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Show WEEKLY w NEWS JOURNAL, NORTH DAVIS LEADER, JUNE 17, 1981 REFLEX-DA- VIS zxs Soccer Cant Help But Grow With Bitner Around we see almost daily, By KEITH DUNCAN Its a fact that soccer and the kids who play it were on the backburners primed for some exploding results once school officials brought the sport into high school. It couldnt go anywhere else but up. IN MY opinion, a local coach was also positioned on one of those backburners who when given the has been just as much a part of the soccer explosion in Davis County as anyone else. Davis Highs Bruce Bitner handled some 65 kids in the first tryout to form the schools first ever soccer team. He chose from a group that were primarily skilled in some aspects of the sport but many of whom had never played in any other form of tics. go-ahe- BITNER FILLED the neccessary 20 positions that intitial year and he and the kids have been a success story ever since. I remember that first team. None of us will probably ever forget it. Some of those kids had at leasi nine years of experience. Before soccer was introduced into high school, those kind of talented kids had no place else to play, said Bitner. FOR THE past two seasons, Bitner has guided the Darts to a pair of region championships in what is probably the most competitive soccer region in the state, 4A or 3A. Bountiful and Woods Cross have also been members of the league where some contests between these three schools have turned chilly days of 40 degrees warmer. Each game is tense and heated. WHEN IT came down to the final four in the 1981 state championship, Davis, Bountiful and Woods Cross were all there. And for the second straight year Bitner had to bite his lip as his squad fell to Bountiful in the championship game. Bitner sees the future of soccer, especially in Davis County, as something more than unlimited. You dont even have to be a part of it to witness its growth. The bumper stickers, fields full of youngsters kicking it around and other things are something Bitner said. BITNER BELIEVES the time was just right w hen soccer was introduced at Davis High. Certainly the fact the sport costs so little to operate must have affected a few administrators decisions. For the large number of kids who play the sport, the cost for a few balls, some nets and referees seemed insignificant. Most schools had already set up fields because of the use in physical education classes. But the reason Bitner feels the timing was so right was the fact so many had years of experience and the necessary skills to give a game some meaning. More than one or two had developed some aggressive skills. THE DAVIS coach compared soccer to wrestling in that it is the only child in one respect. Its much like the position in wrestling. That kind of athlete cant play football and basketball but once a proven winner can become pretty popular in his own right. There is a place for the slower person and for someone who is quite quick. There is another place for someone who is quick with his feet but not overly aggressive, said Bitner. THE DART soccer coach recalled the American Fork contest in the recently completed state tournament where a player who wouldnt weigh in at anymore than 112 pounds scored the goal. That kind of thing is unheard of in other team sports, stated Bitner. He firmly believes that soccer has added an entire new dimension in high school athletics. Who knows where it will go from here, he said. A PAST WORTH TALKING ABOUT BITNER, WHO student taught at Layton High, said once early in his career of teaching, that he would like to stay in the county to teach school. It was a dream come true to come back to Davis where he once attended school. But one more dream that he would like to fulfill is to bring a state championship to Davis in the sport of soccer. Just how long can you go on being second place? By KEITH DUNCAN There isnt anyplace like home for most folks and for two high school coaches, there will never be another high school like Davis High. WARD SAWLEY and Tom Packer once walked the halls of Davis as students and you probably could have never convinced them theyd be back there years later coaching athletics. These two are like five or six other fellow coaches who were former Darts but later on were adopted back into the tradition-rich Davis system as coaches. Their committment goes a long ways and the love for sports, kids and a winning Davis season go deeper than that. SAWLEY, WHO now is positioned as the head football coach, likes to think one reason the Darts win in every sport and win so often is the fact the coaching staff is bonded together by something more than the few extra bucks they get to stay after school. Before I was ever lucky enough to land a head coaching job at Davis, I had the opportunity, like a few of the others had, to go to other schools to become a head coach. BUT I wasn't sure that is what I really wanted. The feeling of closeness we have enjoyed here at the school makes both head job and an assistants worth while. "Looking back now, I couldn't see myself giving up the closeness feeling at the expense of being a head coach Charlie Persinger, left, Davis County Wildlife Federation president, receives outstanding local club award 1980 from Sheldon Eppich, state president. FEDERATION HONORED Davis Countys Wildlife Federation club has been named as the outstanding local unit for 1980. IT WON out over clubs from the 28 other counties with an award received by club president Charlie Persinger. A wide range of areas are covered by the club with projects -A- SSISTING in the cleanup of ducks which died of botulism at Bear River Bay and Harold Crane Wildlife Management Area. Installing fence crossings for hunter use in west Layton to help stop damage to private property by some hunters. ASSIST IN topping moun- tain mahogany to enhance available winter feed for deer. Assist in stocking game fish throughout the county. THE CLUB lists about 70 members and meets the second Thursday of each month at the Kaysville American Legion hall a 541 W. 100 S. tb in- cluding: Distribution of the National Wildlife Week packets to all elementary schools in Davis, Morgan and Weber Counties. PRESENTATION of talks and programs on wildlife and the hunters role in conserva- tion to church, school and civic groups. Sponsorship of a conservation essay contest for memand Future Farbers of in the county. America of mers OPERATION of a concession and information stand at the Lagoon cutter races and during the opening weekends of duck and goose seasons at 4-- Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area. Assisting County Conservation Officer Alan Hash in gathering evidence resulting in conviction of