Sandy Valley Local School District hired Tojh Nicholson as the varsity girls’ basketball coach for the 2023-2024 season last night at the April 2023 Sandy Valley Board of Education meeting. Long-time girls’ basketball coach, Tim McBride, submitted his resignation to the Sandy Valley Board of Education at the March 2023 meeting.
“This is the right time for me to retire from coaching and start preparing for the next phase of my life and, also, for Sandy Valley Girls Basketball to get a fresh, new perspective,” said McBride. “I would like to thank the school administration, the coaches, and the Lady Cardinals for a wonderful eight seasons.”
Garth Evans, Sandy Valley Athletic Director, stated, “We wish Coach McBride the best as he will be retiring from Sandy Valley after the 2023-2024 year. We are pleased to have Coach Nicholson as the next girls’ varsity coach. He brings over 18 years of coaching experience to the team and is a life-long Cardinal.”
McBride is happy with his successor also. “I’m excited that Tohj Nicholson will be the new Sandy Valley Girls’ Basketball head coach. He has spent countless hours teaching and coaching. I hope the Sandy Valley community will bestow the same graciousness on him that they have with me.”
Evans and McBride both stated that Nicholson is ideal for the position. Nicholson has coached the Sandy Valley boys’ basketball program for 17 years and assisted with the girls’ program this past year. For the future, Nicholson said, “We want to develop an identity and a standard of play that we are known for. Regardless of whether it’s a practice, scrimmage, or game, when we walk out on the floor, we want to have an expectation of how we play and compete.”
Growing up in the community, Nicholson said it has always been a dream of his to become a head coach at Sandy Valley. “I’ve worked with and learned from Coach Offenberger, Coach Provance, Coach McBride, and Coach Stamp. I’m extremely excited to be given the chance of leading this program into the future,” he said. About the team, Nicholson said, “We have such talented, hard-working young women that make it fun to come to practice every day. They are leaders in and outside of this school and I’m blessed to lead them. I can’t wait to get started!”