The circle of Carson High has been completed so to speak with the hiring of Bob Bateman as the school's new athletic director.
Bateman replaces Diane Baker Roberts, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Bateman will also serve as the defensive coordinator this fall for new varsity head football coach Blair Roman. Bateman also served as Carson's head football coach when Roman served as his assistant.
"I just think the timing was right with regards of just things in my life," Bateman said. "The timing just felt really good."
Bateman has been a teacher since 1972 when he began his career in Southern California and has been a coach and teacher in Northern Nevada ever since he moved here in 1978.
He began as a freshmen football coach and worked his way up the ranks. Among his other coaching duties has been serving as a head track coach. Most recently he served as Douglas High's defensive coordinator while teaching physical education at Carson.
Bateman said he'll be able to handle his athletic director and defensive coordinator duties. "I don't think that's a problem," he said.
He said he knows how important parent and community involvement is along with being able to understand what coaches go through. "I'm very familiar with coaching trends," he said.
Carson is unique in that it's the state capital and that it's a one-high school community, Bateman said. He said he would like to see enthusiasm for the school in the community that many other one-high school communities have.
Bateman said he also wants to see more athletes play more than one sport. He noted that the vast majority of Parade All-Americans in all sports were multi-sport athletes.
He also said the more athletes who play more than one sport can only help to make all the school's teams better. It was an obvious but true statement when he said, "Good athletes make a team better."
One of his first orders of business is to talk to parents and athletes about playing more than one sport, Bateman said.
He noted that a number of his players when he coached football at CHS were mult-sport athletes. Bateman was Carson's football coach from 1993-2000.
Since 1970, CHS has had 10 winning seasons in football and five of those came during Bateman's tenure. "We had kids that worked hard," Bateman said.
Bateman said he's obviously looking forward to working with Roman. "We go way back," he said. "He's just a real good person, an excellent football mind." Bateman also said Roman is an outstanding teacher.
Another one of his first orders of business is to begin a Block C service organization for athletes and cheerleaders at CHS. Those in the club would be required to maintain at least a 2.5 grade point average, do community service and attend sporting events that they don't participate in. "That's one of the first things I'm going to get into," Bateman said.