Bobby Spoonster doesn’t officially begin his duties as the new Warrenton activities director until July 1, but he says there’s no time to waste. With camps having begun last week and first-year coaches taking the reigns, he has made it a point to be present in the district. Spoonster recently addressed several issues concerning the athletic department, including the hiring of new coaches and attempt to alter the standards currently associated with the sports programs. Among the hottest topics presently related to the athletic department is the recent move to name the district’s superintendent, Jim Chandler, as the new boys varsity basketball coach. “It’s a very unique situation,” admitted Spoonster. “It was not the easiest situation to be in for us. I wanted to make sure that our kids had a head coach in place by the time the school year was out.” A decision was made not to renew the contract of former coach Trevor Hibbs, who coached the Warriors to a 12-39 record the past two seasons. While Spoonster acknowledges the situation isn’t ideal, he says the district was limited to just one other candidate with the vacancy being listed so late in the school year. Most candidates had already committed to other openings in the area by that time. “With no teaching openings, it left the pool to pick from very limited,” explained Spoonster. “It was a situation where Mr. Chandler can step in and has had very good success as a head coach.” Spoonster, who was not hired until late April, says he believes the paneling process for retaining or releasing coaches from winter sports should take place in March. In this particular instance, a decision wasn’t made on Hibbs’ job until the May school board meeting. “The pool to pick from is a whole lot better in February and March than it is at the end of May, but with the circumstance we were put in, we decided this was the best option for us moving forward,” said Spoonster. Aside from Chandler taking over, the varsity volleyball program will also be under new leadership. Kristen Van Horn was chosen as the head coach, while Nicole Cross will assist and coach the junior varsity program. “Both of them have played a lot of volleyball and have the kind of effort and energy I want to see in our coaches,” said Spoonster. “I think they’re going to bring a lot of fresh ideas to the program.” Spoonster recognizes the concern brought on by the alarming turnover rate of coaching jobs in the district. He acknowledges that a healthy, thriving environment for student-athletes means seeing familiar faces and building trust in those leaders instead of constantly adapting to new authority. “When you don’t have teaching openings, it’s hard to entice somebody to move here for a stipend,” said Spoonster. “And just from what I’ve observed in the past, people have used this job at Warrenton as a stepping stone. Not a place to stay and build a program ... We need to make sure it’s a stable environment, because we want to keep the good coaches here to be able to build the programs.” With new administration in place, Spoonster says one of his greatest concerns is that the athletic department has become complacent with mediocrity. While the school wants to honor loyalty from its coaches, it wants to evaluate more closely based on the progress exhibited by those leaders. “We have to look at where a team was at the beginning of the season, and where they are at the end of the season,” said Spoonster. “Do you see improvement? Are you the players getting better and their skills being developed?” As a standard for the district, Spoonster would like to see the programs competing for district titles on a regular basis. “Every head coach should want to compete for a conference and district title,” said Spoonster. “But I think for us it’s a process. We want to be a hard out every night and for people to take us seriously.” He has observed a mentality that he feels is hindering the school from thriving beyond its current performance level. “When you have players that think the school is settling for mediocrity and accepting losing, I think that’s a mindset that is important for us to change right away,” said Spoonster. “We want to give kids the best opportunity to be successful, and I think that starts from the top down.”