STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Blaine County School District is scrambling to find coaches for football, soccer and volleyball with the start of the school year just over two weeks away.
Matt Nelson, the new 6th grade math teacher and athletic director at Wood River Middle School, told parents earlier this week that tryouts have had to be postponed to Aug. 19 because of the coaching shortage.
Currently, the district is in need of volleyball and football assistants and boys and girls soccer coaches—a big surprise since the high school soccer team won the state championship last year. That means every one of the school’s fall sports is minus coaches, with the exception of cross-country, Nelson said.
District wide, there are 15 openings if you include the winter sports like basketball.
“If we don’t find coaches, we will have to consider canceling all of our competitions this season,” he added. “No coaches, no play.”
If that happens, there would have ripple effects, Nelson said. If kids don’t play this year, there’s a chance perhaps half of the kids might not return to the program next year. If they do, they will have missed out on a year of developing skills and may never catch up, leaving the Wood River teams to be vastly outplayed by other schools.
There’s even the chance that the school district could decide to drop an athletic program, citing lack of interest.
Lack of sports opportunities could affect the kids adversely, he added.
“A lot of kids use their time on the field or the court to express themselves physically,” he explained. “It frames their mental state and lets them use up energy so they can stay focused on their academic tasks. I’m shocked in a valley this small how we don’t have people lining up to coach these kids because they are really awesome.”
The young people need heathy activity,” added Shannon Nichols, a concerned resident. “It is just such a bummer if they can’t get coaches because athletics are such a positive influence on young people and all of the club sports are so expensive.”
Nelson said he doesn’t know why so many openings have gone unfilled this year and said he doesn’t know of any other district that is having such a problem. In one case, a coach moved on because his son is going to high school. It’s also possible there might be some backlash to the school district’s decision to reduce coaching stipends to cover a projected $2 million budget shortfall. But it’s not known that that is a factor in the coaching shortage.
Last year the school district faced a shortage of bus drivers, but those positions have been filled this year, said Blaine County School District Trustee Dan Turner.
No education degrees are needed to coach.
“Ideally, you want someone who loves the game and is going to influence kids in a positive way. We want a good attitude, an open mind, someone willing to put some time in the kids,” Nelson said.
Typically, practice goes from 4 to 6 p.m. after school. But it can be pushed back to 6 to 8 p.m. if someone can’t get off work until 5 or 5:30 p.m., Nelson said.
“I wish I could fill the vacancies myself, but no way can I coach soccer, volleyball and football all at the same time.”
Those who would like to apply should go to https://www.blaineschools.org/ and scroll down to job openings.
Openings are currently posted for head high school basketball coach, assistant high school girls basketball coach, two assistant cheerleading advisors, head high school football coach and assistant coach, assistant middle school football coach, head boys and girls middle school coaches, high school swimming assistant coach, head varsity high school track coach, middle school track head coach, high school head 9th grade volleyball coach and middle school head volleyball coach
“The application process isn’t crazy. You apply, we’ll interview you and based on your skills and credentials we hire you,” Nelson said. “We move on, and the kids can have their season.”