SIDNEY — Sidney High School head basketball coach Andy Slaughter addressed a joint meeting of the Kiwanis Club Sidney and the Sidney High School Key Club during their annual Thanksgiving lunch at the school’s library, Nov. 18.

Slaughter said his first coaching job was a fifth-grade, youth basketball team. He also coached at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels before becoming head coach at Crooksville, Ohio. However, it was not the ideal situation as he was teaching at a different high school. The head coaching position became vacant in Sidney, and he jumped at the chance to both coach and teach at the same school.

When asked during the interview process if he planned to live in Sidney, Slaughter stated, “Yes, I want to be a part of the community.” After he moved his family here, he said he “was excited to be part of the Sidney community.” All of his children attend Sidney City Schools.

Slaughter said there is more to basketball than just working with the individual athlete. “I believe in involving the family with everything we do,” he said.

According to Slaughter, the future looks bright for Sidney basketball. There are more than 100 kids in the new youth program that Slaughter started after arriving is Sidney. “We have a good crop of returning players and some exciting, talented young players coming up,” Slaughter concluded.

At the previous meeting, Phil Warnecke was named Kiwanian of the Year for 2014-2015.