Coaches fight cut: Coaches make goal-line stand to prevent loss of position

Three Saratoga football coaches are concerned with safety and the success of the program as one of their positions faces elimination.

The Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees voted to change the student-to-coach ratio for all sports in the district to 28-to-3, meaning the football team will most likely lose one coach as they start a six-man season this fall.

Saratoga High School football coaches Scott Bokelman, Josh Sandlian and Luke Spiering do not know how many players they will have this year, but, based on last year’s numbers, it won’t be enough to support three coaching positions, for a sport they believe needs more than two.

“I think it’s hard for a district to blanket all sports under one policy,” said Spiering.

The policy used to provide different coaching standards for individual sports, but the school board voted to change that in June.

The school board’s decision went against a recommendation from activity directors and principals, who promoted a 21-to-3 ratio for football, Sandlian said.

“Throughout the school year, the principals and athletic directors were working on these policies and they made a recommendation to the board,” Sandlian said. “Their recommendation for football was 21.

At the meeting, (the school board) went with 28 as the number for all sports across the school district.”

The school board’s decision came after reviewing data provided by Superintendent Bob Gates, said school board member Tonya Bartholomew. One of the key pieces of data Gates showed to board members was that all other six-man teams in Wyoming only had two coaches, and Saratoga High School will play six-man football this season.

Wyoming six-man teams include Dubois, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Midwest, Little Snake River Valley and Ten Sleep.

But Saratoga High School is not going to stick with a six-man team, Bokelman said.

The Saratoga High School football team is switching from 11-man to six-man for the 2013-14 school year because of last year’s player numbers.

Saratoga High School, a 1A, football team, was given the option to play six-man this season, even though the school is too big to play six-man. But they will have to switch back to 11-man for the 2014-15 year if they want to compete in the playoffs for a state championship game. If Saratoga High School stuck with a six-man team, they would not be able to compete in the playoffs, Sandlian said.

Bokelman said three coaches is the most reasonable.

“My recommendation is we should have three coaches in football, regardless of number of kids,” Bokelman said.

The Saratoga High School football team used to operate with four certified coaches, but Bob Merlo, who helped coach the team for two years, left Saratoga for medical reasons.

“We truly believe that at least three coaches are needed to provide the best supervision and safety for our kids,” Sandlian said. “My recommendation is that we maintain three coaches.”

Spiering said it was unfair to measure football with other sports, when football has a higher chance of injury for players.

“No other sport is designed for a violent collision,” Spiering said.

All the coaches’ concerns went beyond safety for their reason of recommending three coaches. Bokelman said it was also about providing a quality program.

“You lose the relationship that coach had with the kids. You lose that coach’s ability to get other kids out. ... You lose that extra teaching that could take place in smaller groups,” Bokelman said. “The field is our classroom when we are in football, and the field is big, and when you divide it up, the more one-on-one teaching they get.”

Bartholomew said if the football team goes back to 11-man, the school board may revisit the policy and allow three coaches.

Bokelman said he may resign as a coach if the policy sticks, but has not confirmed if he will or not. Bokelman said he still remains hopeful the school district will change the policy to allow three high school football coaches this year.