Bolles Coaching Staff Celebrations
Bolles Coaching Staff Celebrations
August 22, 2024
As a new school year and new swimming season begins, The Bolles School re-structured several staff positions to better serve the student-athletes in the Bolles swimming programs. This week Head Coach and Aquatics Director Peter Verhoef announced to the team that Coach Dale Porter and Coach Alexis Keto were assigned titles of “Associate Head Coach” and Jake Gibbons was assigned title of “Varsity Head Coach”. In addition, Coach Dale Porter was celebrated for being named to the American Swim Coach Associations list of top 50 Age Group Coaches. The title assignments for Coach Dale, Coach Alexis, and Coach Jake formally support their current roles on the team and allow for the swimmers and staff to celebrate their contributions of leadership.
Coach Dale is currently the Head Age Group Coach and his Associate Head Coach title will include the continued leadership and development of the Age Group Program. Coach Dale leads the coaches working with all swimmers 8th grade and younger and is the lead coach for the Middle School and Great White practice groups in the Sharks club program. He will continue in his role as the Head Middle School Coach for the Bulldogs FHSAA programs. Bolles swimming is honored this week to have Coach Dale recognized by ASCA as a top 50 Age Group coach in the country. In his words, this award reflects the effort and work of the whole team. Notably the Sharks program was listed by ASCA as 23rd in their list of Top 100 Age Group programs in the country.
Coach Alexis Keto was assigned the title of Bolles School Sharks Associate Head Coach to better serve the team through her role as Meet Director, Florida Swimming committee member, and senior coach leading club and supporting varsity programs. While she has already excelled in these roles since coming on board in 2022, she is eager to expand her impact in the Bolles community and in the swimming community nationally. She will continue to lead the Sharks ‘Late Night’ program and support the entire senior program on deck. With a growing program of over 160 9th grade and older student-athletes, her new title will allow for strong coach leadership for meets, events, and governance when other senior coaches are not available.
Coach Jake Gibbons has faithfully co-coached the National practice group at Bolles alongside Head Coach Peter Verhoef since his hire in 2022. He has taken on the responsibilities of organizing the Bolles Bulldog Swimming and Diving program in those years and Bolles Swimming is excited to announce he will be the official Head Varsity Coach. This position change reflects a growing need to have a dedicated leader to oversee the tradition and legacy of the Bolles High School programs. His role includes organizing the FHSAA competition schedule, creating event lineups, working with the Bolles Athletic Department on student-athlete eligibility and safety, and completing recognition programs or media obligations related to the Varsity program. Jake will continue to assist the National practice group and serve as Swim Camp Director.
Head Coach and Aquatics Director Peter Verhoef will continue in his current role leading all aspects of the Bolles Swimming programs. With recent program success and growth these title changes allow for more leadership across all levels of the program and reflect the value and commitment the Bolles School has in swimming for student-athletes. He had this to say about the recent staff celebrations;
“Our swim programs have grown tremendously in both size and quality in the past 5 years. We are excited for that growth, and thankful for a Bolles administration that supports us by recognizing evolving leadership needs. Coach Dale, Coach Alexis, and Coach Jake have been working tirelessly to serve Bolles, these title changes allow them to formally lead their respective areas, giving them professional credibility in the swimming community. As we continue to look forward in an ever- changing landscape of interscholastic and collegiate sports, having staff positions capable of leadership in Age Group, Governance, and FHSAA arenas (to name a few) only make my own position more effective and create better outcomes for our 500+ student-athletes.
We are especially proud of Coach Dale’s humble work to serve Bolles resulting in our young swimmers being ranked nationally. It is with great appreciate we can celebrate him being one of the 50 best coaches in the country!
Please join me in recognizing the contributions of our entire staff of 19 staff members that are the heart and soul of the Bolles Swimming programs. We take the responsibility of pursuing excellence with the utmost respect and today we can celebrate the leadership of Coach Dale, Coach Alexis, and Coach Jake in that pursuit.”
