By Diego Marcucci
Staff Writer
As fall sports come to a close, the winter season will begin with a change after the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees approved at the Wednesday Board meeting the use of $25,000, annually for two years to go toward coaching stipends.
MBUSD will add eight new assistant coaches with these stipends across a variety of Costa sports.
“Since we can afford to add more coaches, I think it’s a good thing for all our teams,’ MBUSD Superintended Dr. Michael Matthews said. “Last time we added these stipends, some of the teams requested that we bring more of them back.”
Previously in June of 2014, the MBUSD board assumed responsibility of $235,000 in coaching stipends that were previously funded by booster clubs. The funds for the additional positions approved at the Wednesday meeting will be provided by Kinecta Credit Union’s donation to extracurricular activities throughout MBUSD.
“I think coaches will benefit from these new stipends because there will be more coaches with different opinions and more specific attention on each individual player,” girls basketball player senior Bella Radl said.
The Kinecta grant will provide boys and girls varsity basketball, tennis and soccer along with beach volleyball, football and swim with a new assistant coach.
“I think this is a win-win situation because the players will get more instruction, the team will do better, and the coaches will be able to work as a team,” girls basketball coach John Lapham said. “It also gives us a better chance to notice players who are really improving and working extra hard during practice.”
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