Complex numbers can be a big challenge for small school sports.
From the minimum number of participants to form a team to maximizing the use of limited resources, the region’s small high school uses the variables of tomorrow’s unknowns to calculate today’s math.
“We’re good at volleyball, and we look good in girls’ and boys’ basketball,” said Rod Graham, the longtime sports director of De Beque High School. 例文 This year, seven of him participated in volleyball.
Graham has been a fixture in the number games at De Beque since 1978, encouraging students to participate in sports and activities.
He has navigated days from sparse registrations to an explosive oil shale boom. and bust.
In recent years, the Dragons have won state championships in men’s basketball and women’s track, as well as numerous individual state track titles.
Currently, the high school is hovering at 50 students, and Graham said the school continues to promote activities to enhance student academic interest.
This year, the Dragons are playing a full varsity volleyball schedule with seven players. De Beque also has four cross-country runners participating this year.
The Dragons don’t offer soccer, but six De Beke boys play soccer at Grand Valley High School in Parachute, 12 miles east on Interstate 70.
De Beque is a Volleyball Class 1A and is one of 72 schools with 93 students enrolled statewide.
The high schools are about the same size as Walden’s North Park (42nd), Norwood (58th), Ouray (52nd), Nukula (70th) and Dove Creek (73rd).
Ouray, for example, is playing the junior varsity schedule in volleyball this season due to limited player numbers. This is a situation Daebaek and many of his 1A schools have faced in the past.
De Beque volleyball coach Leslie Weis said they needed to be creative with their limited roster.
“It’s very difficult. But we’re lucky to have a boy to help us practice,” Weiss said. “It helps a lot. But it really limits what you can do.”
She said they are focused on skill development and positioning.
“We do a lot of individual skill work,” she said.
Being low in numbers helps players learn to rely on each other, she said.
“They have to work together and build on each other,” Weiss said.
“I also use video a lot. That’s how I spent most of yesterday’s practice watching movies,” she said. increase.”
Looking ahead, Graham said the current eighth grade class has two volleyball players who could step up to the high school level next year.
And according to Graham, Daebaek’s current sixth grade class is a larger class with many athletes.
plateau valley cowboys
The same number of games are played each year at Plateau Valley High School, just outside Colbran on the east side of Grand Mesa.
With 100 high school enrollments, the Cowboys are at the bottom of the 2A classification, which ranges from 94 to 299 students. Plateau Valley enrollments have consistently stayed in the 100 range.
Plateau Valley enrollments mirror those of Ridgeway (107), Hayden (109), Soroko (Oak Creek, 104), Rangeley (125) and West Gland (Kremling, 138). I’m here.
By comparison, Caprock Academy in Grand Junction has 160 students. Vail Christian is 139, Vail Mountain is 158, Dolores is 163, and Meeker is 197.
“Sports and schoolwork go hand in hand,” says Plateau Valley principal Trevor Long, standing along the sunny sidelines at Saturday afternoon’s football game. It can be…if you have a small class.The connections teachers can make help keep students motivated to stay on the playing field.”
Plateau Valley plays 8-a-side football, growing its 21-player roster from a low number three years ago.
The Cowboys also play volleyball in the fall, and participation rates are staggering. Of her 40 or so girls at Plateau Valley High School, 31 are involved in volleyball. Thus, the Cowboys have her three teams: the varsity team, the junior varsity team, and the C-team.
“These kids aren’t afraid to try,” Long said. “They know we need you. We need everyone.” ”
Long credits the Plateau Valley coaches for creating an inclusive and supportive atmosphere.
“Our coaches understand the big picture because the community is small,” he said. “We need every child to participate in this.”
Long turned and gestured to the shady western bystanders who had gathered for a football game where generations of Plateau Valley families would visit Hayden.
“Look here today,” said Long. “You have a family. You have a dad who played on this field. They know exactly what a Saturday afternoon football game is here.”
Assistant Principal and Athletic Director John Holmes, who has been with the Plateau Valley for 25 years, agreed.
He said intergenerational connections are part of the fabric of schools and communities.
A significant increase in enrollment is not expected, partly due to limited housing available in the Plateau Valley area, he said.
“There is unity here,” said the Plateau Valley principal. “It’s special to have children growing up together and going through good times and bad together.”
Standing by Long’s side was longtime team photographer and proud mother of a recent Plateau Valley graduate, Wendy Nichols.
“Sports certainly helps with schoolwork,” Nichols said. “If it were my child, he wouldn’t have survived if sports didn’t give him a reason to study.”
She said the community is lucky. They come back year after year. They become part of your family.
“You watch them grow. And they come back here to teach. They come back here to coach,” she said. “That’s cool to look at.”
Nicholls is the principal of Grand Mesa High School on the campus of Colbran Jobs College.
Traditionally, Job Corps have several students interested in athletics. They have played at Plateau Valley High School in the past.
“COVID has devastated us,” Nichols said. “It’s been two years. But now we’re rebuilding. Our (Job Corps) center is bigger.”
She said residential vocational programs were closed during the pandemic.
This fall, the Job Corps reopened with about 60 students. The current limit is 94, a figure set by the US Department of Labor.
This department supervises the Job Corps participants. The U.S. Forest Service oversees employees.
Nicholls and her academic staff at Job Corps are members of the Plateau Valley school staff.
“The kids we usually get are kids who never played[sports]in high school,” Nichols said. Many of them never got the chance to play in high school.”
This fall, Nichols said there will be one Job Corps student playing soccer for the Cowboys.
As the number of Job Corps grows, it’s possible that a few more players from the Job Corps will join the Cowboys, she said.
“Over the past two years, our numbers have increased significantly[in terms of football]and there’s been more passion in school,” Nichols said, overseen by former Cowboys standout player Brian Bristol. talked about the program.
Glancing at the scoreboard, Nichols added: But they are working hard to make it better. ”