NORTH ROBINSON — A familiar face will be leading the girls’ basketball program here this winter.
Zac Bauer has been hired, pending board of education approval May 23, to take over for the retiring Kyle Fenner at Colonel Crawford High School. Fenner had 19 years with the program during two stints prior to her departure last month.
Bauer has spent the past eight years in the boys’ basketball program and is an art teacher in the Colonel Crawford district. Prior to that he spent six years coaching in the Wynford boys’ hoops program.
“I started off as a freshman coach with David (Sheldon). It was a great situation for me. The freshman level suited me real well. I could work kind of on my own and work on skill development. I got to be with our varsity team for Friday and Saturday game nights and watch what those guys did behind the scenes,” Bauer said.
Being a part of the varsity scouting meetings and film sessions benefitted Bauer.
“I got a front row seat on all that and it was super beneficial to me experience wise,” he added.
Bauer has been around quality coaches for a decade and a half.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with Tim Ehresman and Steve Mohr at Wynford for six years. I played for coach (Rob) Sheldon at Wynford and for Tim as a high school guy.”
Mohr and Sheldon each have 300 wins as coaches.
Bauer has deep roots in the county’s basketball culture. His grandfather, Jim Bauer, was the Royals first basketball coach.
“I feel like the more I look back at my career and my journey, I’ve been around a lot of high-quality coaches. I feel like I’ve been very fortunate to have been surrounded by so many good basketball minds.”
He thinks the atmosphere at Colonel Crawford is an asset to its coaches.
“The culture in our district is two-folded. It comes from home with a lot of good supportive families in our community that allow us to coach their kids and support the decisions that we make. That’s huge,” Bauer said.
“I always felt support in our community. If we are doing things a little different one year, they’re very supportive. Our board of education, Mr. (Todd) Martin, Mr. (Jake) Bruner and coach Sheldon. They support coaches and know what it’s like to be a head coach. They give coaches the room to coach and support coaches when people may disagree with them.”
The Lady Eagles return all but two seniors — Kaylyn Risner and Corin Feik — from a team that went 11-14 overall last year, 4-10 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
The squad lost to Margaretta 53-34 in the district semifinals after winning the sectional crown over Huron 45-38.
“I hope that I’m going to build a healthy culture next year where when we’re putting in time in the gym or we’re practicing, or doing team things, that it feels like everyone feels loved in that and look forward to doing it where it doesn’t feel like work.
“I want them to love the process of improving and the girls that I coach to love that grind,” Bauer said. “This year we can learn to love that process and be able to see results that we’re happy with.”
The team played a young roster last winter and that should help in the coming seasons.
“We have kids that have played at early ages, ninth and 10th graders last year. From what I’ve seen at the lower levels, the more continuity you have and the more you get to play the more comfortable you get with the level of play and the expectation of your performance. So, we’re lucky to have kids back that have been through what a varsity performance is like.”
Athletic Director David Sheldon is pleased with the selection.
“We are looking forward to Zac taking over as head girls basketball coach at Colonel Crawford. Zac has been involved in coaching at the high school and junior high levels for 14 years and brings a wealth of knowledge to how a basketball program runs daily,” he said.
“Zac has always had great relationships with players to get the most out of their abilities on the floor.”
Bauer is a 2004 graduate of Wynford High School and a 2008 graduate of Bluffton University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Visual Arts.