CatchMark tech support employee Jonah Kelley pounced on Hart’s soccer head coaching job after being on the Shelby staff a season ago.
“I have been looking for an opportunity to set the standards for success and culture at the varsity level for a while now, and after the position opened up, I was thrilled at the prospect of doing that at Hart,” said Kelley.
His roots began in Shelby, where he is an alumnus of the school. Kelley was a three-sport athlete and starred in baseball, basketball, and soccer.
He was a three-year varsity player on the baseball team, where he pitched and played shortstop. Kelley was also named team captain his senior season. He played two varsity basketball seasons as a shooting guard. “I wasn’t very good, but I had fun shooting an absurd amount of three-pointers. We won conference and the district my junior year behind the incredible play of Jeff and Danny Beckman,” said Kelley.
His most accomplished sport, however, was soccer, where he was a two-time All-Conference player as well as an All-District nominee. As a senior, he was named All-Area and an All-State Honorable Mention. Kelley, a 2017 graduate, had what he calls a dream season his senior year. As the goalie, he helped lead Shelby to an 18-2-1 season, which was unfortunately cut short due to a District Finals upset.
Kelley went on to attend West Shore Community College and Ferris State University and studied tech. “I took a C# programming class and loved it my freshman year of college, but more importantly, I saw that I could work in any industry (healthcare, schools, private sector) and would always have good job stability, which would allow me to have some flexibility and do things like coach soccer,” Kelley said.
Ben Kelley, a current tech worker as well as Jonah’s brother, recommended CatchMark Technologies to Jonah after school.
Now, after being with the company for almost three years, Kelley has established his craft.
“I’ve been involved in numerous service areas: I’ve built websites, announced at basketball games, dabbled in cybersecurity, and done a lot of tech work. I’ve gained far more experience than I ever thought I could in my almost three years here. I love the people I work with and am grateful for a culture where individuals hold each other accountable and continuously push each other to be better,” Kelley remarked.
After being an assistant for Shelby’s varsity soccer team, Kelley was interested in moving up the ranks and into a head coaching position.
“I want to do a lot of things, I think the biggest being to foster a high-energy, competitive, and inclusive environment of people who push each other to get better so that we can have success on the soccer field, in life, and bring others along with us,” Kelley said when asked about the type of atmosphere he wants to bring to the program.
After a 12-9 season and a 7th-place finish a season ago, Kelley has his hands full, and we would like to wish him luck on behalf of the whole SportsNet team!
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