WATSONVILLE — The Pajaro Valley High Grizzlies are again looking for a girl’s basketball coach.
The school’s Athletic Director, Joe Manfre, announced on Monday that the program’s lead position was vacant for the fourth time in the last two years after Kory Chavez resigned over personal reasons.
The vacancy puts the Grizzlies in a bit of pinch. The first day of practice for the winter sports season is less than a month away and the first Monterey Bay League coaches’ meeting is scheduled for Oct. 16.
Manfre said he hopes to have a new coach hired before the league meeting.
The position is already posted on edjoin.org, a website used by the Pajaro Valley Unified School District to host job vacancies.
“It’s not an ideal situation,” Manfre said, “but we’ll try to find the right person for the job.”
After spending the last two seasons as the program’s junior varsity coach, Chavez was promoted to the varsity level in June.
The Barstow High alumnus became the program’s fourth coach in the last two calendar years.
In a text message, Chavez said he “would not have been able to make the commitment the girls deserve.”
“It is a great group of girls and I will always be very proud of them,” Chavez wrote.
Andre Bailey, now the head coach of the boy’s program at P.V., led the team through the 2014-15 season.
Lindsey Foster was hired in May of 2015 but resigned just a month later to take a job as an assistant with the Gonzaga University women’s program.
Casey Neligh, who was an assistant under Bailey, stepped in after her departure and held the position before stepping down at the conclusion of last school year.
Neligh was recently named the head coach of the Salinas High girl’s basketball team.
Under Bailey, P.V. earned the program’s first-ever Central Coast Section playoff berth and Neligh continued that success during the 2015-16 by leading the program to its first playoff victory.
Despite the improvements, the program has not been able to find a long-term solution.
Manfre said that has nothing to do with the girls.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the program,” Manfre said. “Opportunities open up and I don’t fault them for that. It’s just bad timing.”
He continued: “It’s a big time commitment. It’s a lot of work. I understand why it’s tough job.”
