What does that mean for the sport? We caught up with CHSAA assistant commissioner Adam Bright, who oversees football, to ask.
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Question: What was the reasoning behind moving football to the spring?
Bright: Given current state guidelines, football and contact sports would not be able to resume on a normal calendar.
This is a year where we have to forget what the top of the calendar says. It really doesn’t matter what month it is. We have to be focused on the fact that the season is able to play, period. The fact that we are able to give these kids a chance to compete, to participate with their teammates, learn from their coaches, is what matters.
Q: OK spill the details … how many games, what do playoffs look like, and so on? What’s the plan?
Bright: It will start on Feb. 22, and run through May 8. Games will begin on March 4. There will not be a scrimmage week, nor will there be “foundation games” this season. Because of that, games will begin at the end of the second week of practice. Thursday, March 4 would be the first allowable game, meaning that teams will conduct practices Monday through Saturday during that first week, then would need three practices from Monday to Wednesday of the second week to achieve the mandatory nine practices prior to the first game.
The football season will be seven weeks long. Given that football is played only one game per week, seven games allows for a season that resembles a “normal” season and maximizes contests during the same number of weeks as other sports.
Football is being allowed to start practice a week earlier than other sports in Season C because of the required number of practices to begin play. And because it only has one game per week, the football postseason is extended an additional week to allow for a longer postseason.
Q: So with the season being reduced to seven games, how will scheduling work?
Bright: To build a schedule, we will build off of what their fall 2020 season was to look like. We will send this information to athletic directors so that there is a clear understanding of what schedules will look like.
The overarching goal is to have teams begin their schedules roughly midway through what would have been their normal schedule. For example, 5A and 4A will begin in Week 4 and play games 4-10 as games 1-7. In 3A the season would include Weeks 5-11, with 2A and below starting on Week 4 and playing through Week 10. Our friends in 6-man football would play games regularly scheduled in weeks 3 through 9 as games 1-7.
Obviously, there are things like bye weeks and out-of-state games for some teams in Weeks 4 and 5 mostly, and we will work in conjunction with athletic directors to build a database of open weeks for teams to fill. The expectation is teams will play their condensed season as scheduled, utilizing the database as a resource to fill previously scheduled bye weeks.
Q: In my best Jim Mora voice: “Playoffs? You want to talk about playoffs?”
Bright: The football postseason will see a reduction to eight teams in each classification. These eight teams will all enter the postseason at the same time, and championships will all be done on the same weekend.
As we have seen, things can change quickly within the pandemic, and as such, logistics like location and time for these championship games will be a work in progress as we move closer to that time. Seeding and qualification for the postseason will be based on the four data points within the CHSAA Seeding Index, with the top eight eligible teams in each classification being placed in the postseason.
Q: Are there any practice limits or other items that would be different than a “normal” season?
Bright: Again, as things can change during this pandemic, we would have to take a wait and see approach. We have discussed various practice guidelines and scenarios based on different levels of COVID-19 restrictions and outbreaks. To speak to what the end of February and the month of March will require on the 4th of August is premature.
If we do foresee needs for practice guidelines that differ from those in the past, I can assure our coaches that they will have plenty of time to implement any changes if necessary.
Baseball has a funny way about bringing out the romance in sports. Perhaps no one in Colorado knows that more than Cherry Creek coach Marc Johnson.
Nearly 50 years and 800-plus wins into his coaching career, his love for the game has never wavered. It has helped him develop relationships with countless kids that have come through his program and he’s hoping that’s a trend that will continue for years to come.
With baseball set to return at the professional level, Johnson couldn’t help but stress just how badly the game has been missed and how much it has meant to him and the hundreds of kids that have made their way through the Cherry Creek program.
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Question: How much have we missed baseball over the last few months?
Johnson: Oh, I think tremendously. I think the kids have missed it. I know the players, the major league players, have missed it. The fans have missed it. It’s been a real adjustment for everybody. I was watching a couple of summer camp games and it just looked so odd because there was nobody in the stands. I can tell you the businesses in LoDo miss it. Everybody that I know has missed it. The game has been missed very very much.
Q: When you think on your career at Cherry Creek, are you able to appreciate more now than maybe you did a year or two ago?
Johnson: Yes, absolutely. I will be starting my 49th year and I’ve never had a year like this, I think the one thing it does do is make you appreciate what you can do when you can do it.
