By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
The Galion Tigers are on the prowl for a new basketball coach after the Board of Education approved head boys’ coach Colby Bright’s resignation Wednesday night.
While coaching Galion basketball for a single season, Bright led the team to a .500 record going 12-12 with a Sectional title under his belt. Prior to coming to Galion, Bright was head coach of the Crestline Bulldogs basketball team. Bright explained why he resigned from the position.
“It was always a dream of mine to be the head basketball coach of my hometown from the moment I got into coaching. Unfortunately, I simply got tired of the anonymous negativity that came my way and decided it was time to move in another direction. I appreciate the support of my administration, Kyle Baughn, Jim Grubbs, and Ron Williams.”
Bright, who will remain a track coach with the Tigers, noted he may want to step back onto the hard court as a coach.
“My future plans are going to be to take the winter off and reevaluate if I’d like to ever coach basketball in the future,” Bright said. “Then I’ll get into the spring and coach track for the Tigers with Todd Roston.
“What I’ll miss most about coaching basketball is the opportunity to try to have an impact in the young people’s lives of Galion and teaching them the game of basketball,” Bright added.
As for Galion basketball’s future, Athletic Director Kyle Baughn noted that the search is currently on to find Bright’s replacement.
“We put on an emergency posting for the position that time is due tomorrow, so tomorrow I will go through the applications to see what we have, and make sure we have some quality candidates,” Baughn said. “If we do, we will move forward with the hiring committee to interview our candidates, and the plan is to have a coach in place before we start the season.”
Baughn was supportive of Bright’s decision to resign as the Galion Tigers’ basketball coach.
“I have nothing but support for Colby, he is a good guy, and a good coach, and we are both going to be moving forward.”
The Galion Board of Education approved the retirements of head custodian of the Intermediate School Kenneth Burkhart, secretary for Athletic Director and Guidance at Galion High School Jennie Stevens, pre-school teacher Loretta Feichtner, and middle school Language Arts teacher Cynthia Rode.
In Treasurer Charlene Parkinson’s five-year forecast to the board, Parkinson noted that she was being conservative on benefits. Parkinson also noted that the school is spending about $50,000 per day in operations and has about 85-90 days of operating cash through each year. Parkinson added that in 2020 another appraisal uptick in property value could add extra funds to the school. Parkinson said that state funding is on track through 2019, though anything afterward is just a guess with the biennium budget.