CHSAANow

Month: April 2020

  • NFHS: Let’s gain a new appreciation for officials during down time

    Hotchkiss Limon girls basketball
    (Paul Soriano)

    During this shutdown of normal life in our nation, we are learning to deal with a new challenge – how to handle the unexpected time on our hands at home. Simply keeping up with the days of the week is a major accomplishment!

    While we anxiously await the re-opening of schools and a return of high school sports and performing arts, this down time can be used in positive ways to take advantage of educational opportunities. And kudos to some individuals who already are seizing those opportunities – men and women who officiate high school sports.

    Two weeks ago, we began to offer the 11 officiating courses on the NFHS Learning Center (NFHSLearn.com) free of charge, and the response has been nothing short of amazing. By the end of March – merely a week into this new opportunity – more than 5,200 courses had been taken.

    In addition to veteran officials fine-tuning techniques in one or more of the seven sports featured in these courses, this has been a great opportunity for individuals interested in officiating to take a free course to determine their interest level. 

    Those of us in leadership positions are so appreciative of these individuals who give freely of their free time to officiate high school sports or adjudicate music contests. We would suggest that everyone – student-athletes, coaches, parents and other fans – use this down time to do the same.

    At various times this year before the shutdown of schools, officials have been the victim of verbal and physical abuse. Inappropriate behavior by parents and other fans was causing officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job.

    And yet, in the past three years, more than 35,000 individuals have signed up to become officials through the NFHS’ #BecomeAnOfficial campaign and 5,200 courses that have been taken in the past couple of weeks by men and women who want to give back to high school sports. These are good signs more people will continue to be involved in officiating when the games return.

    But what about the parents and other fans in the stands? Will their behavior be changed upon return? The conclusion of the New Mexico Activities Association’s state basketball tournament last month provided an interesting perspective on the impact of fans to the atmosphere at high school sporting events.

    After completing the first two days of its state tournament with fans in the stands, the NMAA conducted the final three days without fans because of concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Dana Pappas, commissioner of officials for the NMAA, noted the following about the final three days of competition:

    “Officials would make a call and if coaches had a question about it, they asked – calmly and respectfully. In huddles during time-outs, coaches just talked to their players, without raised voices. The behavior of coaches on the sidelines from Thursday through Saturday was in stark contrast to what we witnessed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Perhaps they did not feel the need to be overly emotional for the benefit of their fans.

    “My hope is that the absence of sport throughout the world gives us all a moment to gain perspective and do a ‘gut check’ as to the kind of fans we are at contests. If the quality of the game is unchanged (or even better) without fans there to scream at the coaches, officials and players, then is that behavior really necessary when the games resume?”

    The message here is that while the games can continue without fans, the ideal situation is for stands full of fans positively cheering for their teams.

  • Jana Van Gytenbeek leaves Cherry Creek as a girls basketball legend

    Cherry Creek Arapahoe girls basketball
    (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)

    Two years ago, Clint Evans was still a little unsure if he wanted to take the girls basketball coaching job at Cherry Creek. It would mean heading to Colorado from Kansas and there were just too many uncertainties that came with such a big decision.

    Then a blessing in disguise happened. A friend of his in Golden sent him a highlight reel of one of Cherry Creek’s top players, a girl heading into just her junior year.

    Evans couldn’t get packed soon enough.

    He just needed to watch a few minutes of film to see that Jana Van Gytenbeek was a special player and one that any coach in the country should want to coach.

    “Off the dribble, she threw a right-handed bounce pass from one free throw line to the other free throw line that hit a kid right in stride,” Evans recalls. “I have never seen a female basketball player do that.”

    Van Gytenbeek has a tendency of doing things that most players her age don’t or haven’t done. Her love of basketball started early and it started from seeing her older brother, Carter, play.

    She played with him when she was younger and the passion for the game just stuck. But her development into the player that is now a two-time Class 5A girls basketball Player of the Year started when her parents put her on a very specific path in youth basketball.

    “When I started playing, I played against boys,” Van Gytenbeek said. “That made me more competitive and made me want to keep playing.”

    The more she played, the better she got. She got so good that Stanford University offered her a college scholarship and she jumped at the chance as she identified Stanford as her dream about as early in the recruiting process as possible.

    When she heads to Palo Alto, she’ll join two former Colorado standouts in Regis Jesuit’s Fran Belibi and Discovery Canyon’s Ashten Prechtel. Seeing the two contribute to the team as freshmen this season made her anxious to get to California, but she wanted to make sure she savored every minute of her high school experience as possible.

