Three new athletic directors to take over this fall

Three high schools in the Nye County School District have new athletic directors. The schools receiving new athletic directors are Tonopah, Pahrump and Beatty High Schools.

In early July, Pahrump learned that former Athletic Administrator Chris Brockman and now principal, appointed Ed Kirkwood to be the athletic director. Kirkwood has been coaching three sports for Pahrump for some time now, volleyball, basketball and track. Brockman said Kirkwood would only be allowed to coach basketball this year because of the demands of the job. In July, Brockman told the PVT, “I know he is a great coach, but I think I get more bang for my buck with him as AD. He will still work closely with the new head track coach to make sure that job gets done well. He will not just throw the track program aside.”

Recently in August, Beatty announced that Leo Verzilli transferred down to a Pahrump elementary school. Verzilli had coached three sports for most of the three years he was up in Beatty. Verzilli was commuting from Pahrump to Beatty. At one time he coached football, basketball and baseball. Last year he was the football and baseball coach. Verzilli had a good rapport with the athletes and his knowledge will be missed up in Beatty.

“I enjoyed my time up there. The kids, the town and the people were great. I will miss the faculty and all the parents too. The league was a good league and I got along well with the coaches. The only bad part was the travel time. I had a great time, but now I will enjoy being home in Pahrump every night,” he said.

The position of athletic director in Beatty is still up in the air.

At BHS the new head football coach and baseball coach is James Robertson who is currently the special education teacher at the high school.

Steve Stringer was the first to take over of the three. He assumed his new position in the spring as the new athletic director in Tonopah. Stringer is an assistant coach for football and track.

He said the Tonopah principal, Alvin Eiseman, was wearing two hats last year.

“Al will still be doing the hiring and firing of the coaches, but needs me to be at the home games. Working as athletic director is like being a liaison for the principal and the athletic program,” he said.

Stringer is the current physical education teacher for the middle/elementary school and the high school in Tonopah.