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Posts Tagged ‘State of the Union’

“I’m pretty dang excited!”

Posted in Administration, tagged , , , , on August 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School/Middle School Athletic Director Willie Smith strides into a new school year. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A new school year approaches in Coupeville, and the word of the day is optimism.

Back in his office after tearing up the golf course over the summer break, Wolf Athletic Director Willie Smith likes what he sees.

A few thoughts from the head man himself as we roll into the future:

I’m pretty excited!

We begin our second year in the North Sound Conference, and, after last year, I just feel like we are on the cusp of making some significant strides throughout our entire athletic program.

We went into last year with some trepidation, not really knowing how we’d fare against a group of schools that, traditionally, were stronger across the board from our prior league, the Olympic League.

We had a new football coach, a rekindled cross country program, a new superintendent, and quite honestly, a lot of questions within our programs and athletes.

Could we compete, at a high level, each week?

How do we deal with the adversity that a stronger league presents?

Can our struggling programs grow or will the competition be too great and we regress?

I can honestly answer that we not only rose to the challenge of our new league, but in many instances, we shone.

We won a league championship in softball (and went to state), had two coaches of the year, 20+ first or second team All-League players, a multiple state champion in track, and qualified for district tournament play in all but two team sports.

Every varsity/JV sport but one earned a 3.0 or higher team GPA, and our athletes put on a sports clinic for the elementary school that was attended by grades 3-5, and they did the coaching, planning and implementation!

So did we make a mark last year? Yes we did.

As we begin fall practice this week with high school football kicking off Wednesday and the remaining high school sports starting Monday, August 26, I’ve been asked by quite a few members of our community, what can we expect this year?

Our football team is playing an independent schedule, we have new head coaches in cross country (Luke Samford) and girls basketball (Scott Fox), we’ve lost our middle school football program, but have gained a middle school boys soccer program.

So, where are we at?

First off, we had an amazing summer turnout with our athletes and coaches.

We had programs that went to camps and tournaments (boys and girls basketball, volleyball, football, and cheer), youth clinics hosted by our coaches and athletes, team weight room sessions that were well attended, and our football program volunteered to paint the Boys and Girls Club thanks to the efforts of coach Bobby Carr.

Our football program that is struggling?

It had 11-12 freshmen turn out this summer, and 20-25 kids attending camps and weight room sessions.

Head Coach Marcus Carr did a national podcast extolling the work ethic, pride, and sense of community that is Coupeville.

Where are we? Well I don’t know where you’re at, but I’m pretty dang excited!

I really feel like we have made some pretty incredible strides over the last two years.

Our coaching staff is great; they are committed, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and very high character men and women.

Our athletes have shown a renewed commitment and I couldn’t be more proud of our leaders who paved the way for our teams this summer, both by example and in dedication.

Without a doubt, there are challenges, always are, but I really feel like our athletic program, from top to bottom, is in a place that we haven’t been in for a long time.

It is about character, competing, respect, responsibility and commitment, and regardless of the outcome, our kids will come out way ahead of others because they are embracing all of those.

So yes, I’m excited about that!

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Safety, competitiveness fuel football changes

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on May 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Sean Toomey-Stout and teammates will play an independent, non-league schedule this fall, one of several changes for the Coupeville High School and Middle School football programs. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There are big changes coming to Coupeville’s high school and middle school football programs.

Wolf Athletic Director Willie Smith released the following letter Thursday to address the new direction, and he and the CHS coaching staff, led by Marcus Carr, will host a public meeting to follow up.

That meeting is 6:30 PM Wednesday, May 29 in the CHS Commons.

Smith’s letter:

I would like to take this opportunity to go over the state of our middle and high school football programs and hopefully, address some concerns and questions that our students and community may have.

Our middle school football program has ended; and while many may think that’s a bad thing, I actually see it as an opportunity.

More and more, the direction that youth football is moving is in a direction we’d like to pursue as a school.

The NFL, WIAA (governing body of interscholastic activities/athletics in Washington), and many current and former football players are all moving to a new youth program which we are excited to pursue: flag football.

The beauty of flag football is that we can get all kids out, regardless of size, ability or gender.

It takes away the stigma of contact and pigeon-holing kids into positions based on size or skill level.

Each kid gets an opportunity to play every position: quarterback, receiver, lineman, etc.

We want boys and girls playing and we are looking to start this program, grades 3-8 by next fall.

It is a great lead-up game to tackle football and kids get to learn football without worrying about getting tackled or put in a position just because they are big or small.

At Coupeville High School, we have seen a dramatic decline of participation over the past 7-8 years.

While some of this can be attributed to the concussion element, I believe it is also due to the lack of a consistent football coaching staff during that time.

The constant coming and goings of our head coaches has led to an uncertainty, apathy, and non-interest in the program.

However, I truly believe that our head coach, Marcus Carr, and his staff are committed to rebuilding our program and see it come back to the healthy, strong program it once was.

In part, this is why I’m writing this article: Coach Carr and I want our community to come to meet him and his staff, learn more about them as community members as well as learn about their commitment level, philosophies, and coaching methods.

We have taken two big steps, in our minds, to help address the safety concerns of our community.

First, I appealed to and was allowed by our current league, the North Sound Conference, to pursue an independent football schedule rather than participate in our league.

