CLOSS NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT TRI-VALLEY

CLOSS NEW ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AT TRI-VALLEY
                


  GRAHAMSVILLE--Jason Closs, one of the most successful and talented boys and girls basketball coaches in the Tri-County area is leaving the ranks of coaching and has been appointed the new Secondary School Dean of Students and Athletic Director at Tri-Valley Central High School.

  Closs replaces Derek Adams who left Tri-Valley to become the Athletic Director and Assistant Principal at the Wallkill Central School District.

  Before coming to the Tri-Valley school district in the fall of 2009, Jason was a physical education teacher and coach at the Chester Union Free School District and coached the Hambletonians boy's varsity basketball team to several division championships.

  At Tri-Valley Closs also taught physical education and coached boys junior varsity basketball, girls varsity basketball, soccer and golf.
  When asked about leaving the coaching ranks Jason noted "my duties as Dean of Students and Athletic Director will consume all of my time and energy."
  Closs in assuming his new job pointed out that  "we have great students and teachers here at Tri-Valley and I look forward to bringing the same passion and drive I had for teaching and coaching  to my new position as Dean of Students and Athletic Director."
  "I have had the opportunity to coach some amazing student athletes over the last several years here at Tri-Valley," and "we have had some success over that time, but the most rewarding thing is the relationships I have built with our athletes," Jason said.
  Two of the outstanding basketball seasons that Coach Closs will remember at Tri-Valley includes the 2013-14 varsity girls team that had the Lady Bears winning the Section IX Class C championship, 59-54 over Pine Plains. In this game the Bears were clinging to a two-point 54-52 lead with 1:21 left on the clock and thanks to clutch foul shooting in the final seconds of the game by Katlynn Greffrath , Sabrina Smith and Sara Dertinger the Bears clinched the championship.

  With that Section IX championship win Closs noted, "we responded to a strong defense with a scrappy hard fought offense and we held our ground and scored some big free throws at the end."
  Closs' thoughts on this win were "we put four months of hard work and efforts and ask the girls to give so much and I'm happy for then to get back here and win a section championship and move on."

  This win pushed their season record to 18-0 and was Tri-Valley's first girls' basketball Section IX championship since 2011.

  Another milestone the new Tri-Valley Athletic Director will always remember is the 2012-13 boys junior varsity season which saw the Closs coached team go undefeated with a perfect 16-0 season. Jason in comments made following that 16th win said, "this season we were a team in every aspect, we focused on being unselfish, doing the right things and putting the team above ourselves."
  Closs pointed out that this boys JV team "was committed to getting better everyday and the work ethic in practice and the willingness to do the little things well allowed us to improve each game and we finished the season a considerable better team as a whole."

  Closs's professional  background at Chester included being the districts Athletic Director, physical education teacher, boys varsity basketball coach, boys modified basketball coach and boys modified soccer coach. At Tri-Valley he has been a physical education teacher, girls varsity basketball coach, varsity golf coach, boys varsity soccer coach, JV boys basketball coach and girls modified soccer coach.

  His educational career includes being a graduate of Roscoe Central School, US Army from 1994-1997, a graduate of SUNY Brockport majoring in physical education and a graduate of the United State Sports Academy majoring in sports management.

  The new Athletic Director's hobbies include coaching, camping, hiking and spending time with his wife Kristy and children Mackenzie, Nathan and Paityn.

  In his new position Jason said he "looks forward to working with everyone to cultivate a positive environment within our school," which includes "helping create an atmosphere that makes our students want to come to school and be part of the many special we do here," and "I look forward to having the unique opportunity to work with many members of our school community to promote school pride and celebrate our many successes at Tri-Valley."


 No new girls varsity basketball coach has been named at this time.

                                                                                          

                                                  

The last official coaching photo for Jason Closs, on the left, was taken in February of this year as the Tri-Valley seniors gathered for a group photo prior to their last regular season home game. With coach Closs were, from the left, Kayla Butler, Autumn Bender, Katie Jester and Elizabeth Hannold. On the right is Assistant Coach Jerry Stevens.

                                     

                                                                            

Tri-Valley Central School District's new Secondary School Dean of Students and Athletic Director Jason Closs, right, remembers with great pride receiving the Section IX Class C championship trophy in February of 2014 from Section IX Women's Chairman Becky Ahart.