MORGANTOWN — Recent changes will make the future of athletics at Trinity Christian School slightly different. Still, a familiar face will be the next to hold the position of TCS Athletic Director, as head football coach Jason White was announced as the school’s new AD last week.
White, a Beckley native and 2009 Shady Spring High School graduate, has coached various sports around the Monongalia County area since 2012 when he began as an intern with the University High School football team while attending West Virginia University.
“I came to school at WVU and never really left,” White said. “My first gig was at University High as a volunteer intern coach, and then I was with the UHS football program and then both football and track at Mountaineer Middle School for nine years. That was before I arrived at Trinity in 2020 and eventually took over the middle and high school track positions.”
White has coached multiple sports, from basketball to softball to track and field, and he feels he understands what it takes to have successful programs in multiple sports.
“I feel very prepared from the vast opportunities I’ve been blessed with,” he said. “God has been preparing me every step of the way for this job, and I keep unearthing new ways to learn — not only how to find success in the game itself but also some of the intricacies and behind-the-scenes things that need attention.”
White follows former TCS athletic director Codey Horton, who served three years while acting as head boys’ basketball coach for two years.
“I am great friends with Codey, and I was lucky to see the amazing job he did during his time at Trinity,” White said. “He laid a foundation of success for the school to build on, and we want to keep going with that. There’s no need to fix what isn’t broken. Many of those things that he put into motion, we want to continue to move those forward. We will certainly have new goals that we want to keep working towards also.”
Despite having experience coaching at the high school level with UHS, White admits adjusting to a smaller school like TCS took time.
“Four years ago, there’s no way I would’ve been prepared for this role of athletic director,” he said. “At a bigger school, you can access many athletes, and few cross over into other sports. Some do two sports and maybe even three, but at Trinity, we have had the challenge of our athletes playing three or even four sports during the school year. It’s just a unique situation to manage for players and coaches, but seeing them work together for what’s best for our athletes and each other is a blessing.”
White is also the new head football coach at Trinity Christian and said they plan to field a team this coming season with a schedule already in place after a one-year hiatus last season.
Although a generation of talent, such as Levi Teets, Jenna Barnett, Ben Lohmann and Carter Hartsock have moved on, White knows the young talent at the school in freshmen like Peyton Moore, Paige Hopkins and Elicia McCurrie, gives TCS much to look forward to.
“We have some incredible young athletes, even at the middle school level, that will be fun to watch going forward,” White said. “Not only are they great athletes, but they’re also great kids and work hard. Seeing how they grow as athletes and as people now is awesome, but watching them grow to who they will be is even better.”
