As far as Ed Blasier is concerned, high school golf is on the verge of blossoming into a popular sport in Geauga County in only a few years’ time and will have a front row seat to it, as he was announced as the new Badger boys’ golf coach on June 10.
“It is a tremendous feeling,” the first-year coach told The Weekly Villager on June 11. “I have been wanting to be a varsity head coach for a while. I played high school golf, and I was in really good hands with the gentlemen that preceded me, we had a great time, and the kids really had a great experience last fall so for me to succeed him is quite an honor.”
Blaiser succeeds Chandler Verhas, who is leaving the program after serving as the head boys’ golf coach after two seasons. Blasier worked as the junior varsity coach for the boys’ and girls’ teams last fall.
Since arriving as a teacher in the school district, Blasier has been an assistant coach for several athletic programs, including being the eighth-grade middle school boys’ basketball coach and the junior varsity high school baseball coach for the previous two seasons.
His role with the Berkshire golf program appeared to be in question as the Board of Education eliminated the junior varsity golf programs for the 2026 fall season but Blasier said that he planned on still finding a way to assist Verhas and girls’ head Coach Doug Lory in some capacity.
According to him, Verhas personally asked him to succeed him as the boys’ golf coach after he announced he would not return for a fourth season.
He added that having Blasier’s stamp of approval carried a lot of weight with Berkshire’s Athletic Director Brian Hiscox and the Board of Education.
“Being both teachers, we both championed that student-athlete piece, so we were pretty symmetrical as far as our ideals and I believe it is going to be seamless for the kids especially since I am a familiar face in the district and in the program.,” noted.
Blasier currently works in the school district as a multiple disability unit teacher and said that he has drawn from his experiences playing golf, which is a sport that requires patience and discipline, to shape his teaching identity when it comes to dealing with his students.
“I can remember myself as a young golfer, maybe being frustrated with the nuance of the sport,” he acknowledged. “I am here today because of the people here before me. I had a wonderful gentleman as my high school golf coach who was a science teacher in the district and was just very patient and very good at instructing.”
Blasier said that the path he has been on and people that he has collaborated with over the years have influenced him and enabled him to find his teaching voice.
A graduate of Harvey High School, Blasier played golf for three years, starting with the junior varsity program in his freshman year, earning a promotion to the varsity level in his sophomore year and spending his entire junior campaign as a varsity starter.
Blasier said that golf was a popular sport in the City of Painesville during his school days, and he wants the sport to carry the same excitement in Geauga County as it does in Lake County.
“I always believed that golf is on the rise, but I firmly believe that golf will elevate in the next three to five years in the county to a much higher level than what has been seen before,” he said.
Blasier sees his appointment as the new boys’ golf coach as perfect timing with the sport verging on reaching new heights of popularity and his belief has been rewarded by the quality of student-athletes, as in his first year with the golf program, he worked with players who were new to the sport but displayed the right attitude.
“They are a wonderful group of boys and young ladies and what I mean by that is that they have a wonderful temperament,” he said. “They do not get rattled, they do not do anything egregious, they are very graceful and humble with athletics and that has been very encouraging for me.”
Just last year, Blasier said the Berkshire boys’ golf team had 14 players participating in the program, with eight competing at the junior varsity level and six being on the varsity squad.
Blasier expects that number to grow this year and with no junior varsity program, he acknowledged there will not be enough room to field every interested athlete but will not have a shortage of students to select from.
