Pioneers too tough to give up
There are six high schools in Clarksville, Tenn.
Five of them have football programs.
Clarksville Academy, a private school with an enrollment of 180 students, announced Wednesday it does not have enough players to field a football team this fall.
According to headmaster Jeff Hill, the Cougars, who have been to the playoffs in six of the past seven seasons, had 15 players committed to participate on July 15. But by Monday, the day the TSSAA allows teams to officially begin practice, that number had dropped to 11, forcing Hill to eliminate the program.
Last year, the Cougars went 1-9, with only 25 players participating under first-year head coach Chris Wiggins. Wiggins, who declined to comment on the situation, other than saying he will remain on the faculty, was the Cougars’ third head coach in as many years.
I know what you’re thinking. “Why should we care whether or not some little private school in Clarksville has a football program?”
Well, look at it this way.
One win against nine losses a year ago. Sound familiar?
Lots of coaching turnover. Sound familiar?
Fortunately, Warren County High School is not to the point of having a different head coach every year. But it’s not far off, considering this year’s senior class is playing under its third coaching staff.
On the other hand, regarding the wins and losses, WCHS is actually in a worse shape than the Cougars. Clarksville Academy’s most recent poor season actually broke a long line of playoff appearances. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the Pioneers.
So, am I saying WCHS might one day head the way of Clarksville Academy, and drop the football program altogether?
No, not in a hundred years. Because while some aspects of these two programs are similar, there’s one thing that’s strikingly different.
In Clarksville, when things started going south, kids jumped ship. Some transferred to other schools once they realized reaching the postseason was no longer a guarantee. Others felt dealing with different coaching staffs made life just too unstable for them, so they left, as well.
But over on Pioneer Lane, there’s a group of young men that doesn’t care what last year’s record was — or the years before that, for that matter.
They’ve seen coaches come and go, too. In fact the entire varsity staff from last year’s team has been replaced, and only freshman coach Wayne Warner was in any way involved in last year’s high school program.
But are players bailing out? No.
Are they looking around to some other school, to find a place where they might play for a sure winner? Not at all.
They’re hanging tough, learning yet another new coaching system, and doing all they can do to make their program a winner by staying with it.
Are there as many players out there as you’d like to see? Maybe so, and maybe not. But I’ll take 45 kids that will bust their hulls over a group of 65 that will lay down on you when the going gets tough — and it’s been pretty tough around here for a while.
When a team hasn’t had a winning season in a decade, and has won just one game over the last two years, we’re really quite fortunate to have as many as 50 kids who are willing to say, “yeah, I’ll get out there and try to help turn this thing around.”
So win or lose, you’ve got to admire the intestinal fortitude it takes for those 50 young men to suit up in 90-degree heat, put the losses of the past behind them, and gear up for this season.
Not everybody has that kind of guts.
Just ask Clarksville Academy.