Q: You have over 800 wins now, is there a point where you’ve considered slowing down or is this a game that’s just going to keep you in it as long as possible?
Johnson: As long as I’m healthy and as long as I feel the kids are still responding; the game is not about me or it’s not about even the sport itself, it’s about the kids that are playing it. As long as the kids are playing it are enjoying it, they’re getting better, and every kid’s not meant to play collegiately or professionally.
But I get to look back on my own personal time in baseball, and I’ve loved every second of it for the time I was five, six years old. People ask me all the time when I’m going to stop and that’s when kids don’t respond anymore or kids don’t show the passion that I love to see. I have a genuine love of the game itself and I’m not in coaching contrary to what a lot of people believe, they think I’m about winning games or setting records or something like that, but that has nothing to do with why I’m coaching. That’s meaningless to me. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, if it’s not, it’s not. I’m not concerned about that. My point is that I love to watch guys walk on the field and smile and be humble and gracious that they get the opportunity to play the game that I love. And I hope that I can transfer the passion, the love of the game to the kids.
One thing that I ask my players at the end of every season is to give something back to the game. Whether you play it again or you don’t. Whether you play collegiately or professionally. IF you’re a dad be a coach to a team, provide uniforms, be a sponsor, pay for umpires or help sponsor a team. Do something to keep the game going. This is a different era. Now you got all the clubs and these kids have three, four or five uniforms. They’re traveling at 10 years old. I used to wear a tee shirt with somebody’s auto shop or Joe’s Barbershop on the back. That was our sponsorship and we bought own pants. It hasn’t changed, the game itself for the love of the game, but what I want is I want to teach the kids to enjoy the game. And then if it’s meant to be that they play further on, then more power to them.
It’s a game that’s very valuable for life because there’s a lot of failure you have to deal with. The game itself, baseball, one of the beauties of it in my opinion is it’s life like. It’s very much like life. You can be riding up high and then it can slam you to the ground. And that’s true for big leaguers, minor leaguers, college players, even 10 year olds. But you know what? You have to learn how to handle that. And I think that’s a great life skill. You have to learn how to handle the things that don’t go well. How do I react to adversity? How do I make adjustments? How do I teach myself to be patient, to be persistent and to persevere?
It’s been a blessing and an honor for me to coach it. The game has kept me young because the players are young. I’m coaching guys that are 15, 18, 19, maybe, but you know what? They’re just young enough to keep you, keep you young and fired up and interested in going for it.
(Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Q: Is there a point where you’ve either seen a player that’s come through your program, that’s made it to the majors or just gone on to have a regular job and made his way back to say hello where you truly believe you’re in the right spot to help kids be successful?
Johnson: I do. And I felt it from both sides. I get a lot of response from my former players. Usually it’s one of two things. It’s something that’s going well in their life or getting married or having a baby, or when things are not going very well. I just try to respond and say, perseverance, stay with it, you’ll get through it. I’ve had the player who has gone on who didn’t play collegiately, but he’s gone on to be a great businessman, his kid is playing ball. I had someone the other day, because I’ve had a lot of my former players kids, and I’ve had players ask me if I’m going to give it up when you get the grandkids. I have my own grandkids and I’m watching them play.
Baseball’s a part of my blood. I feel that that’s where God has decided that I would best serve the community and the country. I still love doing it and I’m hoping to get another year of doing all that. These sports do so much for kids at the youth level, not just high school, but I just think it’s so important to them to have that experience, to learn how to compete ethically, to learn how to have fun and to learn how to handle losing with grace and not teach them that they have to love losing. I tell the guys every day for you, whether you’re playing a game or not, it’s a practice. That’s all it is. It’s a practice. It’s a practice for you for later. Baseball-wise, it’s a practice for life. It’s just a practice.
All of these kids, they all think I have to be this and I have be that. I have to be a big leaguer and I have to tell them fact. The fact is 10% of Division I players never play professionally. Four-point-five of those play in the big leagues. One of every 10,000 boys, not baseball players, but boys play in the major leagues. You shouldn’t be playing to be a major leaguer. You should be playing to be the best you can be.
Q: You have a vault of memories in your head from all the time that you’ve been coaching. If someone were to ask you, what’s the first memory that pops into your head when you think about your time at Cherry Creek, what pops in there?
