Sports commentary: Familiar faces back next year as coaches encouraging

Oh, what a difference a year makes. Last spring the buzzword on everyone's lips involved with Bigfork High School's athletics was "new." The community was preparing for a new class for competition and new coaches with new philosophies in five of the school's eight sports.

I don't think I am alone when I say that I am looking forward to things mellowing out for next year and seeing some consistency in the sports programs at the school. There are two "new" head coaches — volleyball and girls soccer — but both were assistants for the past two years.

Being a coach is a somewhat thankless job. It's safe to say that none of the coaches at Bigfork do it for the pay.

The hours they put in are monumental and the criticism they receive is mind-blowing at times. Some might say that the juice isn't worth the squeeze, but those who say that aren't coaches themselves clearly.

If you talk to any of the coaches at BHS, you will find one common thread between all of them — passion.

They are passionate about the sport they coach, but, even more than that they are passionate about the kids they are coaching, and even those that are just in the stands.

For all the worry and all the stress that everyone had in regards to Bigfork athletics last year, I think that most people would agree that things turned out pretty OK.

Even before the conclusion of spring sports, the school has collected a nice stack of post-season trophies (13 to be exact), several athletes earned All-Conference and All-State honors and nearly every team had a winning season.

The consistency that will be in place next year is good for the athletes and it is good for the school.

Having winning athletic programs this year boosted moral at BHS and improved the environment of the school, even for those who aren't into sports.

Next year will of course come with a few challenges. As the result of budget cuts, the cross-country team and golf team have to raise money to fund their sports for next year if they want to compete. Teams will also be feeling the cuts in other places, including postseason meals.

Although it is easy to dwell on what will not be staying the same at Bigfork next year, there are plenty of things that are staying the same and looking up in athletics.

You can call it the result of switching classes, different coaches or an improvement of the talent pool of athletes. It doesn't really matter.

The point is that it was a good year for Bigfork sports and with familiar faces at the helm of the school's athletics programs, next year stands to be just as good, if not better.

I am especially looking forward to next year since so many of the school's younger teams and individual athletes were even more successful than their older teammates this year. The freshman boys basketball team was the only team in any sport to have a perfect season.