After one-year absence, Seitz excited for return to Eastern York sideline

So when it comes to coaching in the local high school basketball, the word never must be thrown around lightly. 
 
It has became more of a trend now a days to have retirement which are nothing but sabbatical. One more that should be added to that list is the name of Eastern York boys’ basketball coach is Justin Seitz. 
 
Exactly one year after resigning to devote much time to his work and his family, the time that Seitz spent out of touch with the bench, uncharacteristically brief. It was not a course that Seitz who trained the Golden Knights for five years and recently retired in2023 could have entertained, two months ago. 
 
Troy Sowers who took over the position of Seitz in the previous season penned down his resignation in April leaving the program virtually ‘headless’ for their summer league team. All it took was a few players to ask the old coach after he left to come back and with some of the players like Justin Seitz’s son Brady asking him it started the process of him coming back. 
 
“I did not plan being back again. ” This was said by Justin Seitz. “Well it is ironic, because I have had a few people text me and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t think you would ever be coaching (high school) again’ , but all the cards fell perfectly for me to be right here at this point. 
 
Brady Seitz and his teammates felt that Justin Seitz could at least help them out in a summer league game or two, and here is the former preparing to lead the Golden Knights on the basketball floor this winter. 
 
The process of hiring a replacement for Carter at Eastern took somewhat longer because the school itself was in the midst of looking for an athletic director following Knaub’s resignation. The new AD at Eastern York was Matthew Fanelli, and he did not even join the team until May. 

“I imagine they expected the AD to be in place before they hired a boys’ (basketball) coach,” Seitz said. “That is my understanding maybe, or what I think of that. ” 
 
Although Seitz had never met him, he provided a reference for another candidate for the AD position and this way got a chance to meet Fanelli. As it happened the month of June shifted the boys’ basketball hiring to further heights. 
 
“They were going through the process and I was just kind of doing my own thing and I was a reference (for someone else) and that actually led to some conversations,’’ Seitz added. 
 
Depending on the sports activities, returning technical director Seitz sees no too revolutionary changes for the program. Following Sowers’ Mid-Season , the sponsored squad went on to secure the District 3 Class 4A championship and a PIAA quarterfinal position this past winter while Seitz, whose previous team of Golden Knights registered a PIAA quarterfinal performance, hopes to take Eastern York to the next level. 
 
“That’s the expectation,” nodded Seitz. “Apparently, the Seminoles have a lot of talent coming back this year With my son, Brady, going to be senior, Carter Wamsley going to be a senior, Their class and the one behind them … I have been coaching them since they were in the third grade so I knew them personally rather than just the player and the coach. ” 
 
Providing the program with a familiar feel and loyalty to his university education also influenced his decision. 
 
“This is only a one shot thing that has just emerged and indeed it is a shot that I would want to ensure that they at least have some form of consistency with the coach,” Seitz said. “Coaches change and any time you can give a child some stability and continuity, you hate to see a kid have three different coaches over four years or whatever it is, so this was a good opportunity. ” 
 
That being said, this season, Seitz returns to the team, but a discussion about remaining with Eastern York in the long-term will not be possible until the season has ended. 
 
“Every high school coaching position that I know of is a yearly contract,” Seitz said. “We are going to manage the one year and then that’s it and then we will move to the next level. ”