A letter was sent home to parents of West Bend East girls basketball team today announcing the resignation of head coach Travis Graf.
On Sunday I received word that Graf may be leaving. In a phone conversation with West Bend East Athletic Director Shane Hansen he said he hadn’t heard. “I haven’t talked to Travis for a while because of spring break and I was out with some other stuff,” Hansen said.
“I’m meeting with all of the winter coaches this next week and Travis is scheduled to have a meeting but I hadn’t heard anything that he had resigned,” said Hansen.
The story surrounding Graf and the coaching position at East started with a story broken on Washington County Insider as former head coach Donny Gruber was fired in March 2015.
Gruber was a hometown favorite and being let go caused a bit of a kerfuffle in West Bend. A search committee was formed to find a replacement and Travis Graf was brought in. There were other coaches in the community who expressed interest in the post and Graf and the administration took some heat for their decision.
The West Bend East girls varsity team finished this last season with nine wins. Hansen said of the season, “they had some ups and downs as with most sports programs.”
After Gruber was let go, Washington County Insider was first to post the story that he secured a head coaching position with the Kewaskum Indians boys varsity basketball team.
On a side note, Shane Hansen has submitted his resignation as well. He’s leaving at the end of this semester to start his own Christian Life Coaching program in Ripon.
The letter from Hansen to parents is below.
This letter is to inform you that Coach Travis Graf has decided to step down from coaching at West Bend East and has submitted his resignation as the East Varsity Girls Basketball Coach.
We would like to thank Coach Graf for his year of service to the East Girls Basketball program, and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Moving forward, the position will be posted and a review/hiring process will be put into motion led by Mr. Tomczyk and the administrative team.
East does have a spot reserved in the Cedarburg varsity summer league, and additional summer basketball activities will be planned and communicated out to you in the next couple of weeks.
If you have any questions you may contact the East Athletic Director, Shane Hansen, at shansen@westbend.
k12.wi.us or (262) 335-5591.
Thank you,
Shane Hansen
Director of Athletics
West Bend East High School