Athletic director proposes interim coach-mentorship model as varsity girls program has no applicants

Chris Spalding, the district’s athletic director, told the committee he had received zero applicants for the varsity girls soccer head coach position since it was posted in April and described efforts to recruit external candidates.

"I currently have had 0 applicants for that position," Spalding said, adding that he had reached out to his contacts and tried to identify a young teacher in the district who is interested but not yet ready to lead a varsity program. Spalding proposed being named interim head coach with an explicit mentorship plan so a younger teacher could learn the position and take over later.

Committee members praised the mentorship idea but repeatedly raised concerns about Spalding’s capacity to add coaching duties to his AD responsibilities and about the time commitment if the interim arrangement stretched for multiple seasons. Members suggested reposting the opening in April or earlier advertising to attract candidates, and asked Spalding to limit the interim window and outline coverage for games.

Spalding said he would consider reposting and stressed the need for stability once the season begins in two weeks; the committee asked staff to bring the plan forward as an action item at the site level to formalize assignments and coverage.