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Coaches report summer camps, leadership work to boost girls' participation; cheer coach asks board for paid assistant
Summary
Girls' basketball coaches described targeted summer camps and outreach that they say are increasing participation and building leadership; an elementary teacher and cheer coach urged the board to add a paid assistant coach for safety and parity in the collective bargaining agreement.
Head girls' basketball coach Bill Fulbright addressed the board on Sept. 10 to report on efforts to rebuild program culture and expand participation. "We had such a good summer," Fulbright said, describing team camps, targeted outreach to 5th–8th graders and a small group of incoming players who attended a Draper, Utah camp. Fulbright said the coaches prioritized leadership and mental skills and used summer camps and combined-team experiences to ease the transition from middle to high school.
The coaches said those efforts produced concrete results: a small pilot of girls who attended camps and returned with enthusiasm, targeted bridging between 7th/8th grade and high school, and plans to expand camp opportunities. Assistant coach Ryan Tolley described the camp format as mixing classroom sessions on leadership with on-court training and said the approach helped players buy into practice culture.
In public comment earlier in the meeting, an elementary teacher and cheer coach told the board the cheer program has 17 athletes and is projected to have about 30 next season. She said the program currently lacks a paid assistant coach and that the head coach is the lowest-paid head coach under the district's CBA. She urged the board to include a paid assistant and to address pay parity and safety needs. "MHSA recommends, like, 1 coach to 10 athletes," the commenter said, arguing that single coaching coverage raises safety concerns for stunt work and game-day workload.
Why it matters: Trustees framed athletics as part of student engagement and leadership development. Coaches linked increased participation to retention and school connectedness; public commenters cited safety and contract-parity concerns that would require negotiation or budgetary action.
What the board heard and next steps: Trustees praised the coaches' work and asked administrators to ensure communication and logistics for 8th graders coming from other feeder schools. The cheer coach's request was placed on the record during public comment; the board did not commit to a specific CBA change at the meeting and referred the issue to negotiations and future personnel discussions.
