This should clear things up.
From the Chillicothe Gazette, May 8, 2009
Lady Cavs' Hughes hangs it up
Plans to shift focus from hoops to administration
BY PHIL GRAY
Gazette Sports Writer
After 46 wins in three years at Chillicothe and nine total seasons spent on the sideline, Chillicothe girls basketball coach Amy Hughes is hanging it up.
Hughes made it official Tuesday by handing in her letter of resignation to the Chillicothe school board. But for Hughes - the fiery girls coach who has stomped up and down the Cavs' sideline for the past three seasons (and at Ironton before that; and at Rock Hill before that) - this decision had very little to do with basketball.
Instead, it's a move designed for Hughes to focus on her career as a school administrator.
"I definitely want to thank the administration - the principal, the athletic director - and the school system of the teachers and the kids," Hughes said. "And the community. The fans here are awesome. I think you've seen some incredible crowds out there, and that's been fun.
"And maybe No. 1 for me is to thank the Board of Education. They brought me here and they've been supportive and I absolutely love working for them. I've worked at three separate school systems, and the board at Chillicothe is pretty awesome."
"It's a disappointment to lose Amy, but I understand - and I think the board understands - where she's coming from," said Chillicothe board member Steve Mullins. "She's been very honest all along that her career goal is clearly through the administrative ranks. And even though I think Chillicothe is in the minority in that we don't have a policy that you can't be a coach and an administrator, I understand for her that there are so many things you have to go through to be an administrator - so many classes you have to take and everything else. We don't want to lose her, but I think we understand how she feels."
When she was hired in 2006, Hughes inherited a Lady Cavs program that had won just 10 games in the previous three years combined. Since Hughes took over the program, Chillicothe has averaged more than 15 wins per season. She leaves after having helped two athletes - Megan Lee and Hannah Day - to basketball scholarships, and after having won two SEOAL South Division championships.
"When she came in here, Amy Hughes was an easy hire," Mullins said. "In Southern Ohio, the Hughes name is synonymous with girls basketball, so when we started thinking about who to bring in, it was an easy choice. We wanted somebody to come in here and not just bring in winning. We knew we had a lot of talent - boys and girls - walking around the halls at Chillicothe. But we wanted to establish winning the right way. And Amy Hughes won the right way."
Hughes will remain in her post as coordinator of pupil services/attendance at CHS, and has no immediate plans to leave.
Still - for now - the pull of an administrator's post is bigger than that of basketball.
"In my mind - maybe it's generic or cliché-ish or whatever, but as a coach you help 20 or 25 girls basketball players every year," Hughes said. "But what could you do for a high school or a junior high of 400? Or 800? How many people could you really help? It's exciting to me."
(Gray can be reached at 772-9302 or via e-mail at
pagray@chillicothegazette.com)
