Somers School Board changes football offer

The Lakeside/Somers School Board decided to re-offer the district’s head volunteer football coach position to Randy Gilpin during their meeting on June 26. Gilpin was the head football coach in previous years as a volunteer but the position had to be re-offered in order to be in compliance with the district’s recently adopted state mandated volunteer policies.

“Kids will play football no matter what,” trustee Sam Bagley said.

The district is currently facing budget cuts, which made the future of football, fifth-grade band, and other programs uncertain until the budget was balanced. The final action of the previous board was to place Gilpin in his usual head coaching position for football, an action that typically does not occur until August.

“Because it all happened in May we were not compliant with our policies,” Bagley said.

However, as an unpaid volunteer there were certain procedures that had to be followed first to minimize liability issues.

“The weird part for me was I was already appointed, but they took it apart and put it in a new package and that’s the concern of the parents and tax payers,” Gilpin said.

Trustee John Hollensteiner said it does not save the district money to have an unpaid volunteer overseeing the football program because part of the requirement was to have a paid person involved as well.

“I think the volunteer thing should have been really looked at,” trustee Alice Blasdel said.

Blasdel was the only trustee to vote in opposition to rescinding the offer to Gilpin, as she wanted the board to take another look at the volunteering options before making an offer.

Bagley said under normal circumstances the board would offer the coaching position to one of the district’s employees first, but out of consideration for Gilpin having already been offered the position earlier this year they are offering it to him first.

Gilpin will have 20 days to decide if he wants to accept the board’s offer for the paid position. Another possible route for SMS football would be to restructure it as a club sports team. This would mean the school would hold no responsibility for the football program, but the team would be able to use the school’s facilities and even continue to be known as the Mustangs.

Unfortunately, Gilpin was out of town and unable to attend the board meeting. He will return on July 4 and begin reviewing the details of their offer before making his final decision.

“I personally and professionally want to coach,” Gilpin said. “The coaching is where my expertise is and I’m there for the kids. I don’t do politics or drama, I coach football and that has turned into something that has been quite an education with all the processes involved.”

He has past experience in forming and running club football programs, but he said if he were going to go that route he would have started the process already. Football is a year-round sport for Gilpin as he helps coordinate training programs for students through The Summit. He also takes sportsmanship beyond the field by having leadership and citizenship awards for the players.

“At the end of the day, I want to coach the kids and the parents want me to,” Gilpin said. “If the contract allows me to coach, I just need to look at the details.”

If Gilpin decides not to accept the board’s current offer, there is an option to continue with the club sports program or offer the coaching position to someone else. If nobody else wants either of those coaching opportunities, then SMS students still have the option to play for other school’s teams.

“I am glad to say we are now compliant, Gilpin can make any decision he wants and we (the board) will support him,” Bagley said. “We would prefer to have Randy (Gilpin) coach and hold him to the same standard we would a teacher, no more and no less.”