Yuma Catholic hires new athletic director

Shamrocks get accomplished wrestling coach from Yuma High School.

Jeff Welsing knows a lot about paying your dues.

For the past 20 years, he worked his way up the coaching ranks within the Yuma Union High School District.

Welsing started as a volunteer coach early on and eventually worked his way into some head coaching spots; most notably with the Yuma Criminals varsity wrestling program.

Welsing turned Crims wrestling into a state powerhouse, with Yuma either finishing 1st or 2nd overall in the AIA's Division 3 state tournament for the past 4 seasons; earning state titles in 2018 and earlier this year.

But, amidst the current Coronavirus Pandemic and the virtual high school graduations that took place throughout Yuma in late May, Welsing was ready for a new chapter.

"I felt I wanted a new challenge. I wanted something else to challenge myself, and not just in charge of one sport, you're in charge of 12 or 13 sports. So, the challenge is what kind of excited me."

As Yuma Catholic athletic director Louie Pisano is on the verge of retirement, Welsing put his hat in the ring to be his replacement on May 22nd.

By June 8th, the Shamrocks officially announced the hiring of Welsing; who will walk into a good situation of leading an elite Yuma area prep sports program.

As good as YC's overall program is, highlighted by multiple state titles by it's football and boy's soccer programs; Welsing's goal is to make it even better, by cultivating the up and coming student athletes with 3 key areas of emphasis:

"The 1st component is school. In school it's academics. You have to be a good guy in school and you have to take care of your academics 1st and foremost. And that leads into the 2nd phase, which is athletics. You know, after school is done, you come out here on the athletic field, you want to be a good guy. Showing up for practice, committing yourself, dedicating yourself, work ethic; all these different kinds of things. And that will lead you to success in athletics. And then, the 3rd phase is, is that you want to be a good guy at home because when you are with your family or out in the community, you are representing not only yourself, your family, but you are also representing the program, the high school."

Besides all of his coaching experience, Welsing already has 3 years of athletic director experience at Somerton Middle School.

Welsing begins his tenure as YC's athletic director on July 1st.