Keystone Central hires new girls’ basketball and volleyball coaches for Central Mountain
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA – The Keystone Central School Board Thursday night approved the hiring of two new coaches to fill varsity vacancies at Central Mountain High School.
They are Jeffrey Bowdell from Cincinnati, Ohio, the new girls’ basketball coach, and Jaime Rauch, elevated from junior high volleyball coach to head varsity coach. Bowdell replaces Scott Baker who had retired as girls’ basketball coach after the past season; Rauch replaces Scott Garman who stepped down after last fall’s volleyball season.
Central Mountain athletic director Steve Hafele made formal announcement of the hires following the school board meeting:
New Hire: Head Girls’ Volleyball Coach:
Keystone Central School District and the Central Mountain High School are pleased to announce Mrs. Jamie Rauch as our new Head Girls Volleyball Coach. Mrs. Rauch has several years of experience in the sport of volleyball which includes successful coaching experiences with travel club teams and in interscholastic athletics. Most recently, she has coached in the program at the junior high school level and junior varsity level at Central Mountain.
Mrs. Rauch has displayed the passion, intensity, and leadership that our program needs to continue its winning ways after the departure of Mr. Scott Garman. A stakeholder survey that student-athletes took revealed that they wanted a coach that communicated, challenged them, and provided a safe environment both physically and emotionally while participating on the team. The interview committee all agreed that Mrs. Rauch was the best fit to provide all of the traits in our next coach.
Mrs. Rauch states, “I am thrilled to get to work with this group of young ladies. It is exciting to approach the season with our young talent eager to learn and grow as we move forward under the leadership of our upcoming Junior and Senior classes. We are all hoping to see the program grow and establish a strong volleyball tradition at Central Mountain!”
New Hire: Head Girls’ Basketball Coach:
Keystone Central School District and the Central Mountain High School are pleased to announce Mr. Jeffrey Bowdell as our new Head Girls’ Basketball Coach. Community leaders, board members, student-athletes, and school administrators selected Mr. Bowdell from a pool of many talented applicants.
Mr. Bowdell has an extensive background in coaching and teaching. He has coached football and basketball, and soccer throughout his interscholastic coaching career. He comes to use from Loveland High School in Ohio where he was an Assistant Varsity Football Coach and a Middle School Head Basketball Coach.
A stakeholder survey was conducted to gain insight into the characteristics student-athletes were looking for in their next coach. The data revealed that 74% of our student-athletes want a coach with a clear vision of how the program will move forward. Mr. Bowdell understands the recent success of the program and how he plans to take it to the next level.
Mr. Bowdell states, “I am very excited to become the next varsity girls’ basketball coach at Central Mountain High School and I cannot wait to get started. I hope to capitalize on the foundation laid by the hard work and efforts of our returning student-athletes. Our goal is to further develop all the members of our girls’ basketball program as leaders, students, athletes, and role models in our community. I look forward to building a culture that emphasizes the relationship between student-athletes and their community. I am both honored and humbled to be joining the Wildcat family.”
While the school board approved the two new coaching hires Thursday night, the district is now in the market for another varsity head coach. The board accepted the resignation of Jeff Brinker as the Central Mountain girls’ soccer coach and also as assistant track and field coach; the resignations effective April 12.