Johnson: Two things. One thing is just having the pleasantness to be able to coach kids, that’s number one. And the second one would be when we won five straight titles in a row. That’s pretty rare from a winning thing. But working with the kids is much more important for me and every kid that ever played there. I’m hoping that they had a positive experience and I fully know that you can’t please all the people all the time, but I I’m hoping that their baseball experience transferred to their life. That’s a hope that I have. I’ve had great players, unbelievable coaches, a great administration. I’m one of the most blessed people on Earth doing what I love to do.I have people say we appreciate what you do and I appreciate the opportunity to do it.
Q: You wouldn’t be in this if you weren’t a baseball fan, what’s going to be your first thought when you can sit down, turn on the TV and watch the Rockies play after everything that’s gone on in the last few months?
Johnson: I’ll be very excited. I worked part time for the Rockies for seven or eight years. I love my home team. I’ll be excited and I’ll be fine just watching them, even if there aren’t fans. I certainly wish there were. I’m hoping that the gets back to what it’s about. It’s an entertaining game. It’s not a lot different than people who love to go to concerts. I love to watch college sports, I love to watch professional sports and obviously I’m a huge Broncos fan, a huge Nuggets fan and a huge Rockies fan, the Outlaws, it doesn’t matter to me. This is where I live. So I’m really looking forward to watching a game that is meaningful, even though I loved watching them last night or two at summer camp. But I’ll love it when it’s for real. Even a 60-game season is better than a zero-game season.
D’Evelyn’s Carter Smith didn’t win a Class 4A boys tennis title last fall, but his name and actions became the talk of Pueblo City Park.
Smith advanced to the second day of the tournament, playing the in No. 3 Singles semifinal against Cheyenne Mountain’s Oliver Muhl. The first set went into a tiebreaker and during a volley, Smith tired to beat Muhl with a forearm shot down the line. He and Muhl both watched as the shot landed out.
But the umpire observing on the court initially ruled it in, giving the point to Smith in a very pivotal point in the match.
“I knew it out, Oliver knew it was out,” Smith said. “I conceded the point.”
Tennis is a sport where more often than not, the players are forced to govern themselves. It’s like golf. The results are based on the integrity of the game and Smith grew up believing in that very integrity.
He went on to lose the set and eventually the match to Muhl. He eventually finished third in the bracket, but held his head high knowing that played his hardest and also played honestly.
“That was all him,” coach Woody Oliver said. “We obviously promote good sportsmanship and integrity and I’ve been frustrated myself as a player when there are situations where people take advantage of the fact that tennis is a self-regulated sport and they can take advantage of certain things a lot easier than you can in other sports.”
When the tournament was all said and done, the Jaguars finished fifth in the team standings, a high mark for the team. And despite Smith not advancing to the championship match in his No. 3 Singles bracket, his points for third place were crucial to the team’s final result.
Neither he or the team went home empty-handed either. His actions during his semifinal match was the catalyst for the Jags winning the Vicky Matarrazo Sportsmanship Award. Perhaps there was no bigger proponent for them than Cheyenne Mountain athletic director Kris Roberts who was front and center to watch Smith play the justly and honestly.
“I thought that was an incredible display,” Roberts said. “I feel like in the dynamic of that situation 95 percent of the time, that call doesn’t get made. The kid overruled the adult official and I thought that was incredible.”
Knowing the team hadn’t won state, but they were getting medalists, the Jags naturally stuck around for the awards ceremony. As Ed Francis, the man who runs the 4A tournament at Pueblo City Park, told Smith’s story he made sure to emphasize the importance of honesty in tennis. Yet, even when he announced D’Evelyn as the winner of the Matarrazo award, Smith’s reaction was that of genuine surprise.
“I don’t know many of the teams there and I don’t know the coaches,” Smith said. “It was cool that they noticed that moment. It was great, especially since it was the whole team that got recognized. It meant a lot.”
He hopes that in the coming years his results and the team’s result will improve. But in that moment, his values and his belief on how to play the game took forefront and even if it resulted in a loss, he held his head high.
“I hope people realize that sportsmanship should always come before winning,” Smith said.
Every once in a while it turns out the kids can teach a lesson in high school athletics.
Commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green took questions from CHSAA’s student leadership community as part of their virtual student leadership conference, held on Wednesday.
Questions ranged from her heroes growing up to the impact of COVID-19 to the movement for social and racial justice.
If there’s one thing that former Pueblo West pitcher RJ Dabovich learned the last couple months, it’s that there is no one way to achieve an ultimate goal.
His ultimate goal was to get to the professional baseball level. His path involved betting on himself and taking the right steps to make it happen, not necessarily the biggest steps.
Dabovich had Division I plans after high school. He had initially committed to Wichita State to continue his baseball career. A coaching change halted those plans as he didn’t feel the same connection with the new staff as he did the one that recruited him.
A change had to be made and a guy that had proven he could generate the interest of D-1 level schools made a decision that on the surface looked like a step backwards.
The reality is it was anything but.
“I didn’t really have any big-time offers or any schools that I was comfortable going to,” Dabovich said. “One because I wasn’t good enough and two, it was so late (in the process). So I sat down with my parents and coaches and people I really trusted and talked about going the (junior college) route and what it meant for me.”
He knew one thing that it was going to mean. He was going to have to put his head down and work. His path was only just the beginning. For a lot of high school recruits, the post-high school aim is to head at a Division I school.
For Dabovich, he was going to use the benefits that the JuCo route offered to improve his game and get the next step in the process.
“There are no restrictions on how many practices you can get in baseball,” West coach Dan Sanchez said. “For any kid that has a ton of potential, it’s a great route. Knowing that he was going to figure that out and grow into that body, I think it was a great decision.”
Dabovich made his way to Central Arizona College and finished his freshman year with a 9-3 record and a 1.81 ERA. The Division I calls came quick and the very next year Dabovich was suiting up for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
But he had the option to skip that step all together. He was taken by the Kansas City Royals in the 18th round of the MLB Draft, but opted to go to Tempe instead.
“My goal, my dream was right there in front of me,” Dabovich said. “It was a hard decision to make and it actually took me a while. I talked with my family and advisors and we decided that I should bet on myself again so I went to Arizona State.”
The decision paid off.
Last month he was taken by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round of the MLB Draft. He was taken just four picks after Douglas County senior Case Williams.
Dabovich signed his contract with the Giants organization and is now officially a Major League Baseball prospect. But his journey is far from over. And if he’s learned anything in the last three years, it’s that there is no one way to get to his desired location.
The important part is knowing how to navigate the trail and he’s done fine with it so far.
In just the second season for the Riverdale Ridge softball team, the Ravens looked like a team that was ready for the big stage.
Makenna Meyer was certainly one of the big reasons for that as she provided a spark both at the plate and in the pitching circle. There was a bit of a catch to her statline, however. She wasn’t entirely healthy.
She suffered a foot injury the year before and during the 2019 season, she continued to have lingering issues.
“She had surgery and re-injured the foot again,” coach Ray Garza said. “She actually played on a broken foot the entire year that hadn’t quite healed correctly.”
If no one knew about the injury, there wouldn’t have been anything to indicate there was a problem. Meyer led the Ravens with a .535 batting average. She totaled 12 extra-base hits, two of which were home runs.
The numbers were pretty close to freshman Aubree Davis, who batted .526 with 15 extra-base hits and fellow senior-to-be Destiny Hackney who hit .520 with 15 extra-base hits. All three tied for the team lead with two long balls.
(Photo courtesy of Makenna Meyer)
Where Meyer was even more crucial for the team was with her work as a pitcher. She finished the year with a 12-3 record, 2.40 ERA and totaled 141 strikeouts to just 20 walks.
“I struggled a bit after my surgeries,” Meyer said. “But I’m the kind of person where softball for me is a therapy. Being on the field is like my second home and all that adrenaline in my body and the desire to get out and show everyone what our team could do gave me that extra push.”
The Ravens entered the Class 3A softball tournament as the No. 5 seed, but Garza and his players believed that they had a chance to contend for a state title.
Being a young team on such a big stage played a hand in a 6-5 loss to Strasburg in the quarterfinals.
“That atmosphere as a whole didn’t allow us to be who we were,” Garza said. “It’s that experience part. I don’t know if we needed to learn anything but if we had a year under our belt (of playing in the state tournament). Not to discredit Strasburg, but I thought we were the better team, we just didn’t play well that day.”
