By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio should soon have a new girls head basketball coach.
Former head coach Chris Jost resigned from the position after accepting the head girls basketball position at San Saba June 21. Jost had been the Queens head basketball coach since June 2017.
San Felipe Del Rio CISD Athletic Director Frenchey McCrea Jr. said that the position closed last week and that a small panel of he and other administrators would oversee the interview process of the applicants beginning this week.
McCrea said he did not have a magic number when it came to the number of persons who applied for the position, but that his main goal was to find a qualified person who wanted the opportunity to lead Del Rio’s girls.
“That’s what’s more important to me,” McCrea said.
If all goes well, McCrea explained, a new coach could be ready to be presented to the district’s board of trustees for final approval at the board’s next meeting.
“My goal is to have someone ready to present by the end of next week,” McCrea said July 20. “We need to get all the paperwork done before school starts.”
McCrea said one of his main goals for a new basketball coach was to find a person who could help rebuild the program. The Queens have not had a winning record since the 2011-12 season. Since then, Del Rio has gone through three head coaches.
The 2021-22 season will be a rebuilding season for Del Rio for sure. Aside from a new head coach, only six girls from last season’s team could return as the rest were seniors. The good news is two of those girls – senior Sydney Ballard and sophomore Annette Betancourt – were all-district honorees in 2021.
“I think just like any of our sports we need a coach that really cares about the program and who is willing to put in the time to make it succeed and to build the program to where it used to be, especially in terms of the number of players. The more numbers you put out there, the more likely you’ll get back the types of kids you need to succeed. Whoever is in that position needs to be able to adapt and change,” McCrea said.
Last season was a tumultuous one for the Queens basketball program. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the Queens to play an abbreviated schedule, which was halted after several positive cases were discovered among the school district’s athletic program. That delay in playing eventually caught up to the Queens as they were forced to end their season early after being unable to make up enough games.
The pandemic also forced the Queens to field just a varsity squad. That meant no middle school, freshmen or junior varsity games were played, robbing those younger players of an opportunity for more playing time and opportunities to learn about playing under Jost’s system.
Add to that an incident between Jost and the parent of a player following a road game in Leakey that resulted in Jost being suspended for one game and that parent being barred from all Queens games for the remainder of the season.
“It’s still challenging. The situation last year kind of set us back. We’re playing catch up right now. It’s going to be a task for whomever has the opportunity to take over,” McCrea said.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
