VALDOSTA – Buck Coats, a former Major League Baseball player, is a new athletic director at Scintilla Charter Academy, according to a school statement.

Coats will be the athletic director for fifth grade through eighth grade and will oversee athletics in Scintilla’s new middle school program. He’ll be the head baseball coach and a physical education instructor, according to the statement. 

He joins the Scintilla staff alongside Merlin Paulk, the school’s athletic director and physical education teacher for kindergarten through fourth grade. The duo will work to expand Scintilla’s physical education and sports program.

Coats is a Valdosta High graduate who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2000, according to mlb.com. 

Aside from the Cubs, he’s played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Toronto Blue Jays, according to the Scintilla statement.

“He was also a member of Team USA baseball, helping to secure the gold medal for Team USA in the World Cup Tournament in Italy in the Summer of 2009. He has been working as a professional hitting coach and MLB scout for the Los Angeles Angels,” it read.

Scintilla plans to debut its expansion by adding seventh grade during the 2021-22 school year and adding eighth grade during the 2022-23 school year.

“We are thrilled to welcome Buck to the SCA family and look forward to offering our scholars the opportunity to participate in a high-quality sports program,” Mandy Avera, Scintilla’s dean, said in the statement.

Visit scintillacharteracademy.com for more information.