FR hires new AD

FORT RECOVERY — For the first time in 10 years, Fort Recovery looked outside of its current staff to find its new athletic director.

Fort Recovery School Board unanimously voted to hire Aimee Pottkotter as its next athletics director. She will take over for Holly Gann, who resigned after two years in the position to take over as the principal at Fort Recovery Middle School.

Pottkotter, a 2009 FRHS graduate, thought about the position all the way back when she was a middle schooler at Fort Recovery.

“This has been my dream job since I was a junior high basketball manager,” Pottkotter said. “Back in junior high here at Fort Recovery, just seeing the way everything comes together for sporting events, all the behind the scenes work and not just not just the game, but all the little parts and pieces that make it an event. So I've been excited since I was young, and I'm ready to get to work.”

Pottkotter will be on an as-needed basis contract effective Wednesday until her two-year contract begins Aug. 1.

“Aimee brings a lot to the table,” FRHS principal and future superintendent Tony Stahl said. “She has a lot of outstanding connections to the community. …

“She has some educational background in the field of sports management … She’s just such a positive person and very genuine and a very strong work ethic and seems to fit well with a lot of the people that work in the district. … A lot of things excited us about the hire.”

Pottkotter currently works in various roles at the United States Postal Service’s office in Fort Recovery, Brick Street Tavern and St. Joseph Catholic Church.

Before returning to Fort Recovery in 2014, Pottkotter attended Ball State University, majoring in sport administration. She also worked for the athletics department at BSU before becoming the director of baseball operations and general manager for the Haysville Aviators, a summer collegiate wood bat baseball team of the Sunflower Collegiate League of Kansas. She also previously interned with the Grand Lakes Mariners Baseball Club in Celina.

In the past six years, Pottkotter has been heavily involved with the North Valley Catholic Youth Organization, a religious basketball organization in Ohio. She has served on the board of directors, as a coach and gym advisor, and helped run social media pages for the organization.

“I think those experiences will build in great,” Pottkotter said. “I have the experience with youth and with the high school students, and coaching is going to help with that …

“My goals are just to grow — grow the program, some from the youth level up to get the high school and junior high students more involved with building the love of the sports at a younger level … and just continue the historic successful Fort Recovery athletics has had.”