poachers. Billy Jean By Pete Fritichie The charge that too many female athletes are either on steroids or hormone treatments in international sports, has been a major issue in recent years. NOW BILLY Jean King, who a few years ago took it upon herself to defy Wimbledon tradition and wear other than white on the courts, has confessed to having had for some vears a female lover! King, Prexy That's a new, disappointing dimension in womens sports. Worst part of the King scandal, however, is that the women's pro tennis associa- tion nevertheless reelected her at its head which raises eyebrows anew about the women in tennis. NOT ONLY should King have resigned for young people inevitably look up to such stars and the example they set is imitated but the tennis organization should have accepted it immediately, if only because the action would have been the proper moral position for a governing body in sports to take. It's bad enough for a heroine of young Americans to caught up in scandal. be It com- pounds the situation when the governing body of the sport apparently condones such havior. be- somewhere else, related Sawley. HE DECIDED to stay. Jay Cullimore later decided to retire a banner career and Sawley made application. After being selected Sawley admits it was being in the right place at the right time and very, very lucky chance. AN OUTSIDER who hasnt attended Davis can quickly detect the closeness Sawley talks about. The staff goes places together, whether its a fishing trip in the summer, a wrestling match a hundred miles away in the winter or a Davis soccer game in the spring. The thought of one day returning to Davis to coach never entered Sawleys or Packers minds when they were students. But once in college and their direction in life pinpointed, the thoughts of returning to Davis were there, though the chance seemed remote. SAWLEY SHIPPED off to the northeast for a years experience in Oregon and was in Clearfield for five years before coming back to Davis. Three of Davis Highs most colorful people are three of its past football coaches who brought plenty of honor and glory to a school mired deep in rich sports tradition. Lee Liston, Gerald Purdy and Jay Cullimore stand over a collection of trophies that they helped bring to the school during their football days. Sawley hopes one thing that fans notice is the quest for fun that this coaching staff exhibits. Its no secret that coaches here dont spend all these hours with kids for moneys sake. Its all for the love of sports and kids, said Sawley. THE FOOTBALL coach admits it might be somewhat of a drudgery if there wasn't a little fun involved. When I go out to work a track meet, I want to have fun while I do it. If I dont have fun, then I can figure its my own fault. That's the same with going to a wrestling match a hundred miles away. I can honestly say it has never felt like a drudgery be- cause when weve gone . together as a staff, we ve joked about and enjoyed ourselves, Sawley said. Sawley follows in the footsteps of some highly successful football coaches, some that used to mentor him. He respects the system, the basics of the double-win- g offense and the tradition that is built around the sport. FOR THE past two years he led two groups of kids to a pair of region championships and a couple of slots in the state playoffs. I suppose we can all thank Coach Lee Liston for introducing the double wing. Jerry Purdy added on to it as did Jay. And thats what Ive done, just a little addition and some change, but the theory has always been kept in force, Sawley stated. schools like Davis. He recalled the ceramic D found in the main hall. "Everyone knows better than to step on it. If someone does, they are quickly notified, said Packer. The D was donated by the Class of 1935. HAVE YOU ever noticed that the old part of the school is never tom down. They just keep on building around it. Its because of people like Dick Stevenson, principal, that that part of the school isnt changed. In the auditorium there are seats with wood backing. You might find seats of similar nature carved out and dismatled in other schools, but not here. You wont find teachers in the assemblies because its the kids that police themselves. Just a lot of pride in that good ole brown and gold, said Packer with tears in his eyes. Packer was also outspoken on his fellow faculty members especially by referring to the them that we turn away some members every year because Ive only got enough for 40 adults to do. They tell me they are lucky to get four or five," said Packer. Packer seemed confident that the majority of the faculty staff got along and if some didn't, they usually don't last too long. PACKER ALSO pointed out that when a coaching position opens at Davis, there is quite a rubbling that goes on about the state. "People know the kind of support that we get here and they would like to be a part of it, said Packer. IT WILL be sad someday if we get an administration that doesnt have the same ideas and principles that this one has, but then again I don't think that could ever happen, said Packer. annual Davis County track meet held each year at the school. OTHER COACHES are taken back because of the turn out of faculty members and fellow coaches we get to support us at the meet. I have to tell Sound Advice Dont stay away from church because it attracts so many hypocrites; theres always room for one more. Dispatch, Kan. SAWLEY SAYS he has more fun coaching around the concept of the double wing and doesnt see any reason why it cant continue that way. Packer now heads the track and field program at Davis while assisting in football during the fall. This former Dart, who scored the only touchdown during Davis Highs 1965 state championship game, says that once his student teaching began it was Davis and Davis only that he wanted to come to. I SIMPLY didnt apply anywhere else, said Packer who even gave up coaching his first year just so he could be at Davis. But it was a chance I had to take. He hoped something would open and the following year a position in freshman track unfolded. His unpaid and completely volunteer services in Davis football his first year earned him an assistant position the following season. PACKER BECOMES emo- tional when reflecting his thoughts about "special feelings for the old girl, Davis High. He pointed out a few happenings that harden the foundation to tradition-rich "AUCTION '81" Marge Barrus, left, and Marilyn Crandall standing by a pong game and a foosball table that will be auctioned off at Auction 81 to be held July 4th in the afternoon at the Layton High School football stadium. The activity is part of Riata Days. It is sponsored by the Layton 22nd LDS Ward. The ladies are members of the auction committee. |