By Bruce Karnick
Shortly after the season ended for the girls’ basketball team, Head Coach Scott Addyman stepped down from his two-year position. Athletic Director Trent Hanson began the search for his replacement shortly after receiving word of Addyman’s departure. That search resulted in an excellent hiring for Hastings. Here is the official press release.
HHS ANNOUNCES NEW HEAD GIRLS BASKETBALL COACH Hastings High School is proud to announce that Sheri McLeod has been hired as Head Girls Basketball Coach. She brings more than 20 years of basketball experience as a player and coach to the Raiders. Sheri was a collegiate basketball player who also had a tryout with the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx in their inaugural season. She has coached both boys and girls AAU teams and has officiated at multiple levels. Most recently, she served as the Varsity Assistant Coach at Henry Sibley High School.
Coach McLeod is a graduate of Metropolitan State University with a degree in Social Work, and she is currently completing her Master’s in Social Work at Walden University. She has 3 adult children; Caleb (29), Shadeed (27), and Amari (23) and she is the proud grandmother of Zander (16 months) and Zervena, who was born last week! With a motto of accountability, trust, and togetherness, she is eager to teach the fundamentals of team basketball and the benefits that can come on and off the court from dedication and hard work.
An introductory meeting for Coach McLeod to connect with the girls’ basketball players will be scheduled for mid-May. Go Raiders!
One steps in, another bows out Shortly after the position was filled for the basketball team, boys hockey Head Coach Adam Welch announced his departure from coaching citing the desire to spend more time with his family. Coach Welch is married to girl’s tennis Head Coach Marissa, together they have two young boys at home. Welch took time to discuss the decision with The Journal.
“There was not one thing that lead to the decision. It was a combination of many things, but the most important is time with my family. The amount of time required to do a good job as a head hockey coach continues to increase and with my two sons getting bigger, I felt it was time to focus on my family,” Welch said.
A decision to walk away is not an easy one, especially when surrounded by a great community that supports its sports team so well, something Welch was quick to point out. The community support, and the connections and relationships built with the kids are the things Welch said were the most enjoyable piece to coaching.
“I will miss the locker room,” the first thing he said, thinking about his time on the bench. “I will miss being with the other coaches and kids. The hardest thing to walk away from is this upcoming senior and junior group. Next year’s group are such a GREAT group of kids! I will miss not being able to coach them.
“One of the tough parts about coaching high school hockey is that amount of time it requires. Being a good head high school hockey coach is turning into a year round responsibility. It is important for kids to play other sports at different times of the year, but unfortunately the pressure to play year around continues to grow,” explained Welch when asked about the difficulties of being a coach.
Welch is excited to focus on his family now, but that does not mean he won’t keep his positive influence on kids. He is still a teacher in Hastings, and he hopes to continue to make a positive impact there.
Welch’s parting words for the program, and community? “I just want to say thank you to everyone in the community for supporting all high school sports and our kids that play them. We are lucky to live in a place like Hastings that recognizes the importance of extracurricular activities.”
Coach Welch, thank you for the time you gave these young men on and off the ice and allow me to personally thank you for everything you assisted me with in my first year covering Raider Hockey. You certainly made my job easier and more enjoyable. I will miss your quick interviews between period and your support before, during and after games. Have a great time with the kids.
The loss of a guy like Adam Welch is a huge loss for Hastings hockey and the next coach will certainly have some big shoes to fill. According to Athletic Director Trent Hanson, the job posting will be made active this week with interviews occurring early to mid June. Hanson looks to have the new coach in place by July first.
