Teel Takes TV Girls Coach Position
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
It was natural for Gary Teel to be the next girls varsity coach at Tippecanoe Valley.
Although he has no varsity coaching experience and only one year coaching at the high school level, Teel is familiar with the Vikings' program - very familiar.
Teel, who served as Valley's freshman girls coach last year, worked all summer with the returning talent in summer camps, workouts and biddy ball.
So when Valley athletic director Duane Burkhart had to find a new coach after Mindy Metzger's sudden resignation July 29, Burkhart knew where to go.
"He knows our kids," Burkhart said. "He had a big part in our past summer program as far as working camp and open gyms. We thought it would make a smoother transition."
Teel applied for the position at Valley before, and Burkhart knew that he was still interested in the job.
"With the late resignation, we felt we had to do what was best for our kids at this point in time," Burkhart said. "Gary has applied for the girls job before, and we feel very comfortable with the girls program in his hands."
Teel coached the Valley freshman team to a 10-9 record last year with a 7-3 finish in the last half of the season. Before that, Teel has coached for 20 years in the Whitko school system with mainly the boys and girls programs in the middle school.
"All varsity basketball coaches were rookie coaches at one time," Teel said. "I know the game, and I know the Xs and Os. I know the players, and I will just try to adapt our plans to our talent."
Valley finished 9-12 last year under coach Mike Walters, who resigned after the season. Metzger, Walters' JV coach, was hired May 11 to succeed Walters. But five weeks later, Metzger resigned, citing personal reasons.
"I know all the players from the second grade through 12th grade," Teel said. "That (summer program) gave me the opportunity to be with them a year. It gives me a pretty good perspective as to the players we have coming up."
Valley will return a few seniors next year including Rhonda Doud and Brooke Fisher.
"We have a real good group of seniors coming back," Teel said. "We do have some unanswered questions after that because some of the seniors were JV players last year. How our seniors accept the challenge of being the leaders will go a long in determining what type of team we will be?"
Teel teaches at the Whitko Middle School. [[In-content Ad]]
It was natural for Gary Teel to be the next girls varsity coach at Tippecanoe Valley.
Although he has no varsity coaching experience and only one year coaching at the high school level, Teel is familiar with the Vikings' program - very familiar.
Teel, who served as Valley's freshman girls coach last year, worked all summer with the returning talent in summer camps, workouts and biddy ball.
So when Valley athletic director Duane Burkhart had to find a new coach after Mindy Metzger's sudden resignation July 29, Burkhart knew where to go.
"He knows our kids," Burkhart said. "He had a big part in our past summer program as far as working camp and open gyms. We thought it would make a smoother transition."
Teel applied for the position at Valley before, and Burkhart knew that he was still interested in the job.
"With the late resignation, we felt we had to do what was best for our kids at this point in time," Burkhart said. "Gary has applied for the girls job before, and we feel very comfortable with the girls program in his hands."
Teel coached the Valley freshman team to a 10-9 record last year with a 7-3 finish in the last half of the season. Before that, Teel has coached for 20 years in the Whitko school system with mainly the boys and girls programs in the middle school.
"All varsity basketball coaches were rookie coaches at one time," Teel said. "I know the game, and I know the Xs and Os. I know the players, and I will just try to adapt our plans to our talent."
Valley finished 9-12 last year under coach Mike Walters, who resigned after the season. Metzger, Walters' JV coach, was hired May 11 to succeed Walters. But five weeks later, Metzger resigned, citing personal reasons.
"I know all the players from the second grade through 12th grade," Teel said. "That (summer program) gave me the opportunity to be with them a year. It gives me a pretty good perspective as to the players we have coming up."
Valley will return a few seniors next year including Rhonda Doud and Brooke Fisher.
"We have a real good group of seniors coming back," Teel said. "We do have some unanswered questions after that because some of the seniors were JV players last year. How our seniors accept the challenge of being the leaders will go a long in determining what type of team we will be?"
Teel teaches at the Whitko Middle School. [[In-content Ad]]