The Ravens must take the experience they gained a year ago and prepare for a new challenge. Riverdale Ridge will being playing in 4A, which means there are new opponents on the horizon.
With Meyer fully healthy and the team having gained the experience of getting to the state tournament and winning a game, they’re excited for what lays ahead.
“I’m very excited,” Meyer said. “I want to see what new opponents bring to the table and see how we as a team can compete. I’m ready to see what we can bring to the table and who knows, we may get farther than what we did last year.”
Only time will tell, but with Meyer recovered from an injury that nagged her all of last season, the Ravens have to like their chances.
Teaching and coaching is in Colin Prater’s blood. The Palmer High School alum spent years following his grandfather Carl Fetters on the sidelines.
Fetters was a longtime football coach at Cheyenne Mountain High School before jumping on as an assistant in the area and later at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he was on staff when the ThunderWolves claimed a national championship.
Fetters’ son, Monte, is the girls golf coach at Mesa Ridge and even served as the head girls basketball coach for a year.
It feels like Prater was destined to teach and coach, but one look at him on the golf course and it’s hard to figure out why he didn’t dedicate himself to trying to make it as a pro.
Prater is a rare winner of both the Colorado Amateur and the Colorado Match Play championship. He won the match play in June thanks in part to swiping a putter out of his grandfather’s garage.
He’s played in the U.S. Amateur twice (2016 and 2019) and won the Pikes Peak Amateur at Patty Jewett Golf Course four of the last five years. Last year, he shot a PJ course record 62 during Pikes Peak Am qualifying.
Sitting in front of the course’s trophy case where his scorecard proudly occupies the center, he chatted about what made him forgo a potential professional career in favor of teaching and coaching at the high school level.
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Question: What sticks out the most when you think about playing high school golf?
Prater: Definitely in high school, it’s all about development. It’s all about just trying to get better. You’re honing those skills in. Too many kids are so focused on trying to hit it farther. I definitely was, especially when I was a freshman, sophomore who was so tiny. It was all about trying to hit further. And what I think made me really good when I was super tiny was the fact that I was just always working on my short game. I knew I was only going to get to half the par fours in two, so I knew if I want to make par, then my short game had to be the best short game there was in the city.
I think that’s what kind of gave me some success early. Gramps always preached that for sure. But it’s just all development. It’s all work. It’s the same thing in any sport, it’s having really solid fundamentals. It’s so much easier to get back to doing something right if you have good fundamentals. It’s a lot more difficult if you don’t and it’s all timing based. It’s all about foundational stuff, fundamentals. Too many kids think they’re really good at an early age and so they don’t really have that work ethic that they need in order to be solid or be competitive if they’re going onto the next level.
Q: After you were after you’d wrapped up playing in college, you’ve played in a lot of statewide competitive tournaments, city competitive tournaments. I know you flirted with the idea of moving to Arizona to go pro, but why ultimately did the idea of teaching and getting into coaching win out?
Prater: I fell in love with teaching. I didn’t think I was going to love teaching as much. Once I graduated, once I was done in May of 2018, I was dead set (on going pro). I got started planning and got started lining up where I’m going to live, what I’m going to do when I’m down there. When I’m not playing, I’m trying to start talking to sponsors to see if I can get some money, this, that, and the other to kind of promote myself and kind of had all those lined up. I was dead set on it. I had four months of student teaching to do and have that in my back pocket if I needed it 10 years from now kind of thing. And I just fell in love with it.
And then talking with my girlfriend, she had a little, maybe a touch of uneasiness with her about wanting to move down there with me. That meant changing up her plans because she was about to start her master’s. We just decided collectively as one that we didn’t need to move. And I was just going to stay competitive and continue to work on my game, but stay amateur and maybe down the road, another door to open and I’d be able to go play. Lastly, probably just the fact that Gramps taught and coached for 34 years at Cheyenne Mountain. My uncle’s been in it now, I want to say this was this past year was this 26th or 27th year and I’m super close with them. So I talked to them. They say, they love it. It’s cliche, but it’s an in my blood kind of thing. I’m just super fortunate. I fell into a career that I love, I got into coaching super early, which is what I wanted to do and get that kind of start to try and get that experience. Life’s great for me.
