The Durango High School girls tennis team needs a coach, and time is ticking.
One month before the beginning of the spring season, a group of student athletes hope someone in the Durango tennis community will come forward to coach the varsity team.
“It’s very important that we get a coach,” said junior Chloe West, who reached the state tournament a year ago along with twin sister Emily West. “We will not be able to play at all during this season with no chance of going to state, which a lot of us players hope to do this year because we have a lot of seniors.”
Longtime head coach Dave Weisfeldt retired after the fall boys season. He tried to retire two years ago but was convinced to return to the team. This time, the tennis program will need a new coach to step up.
DHS athletic director Dave Preszler said at this time the school has received no formal application for the position.
“We’re actively talking with individuals inside the tennis community to search for levels of interest,” Preszler said. “Coaching is a labor of love, and hopefully you find people who really enjoy that labor.
“All sports provide an avenue for young men and women to bloom and blossom into adults. It would be shame for them not to have the opportunity.”
Preszler said Durango School District 9-R has policies and procedures to follow in hiring a coach. The Colorado High School Activities Association also has a protocol school’s must follow in hiring a coach, and he said a coach must become certified and registered in the school district.
The spring girls tennis seasons run from Feb. 29 through the middle of May. Preszler said pay for varsity coaches is dependent on experience and varies from sport to sport.
Durango 9-R currently has job postings for the head boys and girls tennis coaching positions as well as a girls varsity assistant. Those positions have been open to applications since Dec. 8.
Wednesday afternoon, the school district also posted for the head girls lacrosse coach position. The girls lacrosse season also is set to begin Feb. 29. Preszler declined to comment on the current status of the girls lacrosse opening.
Eager to begin preseason conditioning, a group of Durango High School girls tennis players organized in hopes of spreading word of the coaching vacancy.
“This would be my first year doing tennis, and I was bummed to hear there isn’t a coach,” said junior Natalie Serwe, daughter of Christine and John Serwe. “We’re hanging in the balance until we find one. We’re really anxious.”
Christine Kitts, mother of Chloe and Emily West is doing her best to raise awareness in hopes her daughters can compete again in 2016.
“Time is ticking. We need to get out and start practicing so we can be competitive,” Kitts said. “This is a very competitive tennis area, and you don’t want to get behind Grand Junction and those teams.”
The DHS girls tennis team had nearly 20 players last season. Like all of Durango’s sports teams, the schedule is travel-heavy with several weekend trips to Grand Junction and few home matches.
“Anybody that wants to take that on as a challenge, and it is a challenge, is going to be rewarded,” said Weisfeldt, the former head coach who led the girls program for 18 years. “It is a lot of fun, and the girls make it incredibly rewarding. I hope in a community our size with the active lifestyle we’ve got with people in our community that someone steps up to the plate and takes the opportunity to have a blast.”
Preszler said the goal is to hire someone knowledgeable in tennis who can teach proper technique, and the team’s upperclassmen are hopeful to find a good fit and a coach who is willing to invest multiple seasons guiding the team.
“Every member of the team has the opportunity to make it to state, and it would be disappointing not to be able to further ourselves through tennis,” Emily West said.
“We will very dearly miss our old coaches, but this is a great opportunity for a fresh start in a new season, and hopefully we can kick off a great season of Durango varsity tennis.”
jlivingston@durandogherald.com
