Ritchhart Named Head Coach at Kentucky Christian

(Story provided by Kentucky Christian Sports Information)

GRAYSON, Ky. - Ritchhart has come to KCU after coaching at NCAA DII Union University this past year where he was a first-time assistant in his career after 27 years
as a head coach. Prior to his year at Union he was the head softball coach at Bryan College for five years. He was named the 2022 Appalachian
Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as he led the team to its first AAC Conference Title. He also took the team to the National Tournament where
they defeated the #6 ranked team and led the program to a historic season, tallying 31 wins.

Ritchhart coached at Central Christian College of Kansas for two years where he completed the challenging task of restoring a struggling program.

From 2000 to 2015, Ritchhart coached Pine Castle Christian Academy where he held many positions such as Athletic Director, Dean of Students, Director of Student Development, while teaching classes in PE, Character Development and Bible. However, the entire 15 years he also coached the successful varsity softball team. While coaching, he was a six-time Florida High School Softball Coach of the Year, District Softball Coach of the Year for nine consecutive years, two-time state of Florida recipient of the Sportsmanship award, and won three Florida High School State Championships.

Before coaching high school, Ritchhart worked at Florida Southern College where he coached the nationally competitive water ski team, was an admission counselor, and was the Associate Director of the Wellness Center.

Ritchhart's first love was baseball but his athletic career took off as a water skier. Starting in Lake of the Ozark's Missouri, he skied as a professional, including several years performing in our country's top shows at Sea World in Ohio, Sea World in Florida and Cypress Gardens. Following his career, Ritchhart was recently inducted into the USA Water Ski Hall of Fame in 2019.

Coach Ritchhart received the blessing of ordination in 2018 and had the privilege of preforming two weddings from inside the athletic world. Ritchhart graduated from Northeast Missouri State University in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He also took additional classes from University of Central Florida and Florida Southern College. Ritchhart graduated high school in 1979 from Oskaloosa Senior High School in Iowa.