As I sit here during my last deadline working for the Sedona Red Rock News, Cottonwood Journal Extra and The Camp Verde Journal, I cannot help but reflect on the many things I will remember from this, my first professional sports writing job.
In the short span of a little more than 18 months, I have had the pleasure of witnessing and writing about a number of great games, athletes and moments.
Coming from a background where high school populations are 10 times or more the size of Sedona Red Rock High School, I quickly realized how big of a part sports play in the communities of Sedona and the Verde Valley.
Sports is one of the pillars of any community’s foundation. To bring a voice to the coaches and athletes of these teams — putting into words what happened on the field, court and in the pool — was my favorite part of the job. I only hope that I did each and every one of those stories justice.
A large part of the Cottonwood community came out on Friday nights during the fall to support the Mingus Union High School football team. The Camp Verde community loves all of its high school’s sports teams, but some of the best support I saw was for its baseball and softball teams.
Despite having the smallest school population, Red Rock had some of the most talented athletes around, evidenced by its girls basketball team’s three straight state Final Four appearances and success at the state track and field championships.
What I like most about these communities, schools and teams is that they rely on multisport athletes, something that has become less common over time, especially in larger areas. For me, they are the best brand of student-athlete around.
I will always remember covering my first state championship game, that Red Rock girl’s basketball team in the Conference 2A title game on Feb. 24 at the Prescott Valley Event Center. In that building I also witnessed a handful of Camp Verde wrestlers take home individual state titles, namely Hayden Uhler in 2017 when he wrapped up his prep career with a fourth state title in a fourth different weight class — only the second Cowboys wrestler ever to do so.
Myself and Hunt Mercier — photojournalist, my roommate, coworker and best friend here — got to go to Arizona State University to watch the Camp Verde softball team play for a Conference 2A state title as well.
I had a blast traveling around Northern Arizona to watch the Marauders football program win its 20th region title last fall, and some of the most exciting games I covered were up at the Mingus softball field and in the gymnasium. Working with former Mingus head football and baseball coach Bob Young was an honor. Young never sugarcoated things, always returned phone calls and, win or lose, he always spoke to the media. I am not sure I will ever come across a coach who will have spent decades, save a couple of years or so, with one school and one community.
That is not to say that the rest of the coaches in the area did not do the same, but rather the opposite. Mark Showers, Dave Moncibaez, Dave Beery, Harry Schneider, Mic and Danni Barker, Dan Wall, Will Davis, Henry Smith, Mike O’Callaghan, Klint McKean, John Brown, Yancey DeVore, Molly Westcott, Erick Quesada, Frank Nevarez, Paul Bain, Kirk Westervelt, Tom Miller, Pedro Ortega — the list goes on, and I apologize to anyone who I left off the list.
I am grateful for each and every one of them for always talking to me, returning phone calls and answering all of my questions. In total I covered nine region championship teams and two state finalists — and the list of memorable games is too long to write here — but there are many more stories that I will always remember, like H.B. “Boots” Claunts, the 99-year-old hole-in-one magician.
Moving forward, I know that these schools, sports teams and the communities are going to get stronger. Mingus has seen an influx of young alumni returning to coach, teach and give back to their community. Camp Verde athletics is under new leadership with Wall becoming athletic director after being mentored by Showers, whose 21-year tenure has come to a close.
Red Rock athletics is now guided by Assistant Principal Don Burton, whose experience and ideas make me confident that the only direction for the Scorpions to go is up.
Covering high school athletics in Sedona and the Verde Valley will be a period of time in my life I will never forget. So, as I sit here finishing this column, I say goodbye, and I hope the next sideline spectator is as lucky as I was.
