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Posts Tagged ‘new hire’

Wolves welcome new coaches

Posted in Girls Soccer, Track, Middle School, tagged CHS Wolves, CMS Wolves, track and field, new hire, Girls Soccer, Amber Wyman, Kim Kisch on March 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Kim Kisch, Wolf player turned Wolf coach.

Amber Wyman (right) has accepted a bigger role in helping guide young Coupeville athletes. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

No more open jobs.

For the moment, at least.

Coupeville High School/Middle School Athletic Director Willie Smith has filled coaching positions for CHS girls’ soccer and CMS track and field.

Kim Kisch, one of the first booters to play for the Wolf program when it launched in 2004, is coming back around to call the shots as head coach starting next fall.

She replaces Kyle Nelson, who retired at the end of the most-recent season.

Meanwhile, Amber Wyman, already hired to coach middle school cross country, will also pick up coaching duties with the CMS track and field program.

Returning coach Jon Gabelein and Wyman welcome a new squad to the first day of practice Apr. 10, with a six-meet schedule running Apr. 26-May 31.

Before becoming a head coach, Wyman was an assistant helping middle school (now high school) running guru Elizabeth Bitting.

Both hires will be official once approved by the school board.

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New leader blooms in Coupeville school gardens

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged AmeriCorps, Buffalo, Coupeville Farm to School, Holly Bloom, new hire on February 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Holly Bloom

Alert the town’s deer, there’s a new sheriff at the Coupeville Farm to School program.

Holly Bloom recently replaced Zvi Bar-Chaim, who departs after an eight-year run as Program Manager.

The new face of the school system’s highly successful bid to bring together students and fresh veggies hails originally from Buffalo.

Bloom lived and worked in Truckee, California the past two years, and brings a decade-plus of educational and horticultural experience to her new position.

“I specialize in hands-on project based learning and outdoor education,” she said in a Facebook post.

She served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in 2008, then went on to charter a Farm to School program through that company.

Bloom has worked for a variety of non-profits, public, private and charter schools, as well as state and county agencies.

She earned a B.A. in Art Education and an A.A.S. in Horticulture.

“I’ve found that both the visual arts and horticulture go hand in hand and provide students with a safe space where they can connect with each other and the world around them,” Bloom said on Facebook.

“I feel most at home in the garden, where I can share my passion for the natural world and instill a stronger sense of humanity in my students through the pursuit of academic and hands-on learning.

“I am very excited to join the Whidbey Island community and to be a part of the Coupeville Farm to School team!”

Bloom, out and about.

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Hilborn new hardball head coach

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, coach chatter, new hire, Steve Hilborn on November 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Steve Hilborn has been tabbed as Coupeville High School’s new head baseball coach. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Steve Hilborn is stepping up.

After several seasons as an assistant coach at Coupeville High School, plus a stint with the local Babe Ruth program, Matt and Scott’s dad is the new Wolf head baseball coach.

His hiring is on the agenda for Monday’s school board meeting.

The elder Hilborn follows in the footsteps of Will Thayer, who led the CHS hardball program for two seasons before moving to Las Vegas.

Hilborn inherits a team coming off of a Northwest 2B/1B League title.

While the Wolves lost a strong group of seniors to graduation, key returners should include Scott Hilborn, Jonathan Valenzuela, Chase Anderson, Peyton Caveness, and Cole White, among others.

Baseball gets back to action with the start of practice the final week of Feb. 2023.

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Killer Kassie movin’ on up

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged CHS Wolves, girls basketball, JV, Kassie Lawson, Kassie O'Neil, new hire on October 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Kassie O’Neil (far left) is the new CHS JV girls basketball coach. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She’s changing gyms but remains a Wolf forever.

After a year with the Coupeville Middle School girls basketball program, Kassie O’Neil is crossing the hallway and joining the high school coaching staff.

One of the hardest-working Wolves to ever grace the hardwood back when she was dropping daggers, O’Neil is the new JV girls hoops coach for CHS.

She joins a program headed up by varsity coach Megan Smith and replaces Greg Turcott, who moved to Eastern Washington.

O’Neil’s hiring was confirmed Friday by Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith and will be official after school board approval.

The new girls JV coach once played on the same court where she’ll now pass on wisdom to a new generation.

Killer Kassie (second from left), during her playing days.

Part of a highly successful athletic family which includes siblings Kayla, Katie, and Kurtis, Killer Kassie was a hustler and a scrapper, a rebound and pass-first basketball player with an uncanny knack for draining big-time shots.

She cracked the CHS varsity basketball team near the end of her freshman season, making her debut with the top squad at the state tournament.

O’Neil, now a mother of a pack of boys, became a varsity captain in later seasons, topping the Wolves in rebounds and assists.

She also delighted in making the richniks at King’s shed sweet, sweet tears, twice knocking down buzzer-beating three-balls against the highly ranked Knights.

After high school, O’Neil played basketball at Whatcom Community College.

Now, as she preps for her newest challenge, she’s sky-high.

“I am so excited,” O’Neil said.

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Wolf alumni nabs coaching gig

Posted in Middle School, Volleyball, tagged CMS Wolves, Cris Matochi, new hire, Raven Vick, volleyball on September 9, 2022| 1 Comment »

Raven Vick fires off a serve during her high school days. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She’s coming home.

Coupeville grad Raven Vick, a two-sport star during her time as a Wolf, has been tabbed to coach middle school volleyball in the same gyms where she once played.

Vick replaces Katie Kiel, who moved to California, and will work with Cris Matochi as they prepare young spikers for the journey ahead of them.

The hire was confirmed Friday by Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith and will be official after the school board approves it.

Middle school volleyball practice kicks off this coming Monday, Sept. 12, with the first match Sept. 29 at Langley.

Vick’s first home match as a coach is Oct. 3, with Lakewood visiting Whidbey.

The twin sister of Willow, Raven Vick graduated in 2020 after a successful run as a volleyball and track athlete at CHS.

Raven (left) and Willow Vick await the serve. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

During their senior season, the sisters were part of a Wolf spiker squad which tied the program record with 14 wins.

A strong all-around player, Raven’s best work came at the service stripe, where she ripped off lasers on a regular basis.

On the track oval, she put in three seasons, losing out on her senior campaign when the pandemic erased all spring sports.

Raven ran the 1500 and 1600 as a freshman, before moving full-time into throwing events.

She advanced to the league championships in the shot put, discus, and javelin, while making it to districts and bi-districts in the last of those three events.