I did this based on the fact that we have low numbers and a young group of returning players.

As I stated earlier, the safety of our kids is paramount in our scheduling of games and Coach Carr and I truly believe that moving to an independent schedule was vital in beginning to revitalize our program.

I have been able to create a full schedule, weeks 1-9, with teams that are going through what we are, are smaller schools (or new programs), and will provide our kids with an opportunity to be successful each and every game.

It is not an easy schedule; we are not throwing in the towel on our kids or program, and it will require our kids to work in the off-season, and be committed just like any other season.

It is a great opportunity for our kids and community to feel success in a program that needs to feel success and in spite of our low numbers and youth, has a genuine chance at being a very good football team.

Secondly, we have purchased (thanks to a generous donation by the Coupeville Booster Club) an item that we believe, will add some safety and peace of mind for our program.

It is a product called Guardian Caps and is a shell that goes over the helmet and has shown to help in the reduction of concussions.

In researching this product, and I want be completely clear, it does not, nor can any product, guarantee 100% protection against concussions or head injuries.

It does, however, offer added protection to the head, especially when hitting the ground.

We will be using these during our practices, and in discussion with Bremerton High School who used them this past fall, it did help with kids’ confidence as the season progressed.

They have been shown to reduce the number of concussions in a season, which is what drew us to the product, and they are used by a number of colleges, high schools, and youth programs throughout the nation.

Coach Carr, his staff, and I would like to invite the community, parents, students, and any other interested parties to a meeting on Wednesday May 29 at 6:30 in the High School Commons.

You will get to ask questions of our football staff and myself, learn more about how our football staff instructs tackling and blocking, as well as learn about the training they receive in order to become a football coach.

 

2019 CHS football schedule:

Friday, Sept. 6 — Port Townsend (6 PM)
Friday, Sept. 13 — @ Vashon Island (6 PM)
Friday, Sept. 20 — @ Friday Harbor (6:30 PM)
Friday, Sept. 27 — La Conner (7 PM)
Saturday, Oct. 5 — @ Kittitas (3 PM)
Friday, Oct. 11 — @ Northwest Christian (Lacey) (7 PM)
Friday, Oct. 18 — South Whidbey (7 PM)
Friday, Oct. 25 — Anacortes (TBD)
Friday, Nov. 1 — @ Interlake (7 PM)

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Go inside Willie Smith’s mind!!

Posted in Administration, tagged , , , on March 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville HS/MS Athletic Director Willie Smith. (John Fisken photo)

The man in the head office has a few words for you.

Willie Smith has spent two decades-plus at Coupeville High School, working as a teacher, coach and Athletic Director.

This is his second time around as AD, having re-assumed the post at the start of the 2016-2017 school year. He previously held the position for five years, stepping away in 2009.

Today’s column marks the launch of “ADD: Athletic Director Directives,” which will give Smith a chance to impart the “thoughts and musings of a small-town AD with big-time dreams.”

Is this mic on?

Whenever a new leader, supervisor, head man, big cheese, whatever you want to call it, takes over, there is a period of transition and philosophical change that occurs and that is what we are in currently.

My goal, in writing this, as well as follow-up articles, is to give all of you insight into what the goals are for our athletic program and to let you in on how those goals came to be; however, fair warning that entering into my world, especially my head, may not always be advisable.

First, my role as I see it, is to be an advocate in all aspects of our athletic program: student athletes, coaches, parents, and administration.

I have coached for over 20 years, been part of building two different programs from the elementary level up, am unafraid to ask questions and speak up, am extremely competitive, and am fiercely loyal to our schools, kids, and coaches.

I am not political, nor always politically correct, whatever that means, but I am never demeaning, nor crass in my opinions or decisions.

I am what you see and what you hear (well, depending on the person telling you what I am) but I am not going to tell you one thing and do another.

In forming who I was as a coach and a player, I had some very good coaches, and some very poor coaches; I played at the state level, and went win-less for an entire season.

As a coach, I stressed the fundamentals, had high expectations of myself, players, and coaches; I even yelled every now and then, but always tried to be the first to congratulate when kids did it right.

I have no idea what my overall win/loss record is but am super proud that my teams improved from the beginning of the year to the end, had high character, didn’t make excuses, outworked most other teams, and got to experience a lot of successes, both at league level and state level.

I believe that middle and high school athletics can be the most rewarding experience in a student’s life.

There is no book, quiz, or state test in the education system that can teach you so many different lessons and put you in so many life experiences.

In any given game or contest you can rise to euphoria and in the next instant, be brought to your knees.

You have to work as a team, experience a wide array of personalities, deal with adversity and conflict, confront your emotions, and ultimately, be able to talk with and come to tenable solutions with those that are in charge of you.

Those that say, “Winning isn’t everything” are correct (though it is a lot of fun); there are many other successes that kids, coaches, and communities can embrace: high character, work ethic, teamwork, commitment, service, accountability.

I truly believe that if our students, coaches, parents, and community embrace these things winning takes care of itself, and even if it doesn’t, these are values that we should all aspire to.

This is the vision of the Athletic Department, it is at the bottom of each of the Athletic Director emails:

CHARACTER LEADERSHIP ACCOUNTABILITY SPORTSMANSHIP SERVICE

These are the values, the basis of all decisions, and the vision moving forward.

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