Koumaras takes the helm at Boys and Girls Club

By: CRAIG TENBROECK - Staff Writer | Tuesday, June 26, 2007 12:42 AM PDT ∞

VISTA -- Matt Koumaras, the new executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Vista, said he already feels at home in the California Avenue complex --- he just hasn't figured out yet which keys unlock which doors.

"It'll probably take about seven years," he joked Wednesday while hunting for the key to the computer lab on his massive new key ring.

Koumaras, the executive director of the Boys and Girls Club in Santa Cruz for the past four years, took the helm of the Vista facility on June 4.

He relieved Howard Amend, who had stepped in as interim director in early February, when the club parted ways with its previous executive director, Peggy Reiber.

"I'm leaving it in good hands," Amend said Wednesday. "I'm very confident."

The Boys and Girls Club operates a variety of after-school youth programs and activities for children, and especially seeks to help those from disadvantaged households.

In 2006, the club served around 1,300 children, Koumaras said.

During a walk-through of the facility Wednesday, Koumaras described several changes on his agenda designed to boost fundraising, broaden the club's appeal to older youth and encourage members to stop by more often.

In Santa Cruz, he said, the club used donated instruments and professional-grade computer software to create an authentic music studio. Members even made their own Christmas album, he said.

"I'd like to get something like that started here and try to get more teens out to the club," said Koumaras, 38, who is a guitarist himself.

Koumaras said he will also try to start a digital arts program and additional athletic programs, such as dodgeball, roller hockey and basketball. But all that will require more aggressive recruitment of volunteers, he said.

"We have a great staff, but we're not running the programs we need to run," he said.

On the administrative end, Koumaras said he wants to increase the size of the organization's 13-member board to bolster its presence in the community.

"Two or three people here and there would really help," he said.

Jim Baumann, a board member at the Vista club, said a search committee received more than 20 applications for the executive director job and interviewed three candidates in person during the four-month search.

Koumaras, who lives in east Oceanside, won the job largely because of his experience, Baumann said.

"You're not getting somebody who hopes they can do it or thinks they can do it," he said. "You're getting somebody who has done it."

-- Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.

Related links:

http://www.bgcvista.com/