Jon Roesch hired as new CSB Assistant Athletic Director

Earlier this summer, CSB’s athletic director (AD) Kelly Anderson Diercks announced that the athletics program would be getting a new assistant AD. She appointed Jon Roesch, a former girl’s high school basketball coach since 2018 at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School.

Roesch had been at Sauk Rapids-Rice since 2001, where he was a mathematics teacher and handled administration duties, such as chairing search committees and mentoring student teachers, among other things.

Roesch has been honored numerous times for his work as a basketball coach. He was the 3A Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 2002-03 as well as the Minnesota River Conference Coach of the Year in 1999-2000.

“I applied for the position in the middle of July when it first opened up,” Roesch said via email. “When looking over the job description, having a good understanding of the College of St. Benedict and its athletics programs, and knowing that my qualifications matched the position well, I believed I would be a great fit for the position.”

Anderson Diercks also spoke of the qualities she found appealing in assistant AD Roesch.

“Certainly, his experience stood out,” Anderson Diercks said via email. “The hiring committee felt that Jon would bring a well-rounded perspective to the position and would have the ability to hit the ground running. “

An Assistant AD has many different responsibilities, but Anderson Diercks expects Roesch to contribute to two key areas.

“Two of Jon’s major responsibilities are overseeing compliance and being the advisor for our student-athlete advisory committee,” Anderson Diercks said. “There is a lot of work that goes into compliance in the fall and making sure all of our student-athletes are certified and have completed all of their requirements to compete, so that has taken up large amounts of his time thus far.”

Roesch also spoke about his responsibilities, citing them not as jobs to get done but as opportunities to work.

“I’ve had the opportunity to take some responsibilities off our coaching staff and during the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve already had outstanding mentorship from the experienced,” Roesch said. “I’ve worked with an outstanding group of student-athletes with developing activities that promote building our community, both on and off campus.”

Roesch will also oversee student-athlete programming, athletic media relations, game day operations, athletic department fundraisers, budgeting assistance and other day-to-day needs.

Anderson Diercks has high expectations for Roesch this year as he embarks on his first year as an athletic staff member at CSB.

“My expectations for the Assistant AD position are that we have added a key member to our staff,” Anderson Diercks said. “This role is going to allow us to not only focus on improving the experience for our student-athletes, but also for our coaches and other athletic staff as well. “

Expectations are one thing, and delivering on them is another. Roesch said he believes that he can improve the experience of the student-athletes of the CSB over the next year.

“I believe that I hold myself and those that I work with to a high standard,” Roesch said. “I want all of our student athletes to have an outstanding experience while they are here.”

Roesch said he has set clear goals for himself to be part of CSB and he knows the ways he can do that.

“I want to be a part of the process of continually building our culture with all our teams of having high integrity, of competing at a high level in the classroom and on the playing field, and of a sense of pride in our Bennie community!” Roesch said.