    Grandview Cherry Creek girls basketball
    (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)

    “I’ve been excited about that ever since I committed, but I always try to be present in what I was doing,” Van Gytenbeek said. “I think I did a good job of that.”

    Her final two seasons at Creek will be talked about as tall tales that seemingly happened in a different time. Since she was in sixth grade, she was dreaming of winning a state basketball title for the Bruins. But she knew dreams don’t come true without the work. Evans saw firsthand just how committed to that goal she was.

    “She goes to weights, she comes to practice and as soon practice was over she was off doing her own individual workout,” Evans said. “When that was over she would come back to help me run a little kids camp and then she would get in an hour of shooting.”

    The work paid off in the 2019 5A state title game. With time ticking down, it was Van Gytenbeek with the ball in the final possession. She attacked the basket and made her shot, giving Creek its first girls basketball title in school history, probably to the delight that sixth-grade girl who dreamt of that very moment.

    “She’s definitely proud of herself,” Van Gytenbeek said. “She’s happy she could do it for Creek who hadn’t won one before.”

    When he gets the opportunity to tell people this story in 10 years, there’s one glaring component that Evans is looking forward to emphasizing. It was earlier this season that Van Gytenbeek set the state’s all-time assist record. She won’t be a girl known for legendary scoring numbers, but she she’ll be known for making the biggest shot in program history.

    “You can’t think of a better ending or story for a kid,” Evans said. “It’s cool that she has the assist record and that she’s known for making her teammates better, but it’s also cool that she made that shot. She’s worked so hard and is as deserving as any other kid.”

    She’s put herself in elite company, not just from a Cherry Creek perspective but throughout the entire state. She hasn’t even been handed her high school diploma, but there are certainly coaches, media members and even current players who have already started debating on her place as one of the all-time greats in Colorado.

    Highlands Ranch Cherry Creek girls basketball
    (PaulDiSalvoPhotography.com)

  • Recent school closures and extension of stay-at-home hasn’t changed spring season timeline; suspension remains until April 30

    Calhan Rye baseball
    (Lisa Hayes/StillOfTheMomentPhotography.com)

    CHSAA’s timeline of spring sports has not changed since information communicated on April 1: The spring season remains suspended until April 30 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The recent closing of some schools and districts, and Gov. Polis’ extension of the stay-at-home order, hasn’t changed the timeline we established on April 1,” said CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green.

    From the information communicated on April 1:

    The suspension of spring activities and sports has been extended to April 30 following state and local extensions on school closures and mandatory social-distancing related to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

    Any decisions regarding spring activities potentially resuming will depend on students’ abilities to return to in-person instruction.

    It is important to note that, as has been the case since the beginning, further updates and information from state agencies could have an impact on the season.

    As an Association, CHSAA encourages everyone to stay home in order to stay safe.

    “We encourage everyone to follow all guidance from the state in terms of social distancing, and staying at home,” Blanford-Green said. “We have seen recent postings of students gathering for athletic purposes of group workouts. This is disheartening that adults would place our students in situations that may not be in the best interest of their safety and well-being, and those of their community. The more that we follow federal and state guidelines, the sooner we can get back to the activities that we all love.”

    Update, 8:15 a.m. Tuesday: Blanford-Green answered a couple of common questions on Monday night. Among them:

    Could there be a summer season in place of a spring season?

    Some school districts have already cancelled in-person learning, and some have cancelled their spring sports, for the rest of the school year. How will this work?

     

  • Highland boys basketball’s Tate Bessire had no excuses for not being great

    Highland Eaton boys basketball
    (David Johnson/davidjohnsonphotography.org)

    Tate Bessire learned at an early age that if he wanted to be great at basketball, he had no excuse to not reach the level of greatness he was aiming for.

    It was a tough lesson and one that he learned because life dealt a bad hand to his older brother. But Ky, a 2015 graduate at Resurrection Christian, never sat around and complained. He merely got to work.

    Ky was born with clubfoot, a rare birth defect in which one leg is twisted out of shape or position. There are less than 200,000 cases of clubfoot diagnosed in the United States annually. But one of those cases was Tate’s older brother.

    “It was really tough for him,” Tate said. “He went through a lot of surgeries but he always had that drive to stay after practice and become the best player he could be.”

    Ky played basketball despite being born with a physical defect that would logically make the game difficult. But he loved it too much.

