Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 15, 2015 11A
Polk County Sports
Heart: Tallan to pursue coaching career
Continued from Page 10A
As the youngest of four
children, Tallan saw his
older siblings compete in a
number of different sports
while he was forced to
watch from the sidelines.
He wasn’t about to let his
condition mark the end of
his athletic career.
“I was always keeping
stats in the stands,” Tallan
said. “… I didn’t want to
give up on sports because I
couldn’t play them. I just
had to find the path that
was right for me.”
The Call
Tallan treasured his mo-
ments playing baseball, but
his passion led him to a
different sport — football.
“I don’t know what it is
about football,” Tallan said.
“Maybe because Central
was so good and growing
up watching games under
the Friday night lights and
the big crowds. I just really
love it.”
But Tallan seemed des-
tined to a life of watching
from the stands — that is
until an offer from Central
coach Shane Hedr ick
changed everything.
Tallan and Grant Hedrick,
Shane’s son, grew up as
close friends. And when Tal-
lan was in fifth grade, Shane
Hedrick gave Tallan the
chance he had been hoping
for — to join Central’s foot-
ball team.
“I’ve known Tanner for
basically his whole life,”
Shane Hedrick said. “... I fol-
lowed him playing sports to
the degree that he could. He
started to pull back in sports
a little bit and curiosity led
me to find out why.”
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Tanner Tallan helped Boise State earn a Fiesta Bowl Championships during the 2014-15 college football season.
Tallan joined Central
High’s staff doing simple
tasks at first, but it wasn’t
long before his responsibili-
ties grew.
“I started out as a water
boy and ball boy,” Tallan
said. “I moved up to equip-
ment manager and helped
with film.”
Despite his young age,
Hedr ick said he was
amazed by the way Tallan
conducted himself.
“I’ve never encountered
someone at his age that
was so mature,” Hedrick
said. “This was when he
was still in middle school.
We never looked at him like
that. It was more like a col-
lege kid coming in. He
knew what his assignment
was and didn’t have to be
told what to do. He was
years ahead of anyone
we’ve had come through.
We’ve had a lot of college
kids come out and coach at
Central. (Tanner) has been
more mature than any one
of them.”
B e f o r e l o n g , Ta l l a n
joined his friends, includ-
ing Grant Hedrick, Grant
Lindley and Brandon
Cutsforth, as a student at
Central High.
This time, Tallan had a
way to be a part of some-
thing special with them.
“They helped me feel
like I was part of the team
and never made me feel
like I wasn’t important,”
Tallan said. “I really en-
joyed being a part of the
experience.”
Officially, Tallan’s title
was equipment manager.
But Tallan knew he wanted
more — he wanted to be-
come a coach.
Boise State
As Tallan neared the end
of his high school career,
Tallan began to search for
his next steps. The
Hedricks set up a visit for
Tallan with Boise State’s
football team. It didn’t take
long for both sides to be
sold on each other.
“They offered me a cou-
ple of scholarships on the
spot,” Tallan said.
Less than a week later
and Tallan was back in
Gaining Speed
Boise helping the program
run a high school football
camp — all the while hav-
ing one of his best friends,
Grant Hedrick, there by his
side.
“He developed into a big
brother role for me,” Tallan
said. “When we were hang-
i n g o u t , h e ’s n e v e r
changed. He’s such a hum-
ble person. It’s just like if
we were hanging out here
(at Central).”
Grant said Tallan’s effect
on him and the team sur-
passed any kindness he
showed to him.
“He may not have been
able to play it, but he has
watched and studied it clos-
er than anyone I know,”
Grant Hedrick said. “... Tan-
ner never gets too high or
too low, which helped me a
lot as a player to go to him
during a game or during the
course of a season. He’s
helped me out a lot more
than he probably knows.”
Tallan spent his first two
years with the running
backs. This year, Tallan will
be working with the cor-
nerbacks — a strategic
choice allowing Tallan to
gain experience helping on
both sides of the ball.
While he may be living
out his dream, that doesn’t
mean it’s all easy. Tallan said
during football season, he’s
occupied seven days a week.
“When it’s your turn to
do laundry, you can be
there until 1 in the morn-
ing and have to be back at
practice at 7 a.m. the next
day,” Tallan said.
But all the hours and
hard work is more than
worth it for Tallan, who
hopes to become a gradu-
ate assistant somewhere
after earning his under-
graduate degree.
“He has a lot of coaching
connections around the
country that will help him
continue his football coach-
ing career for a long time if
he wants that,” Grant
Hedrick said. “He’s respect-
ed by a lot of people at
Boise State and other places
in the football world.”
More than anything, Tal-
lan is grateful for the
chance to live out his ath-
letic dreams.
“I love just being a part
of the program and being
around football,” Tallan
said. “It’s amazing when
your dreams start to be-
come realistic.”
