Grey Simpson, Scranton Prep\u2019s athletic director for the past four years, is stepping away to accept teaching and coaching positions at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia.<\/p>\n
Simpson, who has been active in promoting and establishing Scranton Prep\u2019s programs, was lauded by the school administration for his \u201cleadership and service to the Prep community\u201d in a media release on Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
At Woodberry Forest, an all-boys school, Simpson will teach chemistry, serve on the football coaching staff as the defensive coordinator, and take over as the head coach of the track and field program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great opportunity,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cI loved the administrative work of athletic director, but at the core of who I am is being a teacher and coach. I am excited to get back on the football sideline. I am really excited about leading the track program. That program has been a source of pride at the school. I am excited to breathe some life into the program and get the kids excited about spending winter and spring on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his time, Simpson was instrumental in promoting the school\u2019s programs and initiated an effort to have Scranton Prep programs schedule contests outside the Lackawanna League and District 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to the job at Scranton Prep with a different type of background, coming from an independent boarding school, and I felt that getting our teams out there and seeing different levels of competition from outside of Pennsylvania would be beneficial,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cI feel fortunate to have had great coaches who embraced that philosophy with open arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to get our teams out of the area and have competitive experiences, because that would help develop our programs, and I think we have seen that in the success our programs have enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simpson said he will continue to support Scranton Prep through the summer and assist with the transition into the fall athletic season. Information regarding the search for the school\u2019s next athletic director will be announced in the coming weeks, according to the release.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey has been a wonderful leader, mentor, and advocate for our student-athletes,\u201d said Scranton Prep principal Kris Cupillari in the release. \u201cHe has challenged our programs to pursue excellence while never losing sight of the values that define a Jesuit education. His influence will be felt for years to come, and we are deeply grateful for his service to Scranton Prep.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to his scheduling improvements, Simpson oversaw improvements to the Scranton Prep athletic facilities, including the installation of lights at the Loyola Athletic Complex. He also helped facilitate the agreement with Dunmore High School for the football program to host home games on Friday nights at the school\u2019s Veterans Memorial Stadium.<\/p>\n
He was cited for his leadership in developing Scranton Prep\u2019s athletic mission statement and having \u201ca commitment to forming students who exemplify the values of a Jesuit education.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrey\u2019s leadership has extended far beyond the playing fields,\u201d said Scranton Prep President Fr. A.J. Rizzo, S.J., in the release. \u201cHe helped cultivate a culture where athletics serve as an extension of our educational mission, forming young people of faith, character, discipline, and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grey Simpson, Scranton Prep\u2019s athletic director for the past four years, is stepping away to accept teaching and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[305,178,180,179,726],"class_list":["post-217791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-high-school-sports","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}