Holland to lead The Burlington School’s fledgling baseball program
By Conor O’Neill
Times-News
Chad Holland missed being a baseball coach for four seasons after he resigned from that role at Graham.
Now he’ll get a chance to build a program from the beginning.
Holland will be the coach for The Burlington School’s new baseball program, which will start with a middle school team next season and move into varsity competition in 2019.
“Coaching is in my blood, baseball is in my blood, it always will be. I saw an opportunity … to build something from the ground up,” Holland said.
Holland was Graham’s head coach for five seasons, from 2009-13, which included a runner-up finish in the 2010 Class 2-A state championship. Holland was also a varsity assistant for three seasons and the junior varsity coach in the season after he resigned from the varsity program. He is still a teacher at the school and plans to remain there while fostering The Burlington School’s baseball berth.
In the past few months while exploring educational options for his son, 12-year-old Tucker, Holland said The Burlington School stood out.
“I knew they had a good basketball program with (athletics director and boys’ basketball coach) Ron (Johnson) and (assistant coach) Rod (Cousin) running the program,” Holland said. “In the back of my mind, I knew I could help with getting the baseball program started.
“I met with Ron Johnson a couple of times, officially applied this year, after all that played out, officially offered the job and accepted a couple of weeks ago.”
Holland brings a level of experience to the new program that is valued by The Burlington School.
“We are very excited to add baseball to our program, and are thrilled to have Chad at the helm,” Johnson said in a news release from the school. “His knowledge, experience and passion make him the ideal candidate for this endeavor.”
In addition to still teaching at Graham, Holland plans to maintain his work with Velo Sports, where he’s the head trainer and focuses on arm health for area youth.
“I wanted to get kids earlier on … I wanted to affect kids that weren’t in my district,” Holland said of his work with Velo Sports. “And that kind of feeds into the TBS, I want to … give kids a program they can be proud of throughout the county and looking for something that they can provide.”
By Conor O’Neill
Times-News
Chad Holland missed being a baseball coach for four seasons after he resigned from that role at Graham.
Now he’ll get a chance to build a program from the beginning.
Holland will be the coach for The Burlington School’s new baseball program, which will start with a middle school team next season and move into varsity competition in 2019.
“Coaching is in my blood, baseball is in my blood, it always will be. I saw an opportunity … to build something from the ground up,” Holland said.
Holland was Graham’s head coach for five seasons, from 2009-13, which included a runner-up finish in the 2010 Class 2-A state championship. Holland was also a varsity assistant for three seasons and the junior varsity coach in the season after he resigned from the varsity program. He is still a teacher at the school and plans to remain there while fostering The Burlington School’s baseball berth.
In the past few months while exploring educational options for his son, 12-year-old Tucker, Holland said The Burlington School stood out.
“I knew they had a good basketball program with (athletics director and boys’ basketball coach) Ron (Johnson) and (assistant coach) Rod (Cousin) running the program,” Holland said. “In the back of my mind, I knew I could help with getting the baseball program started.
“I met with Ron Johnson a couple of times, officially applied this year, after all that played out, officially offered the job and accepted a couple of weeks ago.”
Holland brings a level of experience to the new program that is valued by The Burlington School.
“We are very excited to add baseball to our program, and are thrilled to have Chad at the helm,” Johnson said in a news release from the school. “His knowledge, experience and passion make him the ideal candidate for this endeavor.”
In addition to still teaching at Graham, Holland plans to maintain his work with Velo Sports, where he’s the head trainer and focuses on arm health for area youth.
“I wanted to get kids earlier on … I wanted to affect kids that weren’t in my district,” Holland said of his work with Velo Sports. “And that kind of feeds into the TBS, I want to … give kids a program they can be proud of throughout the county and looking for something that they can provide.”
