Today, UBC Thunderbirds Baseball officially announced that Chris Pritchett will become the team’s new head coach.
Thunderbirds baseball selected Pritchett as the replacement for Terry McKaig who has been the team’s head coach since 1997. McKaig is leaving his position to become the first director of baseball, a more managerial position for the program.
Pritchett said he feels grateful and excited to become the new head coach of a team that he has long supported and even worked with for a period of time back in the early 2000s.
“I’ve been around with the program for a lot longer than people think and I’ve always had a tremendous amount of respect for it. So again, that adds to the excitement of being on the inside now,” said Pritchett.
A native of northern California, Pritchett played professional baseball for over 13 years, including five seasons with the Vancouver Canadians. While residing in Vancouver, Pritchett was actively involved in coaching baseball for children and youth in the local community. He was also a professional scout for the Boston Red Sox for the past five years.
The hiring process for the new head coach was a competitive one; Pritchett was one of 30 to 40 other applicants. McKaig said that since recruiting is essential to the Thunderbirds’ success, Pritchett’s experience as a professional scout was one factor that made him an especially suitable candidate.
“His job over the last four years was to know every best player in Canada, so I think he can go in and recruit any kid in the country,” said McKaig.
In addition to experience with recruiting players, McKaig said that he also sees Pritchett’s professional playing career as an asset to the Thunderbirds in that it solidly establishes his credibility as a coach to the players.
“When you have a playing resume like that, that you’ve been a professional player for that long, every one of our players is going to want to listen to him on his thoughts on hitting and on pitching,” said McKaig.
McKaig, who now has to leave his coaching job behind, said that while coaching the Thunderbirds is a job that he will feel sentimental about, he is also excited to be moving to the next phase of his career.
“I definitely will miss coaching, but I’m so excited with where we’re going in terms of our overall vision,” said McKaig.
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