A crowd of residents filled the Dolores County School District board room Thursday night.
The reason?
Longtime Dove Creek High School football and baseball coach Ken Soper was up for discussion.
The Dolores County school board meetings agenda consisted of deciding on new coaches for the 2012-13 academic school year.
However, this topic of discussion began last August when Dolores County schools superintendant Bruce Hankins and DCHS principal Ty Gray informed Soper that the 2011-12 year would be his last.
I realize, Im getting up there and its not getting too long from now to where Id want to retire, anyway, said Soper, 73. Ive always been on a one-year contract. I think thats the way it should be. Well just have to wait and see what they decide.
Friends, family, and former players and students of Soper voiced their opinions for moer than 30 minutes Thursday for the board to reconsider relieving Soper of his head coaching duties.
Board member Travis Randolph spoke about the possibility of Soper remaining in the football program as an assistant coach. The idea was met with displeasure among the people in attendance.
A possible new head coach mentioned was DCHS wrestling coach Shane Baughman, who was a football assistant of Sopers for 10 years. Baughman, currently the Dove Creek Middle School football coach, would additionally be assisted by DCHS track and field coach Jason Fury and current football assistant and board member Josh Hankins, Randolph said.
After a lengthy executive session, the board decided not to vote on coaching changes Thursday. A vote was passed to move the 2012-13 coaching decisions to a meeting on Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m., at the Dolores County School District building.
Maybe its a good sign, since theyre prolonging it another week. At least, evidently, it wasnt set in stone, said Soper, after being greeted and wished well by family and friends. I was hoping there would be a verdict one way or the other, so I can get on. I dont like to be held in limbo. But if you got to, you got to.
Soper is in his 47th season as the head coach of the Dove Creek baseball team, and has been in the program for 50 years. Soper has coached the football team the same amount of time and is a member of three football Halls of Fame. The first induction was from the Colorado High School Coaches Association (2001), then the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (2003), and the Colorado High School Activities Association (2008). Sopers 305 football wins stands as second all-time in Colorado high school football history. He is two wins shy of becoming Colorados winningest coach. Soper was named to the second class of the Colorado Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, also known as the Colorado Dugout (2011). Soper has led the Bulldogs baseball team to two Class A-West state championships in 1975 and 77. He has won 23 baseball league titles at Dolores County and Dove Creek High School.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.
