Chris Caporale sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano Community High School has filled its three remaining varsity coaching vacancies, athletic director Charmaine Schreiber announced this week in an email.
Brian Beyer has been hired to coach both the boys and girls tennis teams, while Garrett Smith will take the lead on the Hawks’ hockey program.
Beyer, who had coached tennis for boys and girls at Green Bay Southwest High School for five season, seems poised to lead SCHS tennis in the right direction.
Beyer was hired as a fifth-grade teacher at Olga Brener Intermediate School. He quit coaching two years ago due to scheduling conflicts when he taught at St. Bernard Catholic School in Green Bay.
“They told me about this open coaching position, and having been out of it for two years, I needed to get back into it,” Beyer said.
Neither tennis team sent a flight through WIAA subsectionals last season, but he believes with the athletes in Shawano, his job will be even easier.
“The first thing I have seen is how respectful and polite the girls are. It really is refreshing to come to practice every day with a group of girls who want to be here, who are fun to be around, and are going to give 100 percent when they are here,” Beyer said.
The girls team opens its regular season Aug. 19 in Chilton.
Smith, the new coach for the hockey program, has more time to transition into his role. He may not need it, though, with his experience with the program.
“(Smith) is an alumni and has been involved with the youth program,” Schreiber said.
Having just returned to Shawano, Smith was ready to fill the void with the varsity hockey team.
The hiring of the coaches, which officially happened in late July, was not announced until all the coaching searches had concluded, which was finalized when Dave Ambrosius was also chosen to fill the opening with the boys basketball team earlier this week.
Schreiber stated that it can be difficult to fill the openings because the coaches need a full-time job to go along with the coaching stipend. Like most schools, the athletic department looked at teachers in the district first to fill the void.
“The process is time-consuming, but we are always looking for the best candidate,” Schreiber said. “We just want the best candidate for the district.”
With the district making the hires in late July, it left little time for the coaches, especially Beyer, to get situated.
“I’m moving in a week to get closer to the Shawano area,” Beyer said Friday. “Currently, I am making a 45-minute commute to get here for 8 o’clock practice. That part was difficult in the transition, but once we were on the court, everything was good.”
In all, SCHS hired eight coaches this summer, while five additional coaches were selected to work with Shawano Community Middle School teams.