    Ky’s work ethic is where the seeds of Tate’s selection as the 2019-20 Class 2A boys basketball Player of the Year were planted. As Tate grew up and saw the effort that Ky was giving to become the best player possible, he knew he wouldn’t allow himself to give anything less.

    “I’ve always looked up to him ever since I saw what kind of a hard worker he was for the game,” Tate said. “I always talk to him and tell him that if he didn’t have clubfoot, he could be a top player in the country just because of how hard he works.”

    Tate had no problem trying to carry that mantle for the both of them. In his senior season, he averaged 22.8 points, 6.2 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 5.1 steals per game.

    “He absolutely fills up the stat box and puts in the work,” Huskies coach Pete Freeman said. “As a coach you can teach a lot of stuff but you can’t teach the court vision he has. The way he sees the court in unreal.”

    The Huskies play an aggressive style of defense that accounts for many of Tate’s steals and assists. But the key to the full-court press that Freeman has installed is that it’s all based on instinct rather than making sure certain players are at certain spots as their opponents bring the ball up the floor.

    “A lot of it is anticipation and making the right reads,” Freeman said. “All of our traps are based on reads so we’re not calling them out and they’re not in a system. They go when they want to go.”

    And Tate loves it. For as long as he can remember, he’s been playing in defensive systems that utilize a full-court press. He’s found in his basketball career that disrupting things on the defensive side of the ball will translate to a strong offensive attack.

    He doesn’t believe that his defensive and offensive abilities would exist without each other.

    “I’ve always had to prove that I can do more than just score and pass,” Tate said. “I can get boards and a lot of my talent comes from the defensive side.”

    He has evolved into a complete basketball player, which was always the plan in his mind. He’ll look back at his senior season and always be grateful for being able to battle with his teammates. Among those teammates is his younger brother, Jase.

    Jase appears to be following the same path as he averaged 19 points, 4.6 assists, 6.1 rebounds and five steals per game this season.

    Apparently it’s a family thing.

    Both Bessire boys were a vital part of the Huskies 24-1 record this season and are hoping to play beyond high school.

    If there’s one thing that’s almost guaranteed about their basketball future, it’s that their drive and work ethic will never go away. It can’t. The reminder of how their older brother worked as a basketball player built the foundation of how these boys approach basketball and life.

    That kind of foundation will never crumble.

  • Friday Night Lights in April: Schools light their stadiums for students

    The Be The Light, Colorado movement continued to spread through the end of its first week with an inspirational display of Friday Night Lights in April.

    The #BeTheLightCO trend, which started with five schools and districts on Monday night, and continued with 12 more on Tuesday, and 16 on Wednesday, has now spread across nearly 70 schools and school districts around the state.

    The movement seeks to provide a beacon of hope for students during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has closed schools and put the season on hold. Schools and school districts are lighting their stadiums as a way to show students they are in our hearts and on our minds.

    Among those taking part since Wednesday:

    Jefferson Academy:

    Springfield:

    Wiggins:

    https://twitter.com/Wiggins_50/status/1245895369197637633

    Rocky Ford:

    Vista Ridge:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-i6GTKJSW8/

    Montrose:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-izOkMnolF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    West Grand:

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B-itsfDBZVr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Hayden:

    https://www.facebook.com/bryan.richards.944/videos/2519446381705883/

    Yuma:

    https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=2972451569501378&external_log_id=292e5a8304a311f2b31dd1bfc86e18c9&q=%23bethelightCO

    Fort Lupton:

    Lewis-Palmer Schools:

    Cheraw:

    Pagosa Springs:

    Valor Christian:

    Soroco:

    Lamar:

    Sand Creek:

    Mountain Range:

    Haxtun:

    Brush:

    Denver West:

    Windsor:

  • Josephine Howery never let high expectations slow down St. Mary’s girls basketball

    St. Mary's girls basketball Josephine Howery
    (Derek Regensburger/MaxPreps)

    After claiming a Class 3A girls state basketball title as just a sophomore, things were never going to get easier for Joesphine Howery and the St. Mary’s Pirates. That was especially true when heading into each year, the expectations of what she and her teammates could achieve only got higher.

    But she never let that slow her down. Instead, she embraced it and used it to help her become the very basketball player she was when the final buzzer sounded in her final game for the Pirates.

    Howery left her impression on teammates, fans and opponents en route to claiming her second 3A girls basketball Player of the Year award. By the time the 2019-20 season rolled around, Howery was used to the expectations and pressure being placed on her and her team, but as a senior she was well-equipped to handle everything and even play at higher level on the court.

