J.Ross

Marietta hires new soccer coach

At last Monday’s night’s meeting of the board of education, Marietta Public Schools

hired Jon Ross, who will be the head soccer coach for girls and boys next year. Ross’s

other duties will include teaching high school English, along with acting as an assistant

for the high school football team, and other coaching duties.

Ross was raised in Tahlequah and graduated from THS in 2008. He attended

Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where he earned his bachelors in 2013.

Ross has also earned two master’s degrees, one in Sports Management from Texas

A&M University and one in American Studies from Northeastern.

Since 2014, he has taught and coached in Killeen Independent School District, College

Station, Trinity, and Denton, all Texas schools, and has experience in coaching football,

basketball, cross country, and track and field as well as soccer. Ross wanted to get

back into Oklahoma to be closer to family.

Ross coached soccer in both Killeen and Trinity. His plan for Marietta is to continue

building the program, which will be in its second year.

“I know that we will continue to feel growing pains as we compete against more

experienced squads, but each match will be a valuable learning opportunity,” stated

Ross. “Patience, perseverance, consistent practice, and dedication will be the keys to

improvement. In the long run, our goal is to develop a competitive team that embodies

school spirit, resilience, and sportsmanship.”

He is enthused about beginning the school year.

“I liked Marietta for several reasons,” he said, “but mostly because of the size of the

school. I find myself liking smaller schools, where you can have more time with your

kids, get to know them better and build relationships with them, and I enjoy the sense of

community in a smaller school.”