking for an option other than GHS in the past.
“Without slighting Gilroy High at all, I would say, yeah … I’ve fielded plenty of calls from private school parents about the academic and athletic programs at Christopher High,” Yafai said. “Whether it’s just new facilities or the idea of a school right nearby where they live, anytime there’s something that’s new and intriguing and interesting and perks up some interest, I think there are a number of parents (who would be interested).
“Are we going to get 75 bounce-backs from private schools? Probably not. But there are going to be a handful.”
CHS, which is still under construction, will obviously have newer facilities for some sports than GHS, but it will also be using the neighboring Mustangs’ Garcia-Elder Sports Complex for football and track.
Yafai said he expects to announce a handful of coaching hires Friday.
