February 2020 • www.baker5j.org 7
Bulldog Pride
News from the Athletic Director
Buell Gonzales Jr. continues forging community partnerships and building events
B
uell Gonzales Jr. had a
90-day plan when he
started his job as athletic
director for the Baker School
District.
His main goal — to build
partnerships within the commu-
nity — is evidenced by the list of
businesses and nonprofits on his
office whiteboard.
He knows that sports events
impact the local community, so
he’s involved with the Transient
Lodging Tax Committee and
works closely with the Baker
Tournament Committee.
Upgrades to the gym
He’s making changes, too.
The most recent will be notice-
able to anyone who attends a
basketball game at Baker High
School. At the end of January, a
crew removed one row of bleach-
ers from the east side to create
more room between the court and
the fans. This will allow teams to
sit on chairs with room for people
to walk behind.
“For safety purposes, it moves
the bleachers back 24 inches,”
he said. “It makes it better for
coaches and players.”
This issue was the most com-
mon complaint from coaches
who play in the gym.
“The biggest thing was people
walking in front of them,” he
said.
The cost is $6,000 which
is shared equally between the
school district and Baker Tourna-
ment Committee.
Also coming is a new digital
scoreboard that will display
player’s points and fouls. The
scoreboard will be linked to
The Baker High School bleachers have been modified to create more room between spectators and the playing floor. With these changes teams will sit in
chairs, allowing the audience to walk behind the players instead of in front of them.
clocks in the locker room so
coaches know when it’s time to
take the court.
The total cost of the scoreboard
is $27,000. Of that, Gonzales
raised $22,000 from the com-
munity. The district added the
remaining $5,000.
A new video camera system
was installed in mid- January
that will live stream all events
in the BHS gymnasium through
nfhsnetwork. com. Access works
through a subscription: $10.99
per month, or $69.99 per year.
“Every single home game will
be live streamed,” he said.
Looking to next year
Sports schedules are planned
a year in advance. Gonzales has
worked with groups within the
Oregon State Athletic Associa-
tion (OSAA) to combine football
schedules for divisions 3A and
4A. This will help the Bulldogs
play teams closer to home.
“Transportation for football
next year is over 1,000 miles
less,” he said.
For basketball, he’s worked
out two-year agreements with 4A
schools across the state — one
year they come here; the next we
go there.
A goal he has is to reduce lost
class time due to sports.
“Looking to get games on
Fridays and Saturdays is huge,”
he said. “And local games so kids
don’t miss school. We’re devel-
oping what’s best for the kids.”
New this year
Gonzales has worked to estab-
lish a clay target club at BHS for
the spring season.
“We already have people who
do it — we just need to organize
it,” he said.
He has also established a
Captain’s Club from the various
sports teams, and clinics for the
coaches.
Sports Complex
The Baker Sports Complex is
owned by the school district, but
managed by a separate board of
directors. Gonzales said a priority
this spring is to spruce up the
fields and structures.
He’s planning to keep the
Sports Complex and other fa-
cilities busy for the summer with
tennis, baseball, softball, soccer,
and track and field — both local
competitions and invitational
contests.
“The goal is to have something
going on every week,” he said.
Family ID
Gonzales helped launched a
Family ID platform that allows
parents and guardians to register
their children online for sports.
Go to bhs.baker5j.org and click
on “Athletics.” The “on- line
registration” link is on the right
side of the page.