Wilson steps down as HCHS head softball coach

 HARLAN -- Calling it a difficult, but necessary, life decision, Brooke Wilson recently stepped down from her position as head coach of the Harlan Community softball team.
 Wilson notified the players of her decision on October 25 and her resignation was approved by the HCS Board of Education November 4.
 Wilson compiled a record of 68-70 during four seasons as the coach of her high school alma mater, highlighted by a 28-8 mark this past summer when the Cyclones notched their most wins since 2012, won their first outright Hawkeye Ten Conference title since 2013 and recorded their first postseason victory since 2015.
 Wilson called a team meeting for the morning of Friday, Oct. 25, to let her players be the first to know.
 “It was really hard. There were a lot of tears,” she said. “I just felt like the girls deserved to hear it from me first and hear it from me face to face. They’ve been so great and I’ve had so much fun and loved coaching them. We have a really good relationship, which I think showed this past season.”
 The reason for Wilson’s resignation is commendable. She and her husband Quinn are expecting their first child in late April. Official softball practices begin May 11. Wilson wants to be 100 percent focused on caring for her newborn.
 “Quinn and I have been trying to start our family for quite some time now,” she said. “The timing is not ideal, but we were just going to take what we could get. It’s God’s timing.
 “I just didn’t think there was a way that I could do both 100 percent and I want to give my all to whatever I do. I just felt like stepping down was not only fair to the team, but fair to myself and my family.”
 HCS Activities Director Davis Pattee said the search for a new softball coach is still “in the early stages of the process,” noting that the position was just posted the week of November 11.