( i The Clackamas Print
sportsed&clackamas. edu
W ednesday, Nov. 2, 2011
Officiating offers
work for athletes
By Isaac Soper
The Clackamas Print
Ifouth Sports: two words that bring up many
memories Tor some o f us. Perhaps how our
mother made us stop playing soccer in kindergar
ten because it was too dangerous or possibly we
enjoyed the glorious refreshment o f juice boxes or
Capri Sun after a game. Maybe we did more with
our athletic abilities.
Clackamas Com m unity College has many
intercollegiate teams and with marry teams comes
many athletes. College athletes and other students
interested in sports nave a excellent opportunity
to exercise their knowledge to either coach or
officiate youth sporting events.
“Officiating is a great thing for kids to get
involved in. I aid it myself when, I was in college,
it was a great part-time job throughout the early
years, o f m y coaching career. I think being ott the
other side, understanding what the official goes
through, it’d be a tremendous benefit for an ath
lete,” said Paul Fiskum, assistant mens basketball
coach at CCC.
“W hat you need to do is find out who is run
ning the youth sports leagues in your community.
Portland Parks and Recreation actively recruits
high school and college kids to officiate their
youth basketball program. T he CYO, Catholic
Youth Organization, has quite a sports program
and they also have a lot o f high school kids and
college kids officiating,” said Fiskum. “Basically,
anybody could Google parks and rec or talk to
their local school district. Any parks and recre
ation district would primarily be the ones running
youth sports or organizations like little league.”
Becoming an official is not only a prospect
for an athlete but for anyone that is interested in
officiating, in most cases. Prior knowledge about a
particular sport, although it helps, is not required
for most youth sports programs.
“Some o f the local grade schools ... they’d say
‘find m e [officials] who played in high school’
because they didn’t have any training programs,”
said Fiskum. “Bur organizations like CYO and
Portland Parks and Kec, in my neighborhood,
in Portland, they do have training programs.
Definitely, experience playing the game is not a
prerequisite at all.” y
Coaching and officiating youth sports is a
great opportunity for student athletes to gain a foil
understanding o f the sport that they play and it is
possible even with a heavy class load, according
to C C C volleyball Head Coach Kathie Woods.
“It keeps the athlete connected with the sport
they are playing” said Woods. “[It] lets them meet
more people in the volleyball community, which
might help them in recruiting for the next step
after Clackamas. It is also a great part time job for
them after their season o f paying at Clackamas.
It pays well in most cases and is flexible with the
school schedule.”
Being both flexible for your school sched
ule and paying well sounds like a dream come
true for any student seeking part-time work.
Throughout the school year arid even during the
summer months, there are many youth programs
willing to hire on members or the community
that are interested in coaching or officiating.
“[Back in college] we used to have middle
schools call die athletic office and ask for student
athletes to come officiate. M y roommate and I
used to go out and do 7th and 8th grade basket
ball games regularly in the winter,” said Fiskum.
It was a great litde way to put a little spending
money in our pockets. T hat led into officiating in
the adult city leagues and I did that for a number
o f years.”
Anyone looking to get into the field o f either
coaching or being a physical education teacher as
a career can use die experience from coaching or
officiating youth sports to build up their resume.
They can also gain networking skills and contacts
to get into their field o f choice.
I intend to [coach] this d u b season for a 16
[year olds] team,” said Taylor Copeland, fresh
m an setter for C C C ’s volleyball team. “I am
really excited for it >nd I am probably going to
[be an] assistant ooa..ri for Canby Volleyball Club
with Brittney Bevens. I love working with kids
and can’t wait to give back, to the volleyball com
munity.”
W hether wanting some extra cash for the holi
days or looking to update a resume for a job in the
industry, becoming an official for youth sports in
the area could be a good first step and one step
further for a student athlete towards having a
more well-rounded view o f the sport they play
Above: Shane Yacuta (133) wrestles last Thursday. The meet
was the fir s t since the Clackamas Com m unity Wrestling team
won the N ational Junior Collegeate Athletics Association title
last February in Spokane, Wash.
Lefi: Cody R andall (right) gets Eric Lu n a into a hold during
their match on on Thursday, Oct. 27- R andall was a region
champion in his weight class last'season. ■'
WRESTLING: a national powerhouse’
Continued from Page 1
Aside from the returning sophom ores, Clackamas has
added some, established nam es to the roster as well, such
as transfers A ustin M oorehead, R udi Burtschi an d N ick
Sierra.
“Clackam as h as'a stellar program w ith great coaching;
it’s a good place to be,” said All-American M oorehead
(i8 4 ), w ho placed 2 n d at Nationals last season for Rend
Lake College.
Burtschi (197) placed 4 th at Nationals for N o rth Idaho
College in 2009. Sierra (157) was the California State
C ham pion in 2010 and is transferring in from G rand
C anyon University, bringing w ith him a lot o f experience.
• T hese additions are m ore than J u s t another nanie on
the C ougars’ roster. E ach talen ted individual brings stabil
ity and strength to the team ; caliber, rank, experience and
leadership.
“T h e team has a lo t o f depth; perhaps the m ost we’ve
had since I’ve been here. It’s a great testam ent to show how
far we’v e come, to be able to recruit guys o f these levels.
I’m really excited for the guys’ potential, said R hoden.
Clackamas is knovyn as an athletic powerhouse’ in the
N W A A C C an d know n nationally w hen it comes to wres
tling. In recent years the p rogram has m ade great strides
in building an exceptional nam e for the college, one built
upon the m any successes w ith R hoden at the helm ,
“T h e w restling com m unity as a whole is small. People
will com e to know you a n d a t th at tim e your reputation is
w hat you have,” said R hoden.
To bring the program to a higher level, changes I n
Right: Shane Yacuta (top) a n d M artin
G onzalez fig h t fo r the w in during
last Thursdays intrasquad meet in the
Randall H a ll gymnasium. Gonzalez won
his weight class in region 18 a season ago
a n d advanced to the national champion
ships.
p fy y Wrestling
Next Up: Home vs.
Highline 7:00 p.m.
Friday Oct. 27
recruiting an d fiiridraising were th e first to be m ade.
“[W hen recruiting,] there needs to be a confidence in
coaching for us to say if y o u do w hat we tell you, you’ll
reach your goals,” ; said R hoden.“ It’s to a p o in t where
recruits know th a t w ere a N ational team a n a it’s nice to
have those things [wins] to p o in t to.”
Such success is often tim es accom panied by pressures
both ori and off die m at. A ny tim e a program m akes a
national appearance, there’s always th e question o f w hether
they can reach the same level the next year. “W e had a lot
of success last year an d we’re definitely going to. try an d
deferid it,” said M elendrez,
T here are pitfalls th at have n o th in g to do w ith w resding
directly, the guys on the team have to act th e right way n o
m atter w hat they’re doing. T h a t includes spending their
tim e o ff at hom e, attending classes on cam pus a n a g o in g
about their busiriessin the com m unity.
“T h e part o f m y job I love the m ost is w hat I do o ff
th e m at. I t ’s the question of, ‘how do I im pact these guys
to becom e better leaders, to m ake better choices,”’ said
R hoden, w ho also said.that building a stro n g relationship
between the coaches and wrestlers is essential to the success
o f the team . “W e try to build those „relationships so th at
they know they can com e to us an d there w o n t be any
judgm ent, regardless o f the situation.”
Building from th e experiences o f last season, th e
Clackamas wrestling team as a whole certainly has high
hopes to m ake a repeat appearance at nationals as well as
defending the tide.