    “This year it felt more businesslike,” Howery said. “We had seniors and leaders as team captains that we felt would lead us to another (state championship).”

    Howery had the best season of her career as a senior, scoring 21.2 points per game while pulling down 6.8 rebounds and dishing 4.6 assists. She averaged almost two more assists per game this season than she did as a junior.

    It didn’t matter if she needed to score or if she needed to get the ball to someone else to score, Howery had every bit of faith that the Pirates had the ability to get the ball to the right spot at the right time and come away with a bucket.

    “She’s had that confidence ever since freshman year,” her younger brother Sam said. “That’s just one thing that I would like to replicate to my game.”

    In a way, Josephine isn’t being fair to her three younger brothers. Through the course of her career she has won two state championships and two Player of the Year of awards.

    Sam earned a 3A boys all-state honorable mention nod this year as a sophomore. But he can’t help but look at what Josephine has done over the course of four years and realize that he has a lot of work to do to keep up with her efforts.

    “She’s definitely brought a legacy to St. Mary’s basketball,” Sam said. “If we don’t keep that going it’ll be kind of tough. She’s definitely put a lot of pressure on me and my siblings because we try to live up to her expectations.”

    For Josephine, those expectations on herself came fairly early. During their first title run, the Pirates beat defending 3A champion Lamar in the semifinals before taking down rival Colorado Springs Christian School in the championship game.

    “That first year is an experience you wouldn’t trade with a team that you wouldn’t trade either,” she said. “Those bonds and memories I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

    That second year looked a little the same in terms of the championship game. Once again, Tri-Peaks rival CSCS stood in the way of a St. Mary’s championship and again the Pirates came out on top.

    That was another aspect of what has made Howery’s career and the Pirates’ run of state championships all the more impressive. The Tri-Peaks League has been impressive in recent years. In fact, that league has seen at least one of its members playing for the championship since 2016 when Manitou Springs fell to Lutheran. Then next year, Lamar beat CSCS to claim the 3A title.

    For her entire career, Howery feels like her team’s league schedule consisted of the best teams in the state.

    “Having a strong a conference means everything,” she said. “It prepares you for the tough road ahead and some of the best players are in the Tri-Peaks League.”

    That includes her. She’ll continue her basketball career at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Her impact at St. Mary’s will be felt long after she’s gone, through tall tales of her play on the court as well as through her younger brothers, starting with Sam.

    One way her siblings can live up to the expectations she has created is to continue to develop as they get older. Josephine was never satisfied with who she was at any given moment because she felt like there was always room to get better whether it was on the court or as a team captain.

    “I think I’ve become a more confident person and player these last four years,” she said. “I wanted end the right way and the best way I could. Being a leader on and off the court was my biggest challenge and something I wanted to do.”

    It will be hard for future teams to talk about the Pirates’ state championships without acknowledging Howery’s impact. It’ll be tougher for those following in her shoes to replicate that impact and live up to the expectations she has created for the program.

    A proud Pirate, she’ll watch from a distance hoping to see those in green and white reach her level and even soar beyond. And he really won’t mind if happens to be one or all of her brothers climbing that ladder to stand next the standard-bearer of St. Mary’s basketball.

    CSCS St. Mary's girls basketball
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

  • Kit Carson boys basketball’s Jayden McCombs-Farmer let his play do the talking

    (Ty Lin Williams/Kiowa County Independent)

    It’s not uncommon to see staggering numbers associated with any of the state’s players of the year. But Kit Carson’s Jayden McCombs-Farmer isn’t like the others.

    His numbers don’t jump off a stat sheet. He averages just 12.4 points per game. He throws in about six rebounds, three assists and two steals. The numbers are good, but not great.

    One glimpse at McCombs-Farmer when he’s on the floor tells a different story, however. Make no mistake, the kid is great as was a big reason for the Wildcats 22-1 record in the 2019-20 season.

    A naturally gifted athlete, he can almost jump out of the gym even if his numbers don’t jump off the page. It wasn’t a secret that he was the engine behind Kit Carson and it’s why coaches selected him as the Class 1A boys basketball Player of the Year.

    “I’ve always been taught to be respectful of opposing players before anything,” McCombs-Farmer said. “That’s what I want to be represented as is respectful to anyone. And this year, especially, I wanted to be a team player because in past years I’d let numbers get into my head.”

    It helped that a couple of his teammates were his brothers, Cordell and Sullivan – or “Sonny” as he’s known to his teammates.