Q: What have you learned throughout the competitive golf tournaments you’re playing in that that you’re hoping to apply to the girls golfers at Doherty?
Prater: I preach consistency. Try to become as consistent as possible. Even if it’s just kind of creating that standard. I’m very goal driven. I learned that in college. I’ve always needed to have a goal in mind and have a long term goal, but have great short term goals that motivate my girls. That’s kinda what I really preach to them. And I preached that to them for, I don’t know, like three weeks. I mean eight practices and maybe I like getting together with them a couple days before we started practicing. A lot of it is stuff I’m going to learn. I’m going work my butt off. I think I read a lot of golf books now that I’m done playing college golf, which makes absolutely zero sense.
You think you’d be reading them while you’re competing. But I’m just reading them just to try and get a new philosophy. It’s just like teaching. You have to say something four or five different ways in order for it to connect with all of your students. You can say at one way and great, 10 kids will get it, but you have to teach and you have to modify and you have to change how you teach it and what you say and to fit every kid. And so I think that’s what I’m truly trying to do now that I’ve got into coaching is just trying to make it applicable to all of the girls that I’m coaching.
Q: How much of, what you’re trying to do comes from watching your grandpa for however many years, whether it was high school football, college football, whatever? How much of him is in you as a coach and even as a teacher?
Prater: I don’t think I’m as mean as he is. He’s a hard (case). But definitely his rapport with kids. He connects with them even now that he’s like almost 80. The guy’s 79, but just has a great rapport with kids and how he interacts with people in public. He’s has always done a really good job of being able to connect with kids and just like my uncle has as well. He’s a grinder and he works his tail off.
I would like to think that I have a little bit of that in me as well and I think a lot of what I’ve learned and a lot of what I preach is stuff that came straight out of his mouth that he taught me when I was seven or eight and when I was 12 and I was tired and I had blisters on my hands because I hit 455 golf balls today. He’d say, “there are still 40 balls left.” No matter what you do, you can always do something better. I’m trying to mold that into my philosophy of use. Every single day is a day to get better, no matter what, no matter how much success you’ve had. You can always be better. You can, you can always be a better golfer. You can always be a better person. You can always say please and thank you, those kinds of things. That’s what he’s really good at. He’s about those fine details and that’s one thing that I have to work on for sure.
Q: He’s been around long enough that surely you have something you carry around with you or use from time to time whether you’re playing or teaching. Anything stick out in your head?
Prater: I hear his voice in my head sometimes. It comes out way more when he’s there. I’ll hit a bad shot and I know exactly what he said in his head. I’ve been so lucky. My grandparents, my parents, they’ve always been there, no matter what. I was telling (Colorado Springs Gazette sports columnist Paul) Klee that it was goofy (at the Colorado Match Play) Monday and Tuesday, because there were no spectators allowed. And that was the first time in a long time that I’ve played a round of competitive golf and not had at least one of the four of them there. I grew up and it might’ve been my grandma or it might’ve been Gramps or it might’ve been my parents. There was a rare occasion where it was just one of them, but more often than not, it was all four of them. So just to be able to have that support and have those people behind you is great. I didn’t learn this until I was probably 13 or 14, but they’re riding my butt or yelling at me. They’re critiquing me because they know I can be better. They know that’s the only way to get better, you need some tough love. That’s exactly what you need. And that’s how I was raised.
When I was young, like 11 and 12, I never understood. I went 2-for-4 at a baseball game and didn’t make an error in the field and encouraged my teammates really well and stole three bases. But I struck out once and after the game, my Gramps asked, “why did you strike out?” And I get in the car and mom takes me home. Same freaking thing. “Why’d you strike out.” And riding me for that and not congratulating me for doing the other things. But they knew that if I can put in enough time and effort and motivate myself enough that in that next game, I go 3-for-4 with a ground out and not strike out. And at the same time, they’re still critiquing. Why’d you fumble that ball when you were playing shortstop? You’re playing golf and you shoot 74 and that’s great at 15, but you had two three-putts. Why is Gramps riding me about these two three-putts kind of thing. Fortunately I really realized at 16 that it pays dividends even to this day. I’m my own harshest critic and I think that’s the best way to continue to either maintain or ideally improve your game.
Q: What’s the story behind the putter that your grandpa gave you, that you used to win the Match Play?
