High school athletics classification

The 2018-2019 school year and activities lie just around the corner. It is easy to see the hard work and dedication of student-athletes and coaches during the school year, yet those involved with sports know that the majority of program improvement must take place in the off-season. Thermopolis is in a unique situation of competing at high levels with low student enrollment, which causes for some extra hurdles to success. First, student-athletes must be involved in multiple sports/activities/clubs in order for those programs to be in the running for season end success.  Second, coaches must understand this approach and work flexibly with one another to achieve the majority of each program’s goals. For example, volleyball and girls basketball share many of the same student-athletes so they must work harmoniously to make sure all student-athletes get maximum growth for both sports. At times, this requires long or abnormal hours to achieve on the behalf of the student-athletes and coaches. It also requires that parents and families give up personal time for the betterment of the student-athletes and the programs they participate in.

The summer of 2018 saw some of the most physical and team growth of recent years because of the dedication of student-athletes, coaches and families.  It is a very exciting time, as we move into the fall, to see how much this hard work pays off. Competitions and games truly are won in the off-season. Here is a recap of some of the work done this summer by Thermopolis High School and Middle School athletes and coaches. This summer saw the dedication of over 205 athletes that committed 3,874.5 hours of work in open gyms and weight room times.  The weight room alone constituted roughly 1,500 hours of work by those 205 athletes. The student-athletes also contributed 128 participants to 22 team and/or individual camps. The time spent in camp equates to roughly 3,107 hours of contact and learning time.  In addition to open gyms, weight room times and camps, student-athletes also committed themselves to events such as summer league games, 7 on 7 passing leagues and scrimmages with area schools. That’s a lot of mileage!

In addition to work with student-athletes, HSCSD#1 also saw numerous coaches dedicate personal time off to the betterment of themselves as coaches. There were 9 different coaches clinics attended in places such as Illinois, Virginia, Louisiana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. 15 different coaches made this dedication and saw roughly 200+ hours of coaching development.  As a district, we have also asked our coaches to take the next step by tracking all facets of their programs. Most of our coaches have also spent additional hours as sport teams to discuss every detail of their programs. They have worked hard to establish skills, drills and vocabulary that will be shared with ALL levels of their programs.  Coaches have and will continue to focus on K-12 program development, rather than focusing on their direct level of coaching. They have also discussed details such as player and program evaluation tools, fundraising, community support, sport philosophy, student-athlete logbooks and team handbooks to name a few. Amidst all of this collaboration, they have strengthened their bonds with one another and have left very little to question within their programs.  Collaboration and book studies will continue throughout the school year, whether their team is in season or not. It is easy to estimate that our coaches average thousands of coaching hours each year on top of their day jobs... that is DEDICATION!

As we look forward into the 2018-2019 school year we will see some changes in the alignments of classification and conference structure of our high school athletic programs. Sports participating in the 2A classification include Football, Cross Country, Golf and Wrestling. Basketball, Volleyball, Track and Cheer will compete in the 3A classification. While this is a logistical concern for scheduling and travel it is not an excuse for defeat. As an activities department we know that regardless of classification, if we focus on the PROCESS ,the PRODUCT will take care of itself. We look forward to competing in these classifications and hope our community will also.

Schedules for all sports have been posted on the HSCSD#1 website (hotsprings1.org) for your viewing. Schedules do change throughout the school year so please check back regularly for updated schedules. You can also get updates by downloading the Remind App on your phone and joining the HS Activities group with the code “@thermop” or the MS Activities group with the code “@thermopo”. Each sport also has Remind codes that can be obtained from the coach of that sport. MaxPreps app is also a new means of communication for 2018-2019. While this program is new to us we do know that schedules, scores, updates and rosters can be found on this app.

Lastly, we encourage everyone to get out and support our HS and MS athletic and activity teams in their seasons. Go Bobcats!