Bruce Valleroy is a familiar face to most fans of St. Vincent sports. The longtime boys basketball coach is a big presence, both as an elementary school physical education teacher and the high school boys basketball coach.
He can also usually be spotted on the sidelines at most Indians’ sporting events. This fall, he be at a lot more.
Valleroy, along with fellow longtime coach Mel Kirn, were named the school’s interim athletic directors on Friday, essentially splitting the duties of the position. Valleroy will manage the athletic programs, while Kirn will manage transportation management.
Valleroy is no stranger to the job, having served three decades as athletic director before stepping down in 2020.
“I've been out for four years and did it for 27, so it's going to take a little bit of rust off and jump back into, kind of helping the school,” Valleroy said. “I guess they couldn't find anyone else. And so, Mel Kirn and I, who's our girls basketball coach, we're going to kind of double team it together.
“He’s a little older than me. He’s retired and everything, so we got together and thought we could help the school out.”
Valleroy, 60, stepped down as AD, a position he’d held since 1993, in 2020 and handed over the responsibilities to then-newly hired SV football coach Tim Schumer. At the time, Valleroy said it was a big job, especially at a smaller school like St. Vincent, where many responsibilities fall on the desk of the athletic director. That could be anything from organizing schedules and assigning officials for games to making sure the grass is mowed on the football field for Friday night’s home game, or coordinating transportation once the school obtained its own bus fleet.
“There are many things that go on behind the scenes that many people don’t know about,” Valleroy said during a 2020 interview. “Out of 365 days, I’m probably at school about 330 of them doing something.”
That’s not likely to change much this year, although Valleroy said he does expect to see some different things ahead.
“Well, you know, there's always some changes every year with the Missouri State High School Activities Association,” Valleroy said. “There's always rule changes and stuff, so I probably need to, you know, update myself on that. I try to keep myself updated, but I'm always I'm sure I missed something that didn't apply to my sport or something. I might have missed that. I guess the main thing, the big thing is, instead of just worrying about my sport, I've got to worry about the whole program now and everything.”
Valleroy said Schumer would continue as the football head coach and that he would also continue as an elementary P.E teacher, boys basketball coach and the assistant golf coach, a new position he added last year.
“Our golf coach last year was new and he was one of my former players and students, and he asked me to come help them,” Valleroy said. “It was a pleasure to be around the kids, and it was a great year for the golf team. We got a state champion out of it.”
With all that on his plate, Valleroy said he’s glad to have a partner.
“I plan on doing that again,” Valleroy said. “I'm going to stay down there and still teach elementary P.E. and then just do my AD work whenever it's during my free time and everything. I'll just get on the AD work and then, like I said, I'll have Mel there to help me with things that I can't get done or maybe needs to get done.”
Vallroy added that after four years away from the position, it may take a minute to get back in the swing of things.
“I may have to take a little bit to get going again, to make sure I'm caught up on everything and making sure that wasn't no different rule changes, and go ahead and just kind of communicate with the coaches and get with them and help them any way I can,” Valleroy said.
In the meantime, the search for a new permanent AD will continue.
“We did have some people apply for it and they looked into it, but then they decided they didn't want the job, Valleroy said. “And so we got here in about the middle of June here, and we didn't have anybody, so that's where Mel and I kind of stepped up and said, ‘hey, we'll help you out for at least this year.’ And that gives the school at least a year to try to look, to find somebody. And hopefully there is somebody out there.”
