Jarrod Klausman resigned as the Altoona Area High School varsity boys basketball coach Monday after just three seasons at the helm.
“Even though I’m only 39, I’ve been coaching for 15 years already,” Klausman said. “My wife and I have four children that are 8 years old and younger. They’ve all gone over and above with their sacrifices to allow me to put everything I have physically, mentally and emotionally into coaching. Coaching will always be an option for me if I ever want to get back into it, but my kids will only be little once. You only get one shot to be an outstanding father and husband.”
Klausman led Altoona to District 6 Class 6A championships in each of his first two seasons before the Mountain Lions fell to State College in the district title game this season.
“I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished with the entire program during my time here,” Klausman said. “Back-to-back District 6 championships for the first time in 34 years, started a sixth-grade program and league from scratch, implemented a winter skills program for grades two through five, we have 120 kids coming to our elementary summer camp, several players that have moved on to play at the next level, I was asked to coach in the Altoona Mirror Basketball Classic, and we were more than competitive in the very tough Mid-Penn Commonwealth. I’m very proud of the overall growth of the program as a whole from when I took over to now.”
Despite the two championship seasons, Altoona went just 28-49 overall the past three years, including a 7-36 mark the past two seasons.
“Jarrod has done an honorable job the last three years working to continue to change the culture in the best interest of our athletes and our school district,” Riccio said. “In his three years, he won two District 6 championships. He had a lot of obstacles with COVID thrown at him, handled every adverse situation extremely well and was a strong leader. He’ll be missed.”
Klausman’s children are also involved with sports.
“I’ve always had a contract with myself during my coaching career,” Klausman said. “If the time commitment ever became too much for my family to handle, I would walk away at that time, without hesitation. As hard as it is to step away from the program, I truly feel this is the best decision for me and my family at this time.
“My sons are getting old enough to understand the value of doing everything to the best of your ability, with a high level of dedication, energy and passion, which I talk to them about all the time. With that said, they are still little kids and miss their dad when I’m not home. With a lot of our games being so far away, it’s tough to drop them off in the morning at my parents’ house knowing I won’t see them again until the next day.”
Riccio said a search for a new coach will begin shortly.
“This just all transpired (Monday),” Riccio said. “Naturally, we’ll go through the process once it’s board approved. We’ll advertise the position both in-house and outside. There’s a strong history with Altoona basketball and Altoona athletics, and we want to make sure we get the best candidates to work with our student athletes in a successful and positive way.”
Prior to his stint at Altoona, Klausman coached with Brad Lear at Hollidaysburg.
“I would like to thank Phil Riccio and the rest of the AAHS administration for giving me the opportunity to be a head coach at the highest level of high school basketball in the state, especially at my alma mater,” Klausman said.
