Jeff Eyrich, right, has served as both the school district’s athletic director and director of operations for the last four years. Now, with Shawna Welch stepping in as the district’s athletic director, Eyrich will work full-time as director of operations. (Photo by Lauren "Chuck" Shows)
Yellow Springs Schools | Athletic leadership changes hands
- Published: July 11, 2024
A recent role transition at YS Schools will shore up both the in-process facilities improvement project in the district and its burgeoning athletics program, according to the administrators filling those roles.
Jeff Eyrich, who has served as both the district’s athletic director and its director of operations for the last four years, will move fully into the latter role, with Shawna Welch taking up the mantle of athletic director as her full-time charge.
Welch comes aboard the district’s administrative team after leading McKinney Middle School’s STEM classes for the 2023–24 school year; the prior year, she taught a career class at YS High School.
Having started her educational career as a science teacher, Welch brings over a decade’s worth of administrative experience in the Miami Valley to the local district: She was principal at Wright Brothers Middle School in Dayton for nine years, and athletic director for Dayton Public Schools for two years.
“I’ve been in education a long time,” she told the News in a recent interview conducted with both administrators.
Eyrich was initially hired by YS Schools in 2019 to serve half-time as athletic director, and took on the role of director of operations — which encompasses student nutritional services, campus and traffic safety, custodial services and facilities scheduling and maintenance, including the facilities improvement project — the following year.
In speaking with the News, Eyrich said Welch’s new position as a full-time athletic director will be a boon for the district’s sports programming.
“Her entire focus will be on athletics,” he said.
For her part, Welch said she looks forward to her new role as an opportunity to interact with district students “in a different way” through the athletics program.
“Being an administrator for all those years and then recently being back in the classroom allowed me to see teaching differently,” she said. “Sports are important to education, and getting the chance to build the programming here to allow kids to see that athletics could be an avenue for them to go to [college] — that’s what I’m most excited about.”
She added that, because Eyrich will remain in the district, she’ll have his support to help ease the transition into her new position.
“Every time I see [Eyrich], he says, ‘We got you, Shawna!’” she said.
Looking ahead, Welch said her focus will be on growing the sports programs, in part, by working with Mills Lawn physical education teacher Emily Berlo to introduce students to team sports at an early age, so that they feel emboldened to continue to pursue them in middle and high school. Eyrich noted that Berlo has already started a dialogue with administrators about forming a fifth and sixth grade basketball program.
“We want elementary students to have access to P.E. programs that are structured to teach some of those basic skills,” Welch said. “We also want to [partner with] outside organizations that are willing to tap in and bring skills and camps into the village, so kids don’t have to go out of town to learn them.”
Welch pointed to the fact that most up-and-coming young athletes get their start learning basic team sports skills via competitive club sports, sometimes beginning in preschool. Eyrich added that, because local students have to leave town to participate in club leagues, most district athletes are not involved in club sports.
“So when we bring in a seventh grader to play volleyball, that’s the first year they’ve played the sport,” he said, adding that being behind other districts in skill level can be discouraging for young athletes just starting out at McKinney.
“We have to let these kids know that one day they are going to win a conference championship — because we do,” Eyrich said. “When they get to the high school level, something just clicks, but we’re still at a disadvantage in the seventh and eighth grade. So for [Welch], one of her huge focuses will be getting that elementary program up and running.”
“And by the time [current elementary students] get to middle and high school, we’re going to have new facilities,” Welch added. “We’ll have new equipment, and hopefully they’ll want to participate and be part of a team.”
As director of operations, Eyrich said he works closely with Ruetschle Architects and Conger Construction Group, the firms hired by the district to design and construct improved facilities at McKinney and YS High schools — which will include building a new, regulation-size gym and the renovation of the schools’ current gym to include an updated stage and retractable auditorium seating. Eyrich said he’s very much looking forward to the upcoming changes to the East Enon Road campus.
“As the previous athletic director, spending the last five years in a gym with no air conditioning — I know there’s a lot of history that was made in the old gym, but I’m hoping we can create new history in the new gym,” he said. “And for our choir and theater students to have a true auditorium, and for our middle school athletes to have their own place to practice — it’s really exciting for me to get to take the lead in this process.”
Reflecting on his years as athletic director, Eyrich said that, though Yellow Springs is a small district with fewer athletic opportunities than some larger districts in the area, he’s proud that around 40% of middle and high school students participate in sports programming. At the same time, he said, the average grade-point average for district athletes is 3.33 — another point of pride.
“They work so hard — so as a district, I’m glad we’re going to be able to give them facilities they deserve,” he said.
And though he will miss being at the helm of local school sports, he said, he’s not going anywhere, and will still be here to cheer on young athletes — and Welch, too.
“You know, I’ve done the best I can, and I think we’ve done a great job — but boy, can we make it even better?” he said. “I’m very excited to have Shawna in this full-time position.”
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