Athletic director says fall sports delivered historic results and stronger coach development

Brad Bertani, Grandview Heights athletic director, told the board on the district’s November meeting that the fall season produced unusually strong competitive results and renewed emphasis on coach development and student leadership. “This past fall was really amazing,” he said, adding it was the best group of teams in his nine years as athletic director.

Bertani highlighted several results: the girls soccer team won the district championship for a third consecutive year and finished among the state’s top eight; the boys soccer team won the Central Buckeye League title and its district and reached regional finals; the football team won 12 games, advanced through three playoff rounds and finished among the regional final eight; cross-country and middle-school teams also posted strong finishes. He also named several local coach honors, including Bree Dominoch (Central District coach of the year) and James Gerdes (CBL coach of the year).

Why it matters: school athletics drive student engagement and community pride and affect budget and staffing decisions. Bertani also described professional development efforts for coaches led Nov. 6 by an Ohio State University–affiliated program and said he and middle-school athletic director Kate Kanner have completed evaluations for head coaches that incorporate student and parent survey feedback.

Bertani provided participation and response numbers when asked: about 102 parent survey responses and roughly 54 student responses, which he said is on the rise; he noted student surveys are anonymous while parent surveys are not. “About 20% of our students will return surveys,” he said.

He described the district’s parent and student advisory structures: a middle-school parent advisory committee that meets regularly and a high-school student-athlete advisory council whose members are nominated by head coaches; the student group is planning a community service project with Life Care Alliance next March. Bertani also announced a signing for Carrie Furby to swim at Ohio State and said the district will hold an additional signing-day event for other student-college commitments in the spring.

Board members asked about coach evaluations and public access. Bertani said evaluations are public records but noted that not all internal evaluation materials are routinely published; he described the annual review point as the time when renewal recommendations are documented. The board also discussed supplemental coaching contracts: administrators said supplemental contracts are by design nonrenewed annually and must be formally renewed for the coming year.

The board did not take separate action on the athletics report; the presentation concluded without votes and the board moved to the next agenda item.