Gann steps away as coach

FORT RECOVERY — The former girls basketball coach is now looking for her replacement.

Fort Recovery High School athletics director Holly Gann on Thursday posted the opening for a new girls basketball coach, a role she had also held.

Gann said she chose to step away from the job in large part because of the time commitment coaching demands on top of the AD and transportation direct jobs, and her personal life.

“The reality is, it comes down to my work and my time that I’m spending doing that on top of what the extensive commitment for a head coach is,” she said. “I just felt like I was really stretching myself thin.”

She added that she wants to be able to be more involved with her children — Wyatt, 10, and Olivia, 7 — as they get more involved in various activities.

Applications for the girls basketball position will be accepted through March 24. The goal is to make a hire at Fort Recovery School Board’s April 17 meeting.

Gann agreed she’s in the unique position of searching for the coach that will take over the program from her, noting her personal investment in the athletes.

“I’m looking for somebody that’s going to be high-energy, positive person, gonna make them better basketball players but also going to make them better people in life,” said Gann. “Because we know that basketball is a small part of their life and there’s a lot of life outside of basketball.”

Gann took over the program in May 2019 following the resignation of Brian Patch, who had led the program for five seasons after coaching the boys for 11.

In her four years at the helm, Gann compiled a 47-44 record with sectional championships in 2020 and 2021. Her best year was her first as the Indians went 17-6 and earned the No. 1 seed in the district.

Fort Recovery finished 7-14 this year and lost to Coldwater in the opening round of the sectional tournament.

“The cool thing about coaching is you get to hang out with a lot of amazing youth, amazing females in particular,” said Gann. “So to be able to watch these girls learn and grow and be successful in taking their career to the next level …”

She noted Val Muhlenkamp (University of Findlay), Alli Vaughn (Huntington University), Olivia Patch (Hillsdale College) and Kierra Wendel (Edison State Community College) advancing to collegiate careers.

“More importantly, along the way, you’re able to grow as yourself,” she continued. “Being able to grow with them in your own journey of becoming a better person or your best you, it’s kind of neat to do it alongside of them. As much as I’m helping them, they’re helping me too, and that’s a neat relationship when it comes to coaching youth.”

Prior to taking the Fort Recovery job, she had coached at the middle school level in the Indianapolis area. She added the athletics director title in March 2021 when Brent Niekamp stepped away from that job to return to the classroom.

Gann is a 2007 FRHS graduate who was a four-year starter in girls basketball and scored 1,048 points in her career. She was also a stand-out track athlete, earning a state medal in the discus as a senior. She was inducted into the Fort Recovery Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.