SPORTS BRIEFS
Tickets on sale for golf tournament
INDEPENDENCE — Tickets for the Partnerships in Community
Living’s Benefit Golf Tournament are now available.
The tournament, scheduled for Aug. 14, is open to the public at
Oak Knoll Golf Course. The four-person team scramble costs $300
per team or $75 per player. Registration is available online at
www.golf.pclpartnership.org or will be available onsite at 7 a.m.
on the day of the event.
A continental breakfast and full lunch will be provided.
Hole sponsorships also are available.
For more information: PCL, 503-838-2403.
Dallas to host youth tennis camps
DALLAS — The Dallas High School tennis program will host a
camp for students in grades one through 12 Aug. 10-15 at the Dal-
las High tennis courts.
Cost is $30 plus two sealed cans of balls.
Mary Christensen will help lead the camp, which will be split
into two sessions. The first session is for first through fifth grade
students from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. The second session, for grades six
through 12, will run from 8:15 to 9:30 a.m.
Registration will be held the first day of camp.
For more information: Rose Gillette, gilletfam@msn.com.
Local players fall at USTA tourney
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon student-athletes Samantha Moore (left) and Josh Joyner (right) watch as a camper runs through
a ladder workout during the school’s speed camp on Monday morning. Western Oregon is offering speed camps
through the end of July. For more information, visit www.wouwolves.com.
DIVISION I JUNIOR BASEBALL
Coxen emerges as leader
Dallas hopes to make deep run at state tournament
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
School may be out, but
for Dallas junior Clay
Coxen, he’s not taking the
summer baseball season
lightly.
“My expectations were
that we would make it to
the state tournament and
be playing on the last day of
the tournament,” Coxen
said.
Dallas’ Division I Junior
Baseball squad will likely
host a league playoff game
on Thursday, coach Scot
McDonald said.
But while winning a state
title is on everyone’s mind,
Coxen said the summer
does provide one major
benefit.
“It’s different from the
(high school) season,”
Coxen said. “It’s a lot more
laid back and it’s more
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Dallas junior Clay Coxen heads to first base during a Di-
vision I junior baseball game on Monday.
about learning than win-
ning.”
Coxen is experiencing
plenty of both this summer.
He is emerging as one of
the team’s most consistent
bats as Dallas has earned a
third place-finish in the
league standings.
“My batting average has
gone up a lot and my strike-
outs have gone down,”
Coxen said.
His growth on the dia-
mond is the result of years
of work, beginning at the T-
ball level.
“I couldn’t imagine what
it would be like without
(baseball),” Coxen said. “I
love baseball and I wouldn’t
give it up for anything.”
Coxen’s growth this sum-
mer comes with expecta-
tions of a big junior cam-
paign for the Dragons.
“I see myself playing a
role in next year’s team in
the batting lineup and in
the pitching rotation,”
Coxen said.
As Dallas prepares for
what it hopes is a deep run
in the state tournament,
Coxen also makes sure to
remember to enjoy the mo-
ment while he can.
“My favorite aspect is
being able to play with your
best friends,” Coxen said.
“It doesn’t get better than
that.”
EUGENE — The Timberhill Tennis Club’s women’s tennis team,
featuring local players Petra Cole, Mary Christensen, Alice Bibler
and Patti Youngren, lost to the Athletic Club of Bend 3-2 on Satur-
day at the Southern Oregon Championships.
Cole and Christensen won their doubles match 7-5, 7-5, while
Bibler dropped her singles match and Youngren lost a doubles
match.
The Athletic Club of Bend advanced to sectionals Aug. 28-30 in
Washington.
Volleyball skills camp signups open
DALLAS — Dallas High School will host a volleyball skills camp
Aug. 10-13. The camp is open for students in grades one through
12.
Cost is $45. Make checks payable to Dallas Volleyball.
The morning session will run from 9 to noon and is open to all
girls entering high school. It will be run by guest coach Chuck
Shannon and current DHS coaches. The afternoon session will go
from 1 to 3 and is open to all girls and boys in first through eighth
grades. Parents are invited to watch.
Registration forms are available online at
www.sites.google.com/a/dsd2.org/dallas-high-school-athletics/
For more information: Shana Lavier, 503-949-4657.
DHS to put on youth soccer camps
DALLAS — Signups for the Dallas High School Soccer camp are
open. The camp will run from Aug. 11-13 from 9 to 11 a.m. and is
open to students in kindergarten through eighth grades.
The camp will be held at Whitworth Elementary School. Players
will be broken up according to grade and skill level.
Make checks payable to Dallas Booster Club.
CYS to host youth football signups
INDEPENDENCE — Central Youth Sports (CYS) will hold football
registration Aug. 10-14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Panther Stadium.
Signups will take place at the concession stand.
There will also be an opportunity for registration on Aug. 15
from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. CYS youth football is open to students in
grades K-6. Cost is $125 per child.
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