HOWARD — East Knox head coaches for fall sports reviewed their seasons during Wednesday’s school board meeting.

Brooke Doup, volleyball, announced the district will be receiving its first-ever volleyball banner due to the successful 2009 season. She said the program is steadily evolving, with third-, fourth- and fifth-graders learning the basics. The youths are excited to play, she said, and the high school team prepared for this season by starting conditioning in January.

Soccer coach Geoff Green said this was a good season, especially since it is only the second season of the soccer program. He said team members are definitely playing better soccer and have obviously improved from last year. Discussing some of the challenges of playing soccer teams from different backgrounds and divisions, Green said the East Knox team does “real well against teams like us.”

He also said one of the challenges is that the majority of East Knox High School soccer players enter the program without knowing the basic skills. Although pleased with the number of students who tried out for the team this year, Green said it would be helpful to attract players who have some prior soccer experience. He said it might be a good idea to institute some sort of middle school soccer program, perhaps as a club sport.

Ron Fannin, cross country coach, said part of the season’s success had to do with team members’ goal to run 100 miles over the summer. Several, he said, met that goal and he is “proud of the way the kids worked this year.” Mentioning the MBC standings, Fannin said three players in particular stood out, and Joey Montoya twice set a school record.

Golf coach Doug Smith said East Knox fielded a good team this year and had a 10-7 season. He said the golfers have shown great improvement, and credited the folks at Apple Valley Golf course and Tomahawk with helping make that possible. Like Green, Smith said it would be helpful to have younger students learn basic skills before reaching high school and wanting to be on the team.

Tom Holton, football, was not present at the meeting.

Community member George Najjar asked the board about the process for filling head coaching positions. He wondered whether tenure and years of coaching experience would remain the criteria for choosing a coach, and asked who interviews the applicants. He said a two-man hiring team is an antiquated system, and would like to see an open forum in the interview process.

Superintendent John Marschhausen said that by law, all coaching contracts are one-year limited contracts and are non-renewed as an annual course of action. This happens at the conclusion of current sports season, and athletic director Derek Busenburg begins the process of refilling the positions as soon as possible.

Referring specifically to the football head coach position, Marschhausen said the district has to follow the procedures outlined in the Ohio Revised Code. The position will first be posted in house, and if a qualified East Knox staff member with teaching and coaching credentials applies, the process stops there. If no current staff members qualify or if none chooses to apply, the position is opened to individuals outside the district who have teaching contracts in other school districts. That procedure does not apply to individuals who are currently coaching. They may immediately reapply for the non-renewed position.

Although not all coaching positions must be filled right away, Marschhausen said he anticipates recommendations from Busenburg as early as December, which, he said, “is what is best for the kids, program and district.”

“As athletic director,” he said, “Mr. Busenburg will make all coaching recommendations to me as superintendent. I have the highest confidence in his ability to manage and lead all athletic programs.”

The school board ultimately has the final say as to who is or is not hired.