Beth Maher will not return as the girls high school basketball coach at Shanley High School in North Dakota next season despite a positive upward trend during her tenure. She was fired over the weekend.
It was not a resignation!
The third-year high school basketball coach was forced out of her role by a group of disgruntled parents. A large portion of the community and other parents with girls on the team aren’t happy with the decision.
Beth Maher and the boys high school basketball coach were fired.
Shanley High School is located in Fargo, North Dakota. It is a private school that falls under the greater umbrella of St. John Paul II Catholic Schools. The Deacons play on the Division AA level of competition.
Maher was hired as the girls coach prior to the 2023-24 season. She inherited a program that had finished near the bottom of district standings in each of the three years prior. It was a slow rebuild.
Shanley finished with an abysmal overall record of 9-17 in Maher’s first season at the helm, but it bounced right back with fourth-place district finish in year two. This past season was a huge step forward. The Deacons once again finished fourth in the district but they made the state tournament for the first time since 2021. Not only did her team show tangible improvement year over year, Maher produced four all-conference and two all-state players.
Despite the upward trajectory, Shanley fired its girls basketball coach after three seasons. It also fired its boys basketball coach after three-straight seasons with five wins or less. That move made sense! The other came as a pretty big surprise.
Beth Maher made it abundantly clear that she did not resign from her role. The school forced her out. It was not a mutual decision or parting of ways. Nothing like that.
Maher wanted to keep coaching and thought she did a good enough job to continue. A group of disgruntled parents apparently disagreed.
Shanley parents are frustrated by the power dynamics.
According to local North Dakota sports reporter Dom Izzo, Maher’s ouster stemmed from something of a coup amongst parents with daughters on the team. They wanted her gone. Shanley obliged.
To wrap the show, @DomIzzoWDAY tells us the reasonings he was given on why Shanley let their head basketball coaches go pic.twitter.com/0zaeM52tx0
— Hot Mic with Dom Izzo (@HotMicWDAY) April 14, 2026
Activities director Mark Hollcraft did not have a strong enough spine to tell them no and his decision sets a concerning precedent for the future. If he fired a fairly successful coach now because the parents wanted her out, what is to stop them from doing the same thing in the future? What about the other parents with athletes on other teams? What is to stop them from doing the same thing?
Kanel Hanson’s daughter plays for the Deacons. He does not agree with the firing of Beth Maher.
“I’m a parent of a player. It was fun seeing the direction the girls team was headed. Disappointing how it was handled and scary now not knowing future. Lots of pressure on the AD, President, next coach and any of the parents that wanted this to happen. Glad I’m not any of the above.”
He is grateful for the heart and soul that Maher (and her family!) poured into the program.
“I put Beth in the same category as Troy Mattern. Great people with insane passion for Deacon’s athletics. They are not coaching for the money. To listen to parents or players is insane if the coaches are winning and there isn’t abuse. I seriously can’t wrap my head around how this was handled. Beth’s mom, dad and sister showed up to Every. Single. Game. Her nieces and nephews were there. It was incredible to see. That will be incredibly missed.”
Good luck to whomever is hired as her replacement. Your clock is already ticking before the parents want you gone and Mark Hollcraft pulls the trigger!