    It was at the Wildcats’ state tournament game against Ouray when Jayden went down with an ankle injury that coach Damon Dechant knew his team would be okay because Sonny carried every bit as much emotional energy as Jayden.

    “Those two had really been our on the court leaders,” Dechant said. “There were a lot of games where Jayden had played 32 minutes and Sonny was right there with him.”

    It was a bond that Jayden was forever thankful for and with the season now concluded, he can look back at that state tournament game with fondness for the rest of his life.

    “I’m glad I got to play one state tournament game with him,” Jayden said. “It was awesome.”

    Those two were a big reason the Wildcats advanced to the Bank of Colorado Arena. But it was clear from the start when the ball was in play, Jayden was the leader of the team and if any opponent had any chance of getting a win, they would have to find a way to slow him down.

    That’s no easy task considering he approaches every practice and each game like it’s a job. He punches that clock and he’s ready to get his hands dirty.

    “This is the hardest working basketball group that I’ve ever been around,” Dechant said. “That includes teams that I’ve played or been around in high school, college or coaching. No team every worked this hard and Jayden was the leader of that. It would be hard for you to point out another kid who worked as hard as he did.”

    If there is one stat that might give some insight into his overall work ethic, ability and toughness it might be his rebounding.

    Jayden has all the makings of a terrific athlete, but stands just 5-foot-8. But he averaged 6.6 rebounds per game and grabbed more than 10 on four different occasions. That includes a 68-53 win over Granada where he scored 25 points and hauled in 17 a staggering 17 rebounds.

    “There are a few games there year where he almost had 20 rebounds,” Dechant said. “Him being the leading rebounder on our team shows he’s smart and he’s going to play his (tail) off. And he’s very tough.”

    In an analytical world, it has become all too easy to identify points, rebounds, assists and other stats as reasons to hand out annual awards.

    Jayden McCombs-Farmer is an exception to that rule. His numbers, while very good, weren’t gaudy by any means. But that didn’t matter. He let his play on the floor do the talking for him. And everyone seemed to notice.

  • A look at the three schools joining CHSAA in 2020-21

    This fall, three schools will join CHSAA for their initial seasons: Addenbrooke Classical Academy, Banning Lewis Prep, and DSST: Conservatory Green.

    With their addition, which was approved by the Legislative Council in April 2019, the CHSAA membership will grow to 363 schools.

    Below is a quick introduction to each of the three new schools.

    [divider]

    Addenbrooke Classical Academy

    Location: Lakewood

    Enrollment: 142

    Mascot: Mustangs

    Initial sports: Cross country, boys soccer, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, girls soccer.

    School info: A public K-12 charter school operating under Jeffco Public Schools. It opened in 2013.

    [divider]

    Banning Lewis Prep

    Location: Colorado Springs

    Enrollment: 337

    Mascot: Stallions

    Initial Sports: Cross country, football, track, spirit, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, girls soccer.

    School info: A charter school for grades K-12. It originally opened in 2006, but only opened its high school in 2017. The first graduating class will be the class of 2021.

    [divider]

    DSST: Conservatory Green

    Location: Denver

    Enrollment: 303

    Mascot: Hornets

    Initial Sports: Cross country, boys soccer, spirit, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, girls soccer.

    School info: A public STEM charter school, which was opened in 2014.

  • Spring activities and sports now suspended until April 30

    Denver Christian Cornerstone Christian girls soccer
    (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)

    The suspension of spring activities and sports has been extended to April 30 following state and local extensions on school closures and mandatory social-distancing related to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

    Any decisions regarding spring activities potentially resuming will depend on students’ abilities to return to in-person instruction.

    On Wednesday, Gov. Jared Polis extended the closure of all public and private schools to in-person learning through at least April 30. In addition, the federal government has extended social distancing guidelines to April 30.

  • More schools join in to Be The Light for their students in Colorado

    A number of other schools joined a movement to turn on their stadium lights Tuesday night as they sought to provide a source of hope for their students.

    Started on Monday night in Colorado, five stadiums turned on their lights for a short period of time to show students they were thinking of them, even as schools remained closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Many more joined in Tuesday as the movement spread. Among those taking part in #BeTheLightCO on Tuesday were:

    Sargent:

    https://twitter.com/TrevanPepper/status/1245188270268563457

    https://twitter.com/TrevanPepper/status/1245184956583817216

    Five Star Schools:

    University:

    Sierra:

    Cedaredge:

    Gunnison:

    Legacy:

    Arapahoe:

    Limon:

    Alamosa:

    Boulder:

    Weld Central: