Iola High School Athletic Director Tristan Carson and Iola Middle School Athletic Director Scott Brady believe there is a bright future for area sports fans.
With this year’s freshmen providing the foundation for a variety of Iola sports programs, and new programs catering to students of all abilities, today’s athletes and coaches represent a new era for Iola school district athletics.
“One of our biggest goals in middle school is to keep them playing in high school,” Brady said. “Obviously, we want them to be successful at IMS, but we want to build a program so they’re successful in high school, too.”
Carson started as Iola High AD last fall with a virtual clean slate.
First-year coach Lauren Moots spearheaded a rebuild of the IHS volleyball team. And husband and wife duo David and Britt Daugharthy oversaw the reloading of the Mustang football and cross country teams.
Carson said his coaches’ experience allowed him to quickly adjust despite beginning his tenure during arguably the busiest time of the sports season. Carson also credited IMS AD Brady, who enters his third year as AD, for advising him during the transition.
“It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot from Scott,” Carson said. “There are a lot of behind the scenes stuff Scott helped me out with. ”
Brady recently received recognition as the Kansas Principals Association Area II Assistant Principal of the Year and the Kansa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Administrator of the year.
He and Carson work hand-in-hand in a variety of ways.
From easing the transition freshman year to getting out in front of athletic issues impacting high school and middle school athletes, Brady believes a strong relationship is key to developing area athletes.
“Kids are on their screens instead of outside playing, and that’s a challenge for us dads, former coaches and athletic directors,” Brady said. “How do we get kids away from screens and back out playing, but that’s more of a societal issue than one specific to school.”
Despite both ADs being relatively early in their careers, the pair are part of a generational shift in athletics. Both IMS and IHS girls wrestling teams saw exponential growth as part of a national trend with many states sanctioning the sport for the first time in recent years.
In November, school officials announced the establishment of a fishing club. Organizers Jeremy Fellman and Tre Howard hope to develop it into a competitive team. Carson said the program is in its infancy.
“We’re working on some issues such as as insurance and safety with the board office,” Carson said. “Right now, they’re just a general club. They meet and they’ve talked about taking fishing trips, techniques and safety. They had a person with the Kansas Department of Wildlife come in and talk to them. One day, once we’re cleared, we’ll go fish, but there is nothing official and it’s not KSHSAA certified.”
Instead of combating videogames, IMS and IHS co-opted the perceived epidemic by creating Esports programs.
Where creating a competitive fishing team is no small task, creating an Esports team for an already established league through KSHSAA was much easier.
