Myra Miles is the athletic director at Vestavia Hills High School.
Q: Tell us about some of your new coaches and what they bring to the table.
A: Ok, so, we've got a few new coaches that we've added, and we feel like they are completely the best of the best. We were able to bring Chad Merrill back home. Very excited to have him back as our D coordinator and also as an assistant varsity wrestling coach. Chad is very, very bright. He is a Vestavia guy, so we're thrilled to have him back, and looking for great things from him. Now, he's filling some pretty big shoes with Coach Shawn Raney, but there's no doubt in my mind that he's gonna step in those shoes and take us to another level. So, we're real excited about Chad.
Another addition we have in our boys basketball program is Joseph Armor. He is— He's not new to Vestavia. He was here prior to me being here, but he is absolutely a humongous asset to our basketball program. When we were going through the process of trying to hire him and get him here, everybody I asked about him—just like with Chad—they were like, he's gold; you better get him. So we're excited to have Joseph on the basketball staff.
Also, one of the things that we're doing this year in our middle school softball programs is we're gonna run a combo program, so that's bringing us a new coach to our softball staff. Kolby Holcombe is coming to the high school this year. She's gonna teach English, but we're thrilled to be adding her to our softball staff here at the high school. She'll also be our lead coach in our middle school combo program. But, just super excited to have Kolby added and we're looking forward to this combo program too. So, real fired up about that.
And then, in volleyball we've added Cale Gilchrist and she's a young, young coach, and has done great things already. I walked in practice this morning and watched. She does a great job with the kids. They respond to her very well. So we're really excited to have her on our volleyball staff.
Q: What makes for a successful year in athletics?
A: So what makes for a great year in athletics? You know, there's a lot of ways to look at that. Of course, we want to win everything that we're participating in. But, at the end of the day, we're trying to develop the whole of a child. Sports and athletics is just one component, and it's a big component. There's everything in me believes that athletics is the key to success later in life. You know, our kids are learning how to be responsible, learning how to be on time, you know, learning how to eat, learning how to lift in the weight room. We're real excited about seeing those things develop, seeing the whole kid develop. But, you know, what makes an athletic program successful at the end of the day: when you've got coaches and players and parents and a community that have bought in to what the philosophy and concept is of our athletic program. That's what the true success is. Sure, we want to win. Winning is important. But, I've often said to where I've ever, every place I've ever been, that you're never going to lose your job based on a win-loss record. It's what you're developing outside of the winning and losing that we're more interested in. And, I believe that's why we've got such a great buy-in at Vestavia Hills right now. We've got very intelligent kids, very smart, high academic standards. So, I think that's what makes a great successful athletic year.