Prater: It’s a TaylorMade Daddy Long Legs. It’s (CSU-Pueblo football coach) John Wristen’s putter. I think he didn’t like it. My Gramps asked to try it and then I’m in his garage probably first week of June, mowing his grass. So I take it with me one day and start playing with it. I love the way it feels. I’m able to control my speed really well. It has this real long grip on it, so I can let my arms hang a little bit better, and for me that’s better. I just fell in love with it, even though my speed the first four days of the match play was absolutely terrible. I think I had five or six three-putts but it paid dividends in the final because I chipped and putted like a stud the last day. It’s a great putter so then I bought another one on eBay as a backup, even though I think I like Wristen’s putter more.
Q: I know you’re jumping the boys basketball staff this winter. That and with everything that’s gone on, do you have some renewed energy to get back to work?
Prater: Yeah, absolutely. We’re going on around four months that I haven’t seen kid. We started basketball camp a couple of weeks ago, so I’ve seen some of them, but yeah, absolutely. I’m super excited for August, no matter how things look. I’m super anxious. I’m super excited. And at the same time too, I have tons to learn. I mean I’m 25, I’m going into my second year of teaching. I’d love to be able to coach girls golf next spring and I’m super stoked. We’re five weeks away from us teachers reporting back to school. I have to play a lot of golf in that time before then. I want to try and teach my kids something every day, whether I’m teaching them, whether I’m coaching them, It doesn’t matter if it’s Doherty girls golf, whether it’s Doherty boys golf or boys basketball. I’m going to be teaching chemistry this next year which is a new class for me, so I still got a lot to learn in that regard, but hopefully I’ll learn something every single day. And then my kids will learn something every single day.
Once our plans receive approval by state and health officials, we will communicate next steps. We are extremely optimistic about the collaborative direction of discussions. I reiterate the word “patience”, we have some challenges but we are moving🤞🏾 https://t.co/eJo60wQBl2
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
More about the timeline for announcing plans:
That is the estimated timeline but we aren’t the only organization on the state, health, education official’s agenda. Resuming Education is the priority and we will support and compliment the direction of our member schools when they have definitives. https://t.co/AfECzBJ5op
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
On switching seasons:
I have not seen a state association definitively announce swapping seasons. They, like us are exploring all ideas. The idea was just voted down by two Associations. Our goal is to protect traditional seasons, three sport athletes and our member rural/small school opportunities. https://t.co/LYmUIdlaE4
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
On quarantining:
State and local health guidelines for reporting, contact tracing and quarantine will be strictly adhered to once we resume. No different than the current protocol during summer-local control coach/athlete/team contact. https://t.co/1gvOsVb2Oy
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
On venues:
We currently have some challenges with previous site availability and capacity limitations but it is July! We don’t have contracts finalized because dates are fluid but if given the chance, our staff will find the venues🙌🏾 https://t.co/eTBsNZ6lnQ
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
On collaboration with other states:
Since March, 51 Execs and Commissioners have continuously shared our thoughts, plans and frustrations. The pandemic has brought us closer together by the common goal-safely resuming HS programs. Awareness of 51 national plans allows us to construct models specific to CO! https://t.co/n5McwwcBJa
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 7, 2020
On a potential resurgence:
A COVID-19 resurgence and a stall with state reopening phases could disrupt our planned start dates for fall but we are moving towards resuming all sports and activities with potential contingencies for 2020-21! https://t.co/XczhUBc9Kp
— Rhonda BlanfordGreen (@RhondaCHSAA) July 8, 2020
During the 2019 volleyball season, Sterling had no reason to feel any pressure on its shoulders. It wasn’t the Class 3A defending champion and despite being undefeated during the regular season, wasn’t the team that everyone felt they needed to beat to win a state title.
That’s a big reason why it was the Tigers celebrating and hoisting the championship trophy when all was said and done. They have hopes of of repeating that task, but the reality is they won’t be able to fly under anyone’s radar from here on out.
“Last year, the pressure wasn’t on us,” coach Lisa Schumacher said. “We didn’t have any pressure and we talked about that all the time. We were undefeated and hadn’t dropped a set heading into a match with Eaton and someone would ask what happens if we drop a set? So what? What happens if we lose to Eaton? Doesn’t matter.”
