New Oxford hires Renoll as athletic director
A former Hanover baseball star will soon be the new athletic director at New Oxford.
The Conewago Valley School District board of directors approved Brandon Renoll as the district's new athletic director during Monday's meeting. The position has been open since Ken Shafer retired in February.
Renoll has been the interim athletic director of the South Eastern School District, home of Kennard-Dale High School, since July 2015 when Gary McChalicher began a year-long sabbatical leave.
Renoll, who graduated from Hanover in 2010, pitched at Lock Haven University for three seasons before his college baseball career ended when he underwent Tommy John surgery. He later returned to the area as a pitcher for the New Oxford Twins, the defending South Penn League champions.
“It felt like it was home," Renoll said of New Oxford. "I felt like it’s a very good place to grow, a very good place to put my stamp on the program. My father went (to New Oxford) and played sports, I play for the Twins, I know a lot of people within the community. It felt like home to me.”
Renoll graduated from Lock Haven with a degree in sports administration and completed internships with two current YAIAA athletic directors: South Western's Don Seidenstricker and Spring Grove's Greg Wagner, while Wagner was the athletic director at Hanover.
“What he displayed was a real passion that really came through in the interviews," Conewago Valley School District Supt. Russell Greenholt said of Renoll. "He’s excited about the job he’s doing and the people that I’ve spoken to regarding him and the job he’s doing now were all very, very positive.
“He understands what it takes to be a good student-athlete, he understands what we want in a student-athlete. We’re looking forward to working with him.”
Renoll said he tries to emulate former Spring Grove Athletic Director Scott Govern, who was awarded the 2015 YAIAA Athletic Director of the Year award and now holds the same position in the Derry Township School District.
"I want to be that visible person," Renoll said. "He’s at the football games, he’s at the basketball games, he’s vocal, he’s present. If there’s a situation, he’s there. If there’s a problem, I want to know about it before anyone else does, that way I can fix it.”
It's possible that Renoll might not start in New Oxford until the end of the spring sports season. He remains under contract with the South Eastern School District through the end of June, but Greenholt said he and South Eastern School District Supt. Rona C. Kaufmann have had discussions about having him spend some time at New Oxford in the coming months and possibly start sooner.
“They gave me a tremendous opportunity," Renoll said of the South Eastern School District. "I wasn’t gonna get to this place unless they gave me that opportunity. The people down there are absolutely phenomenal, they’ve supported every decision I’ve made. They’ve done nothing but support me.”