The Tigers dropped a set, but there was no dropping a match that day or any day through the course of the year.
Sterling proved to be a deep overall team through the state tournament. They were led defensively by then-senior Jade Feather who led the team with 587 digs. The team’s only other senior, Paige Pratt, contributed on the defensive effort and added solid service numbers to the Tigers overall statline.
With those two gone, the attention now turns to players such as Allie Schumacher, Aubree Long, Valerie Allen and Harley Gareis who will be entering their senior seasons. They’ll be flanked by a talented junior class which includes hitters Sydney Henry, Kaylee Johnson and Emerie Rios.
Each player has their own strength on the floor. Coach Schumacher cites serve receiving as one of the team’s biggest strengths this year, but defense and hitting will have to play roles if the Tigers want to defend their title.
“It all has to mesh together,” Henry said. “We couldn’t (hit or pass) without our serve receive or defense.”
A shift in mentality is also going to play a key role for the team. As they built momentum last year, it was very clear that the Tigers enjoyed the thrill of the hunt when it came to closing out the season with a championship win.
The tables will be turned when everyone returns to the floor as opponents will be hunting the big cats rather than being hunted by them.
“It’s different because last year we seemed liked the underdogs,” Allie Schumacher said. “We had to fight our way through and now we’re considered to be on top. The biggest thing is we have to not get in over our heads and keep that underdog mentality.”
Hanging on to that mentality can play a key role in Sterling battling to stay at or close to the top of the 3A volleyball world for a few years. The majority of the players return to the team and they’ve now seen what it takes to survive the grind of the regular season, regionals and an intense state atmosphere at the Denver Coliseum.
“We try to spend a lot of time in our own gym preparing,” Coach Schumacher said. “We know what it takes to play in our league and we know what it takes to compete against the other teams in our state.”
The Tigers showed they could compete and win last year. This year, they’ll have to do the same thing, only this time it will be every team in the state hunting for them.
We caught up with CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green to talk about the upcoming fall sports season, where other states are, in-person learning, and timelines.
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Question: As we head into July, a big question that we keep seeing is, “Where we are with starting football this fall?”
Blanford-Green: 51 state high school associations, colleges and professional organizations are all being faced with that same question.
Mid-July will be a pivotal time period for assessment and what our state government and public health officials will allow within the guidelines. Those guidelines will ultimately determine the Association’s ability to move forward either fully, with modifications or with incremental sport-specific start dates.
Our staff continues to prepare for a fall sport season.
Q: There is some talk about football players transferring to other states, such as Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana, in order to play. Are those states at a different place than we are? Have they said they will definitely have a season?
Blanford-Green: None of the aforementioned states have definitively said, “We will have football.” They have all experienced a rise in Coronavirus cases and outbreaks in the past two weeks. Their state and health officials have recently taken more restrictive measures on public gatherings and social distancing, including a pause on sports.
In fact, the Governor of Arizona just pushed back on athletic contact, all start dates, which translates to delays with practices and competitive start dates for high schools.
Several states have continued their spring moratorium on coach/athlete contact either by state or health orders.
Colorado has incrementally allowed coach/athlete contact for all sports within the local controlled safety guidelines. Colorado coaches and athletes have been given more latitude to begin summer conditioning and competitive readiness more so than some of our counterparts across the nation.
I can respect the decisions of parents and players to seek definitive answers, but I can assure you that no state association has offered a guarantee that they will play. We are all working to make it happen, knowing that the final decisions aren’t within our control.
Q: Will students have to be fully back in the classroom for sports to resume?
Blanford-Green: Our bylaws currently have provisions for non-traditional educational models such as home school and online learning.
We are fully prepared for sport and activity implementation to meet the needs of our membership. Our goal is to support our schools and student-participants wherever they land when final decisions are made for education this fall.
There are many challenges ahead but educational leaders across this state are working diligently to return to levels of normalcy with the safety of our students, and those who support them, in the forefront.
Q: Is there anything else you want to add?
Blanford-Green: I understand where students, coaches, and parents are frustrated. Our staff is equally frustrated. We are ready to go, but we are not in a position or place where we can decide to “just let the kids play.”
We don’t get to play infectious disease doctors or disregard our state and public health guidelines. There can’t be definitive answers when our country and state continues to fluctuate within their safe-to-reopen phases.
