Southmoore redux: Outtakes on a complicated process
By Zach West
zwest@oklahoman.com
I must admit, summarizing the start-up process for Southmoore football into a small enough space to fit the newspaper was no easy task. Thankfully, I was given enough room to do an adequate job, but certain humorous or interesting items still had to be whittled down or cut out completely. Of course, that extra information is why we have a sports blog (or so I’m told), so here ya go.
One of the tidbits that didn’t survive the final cut was the following excerpt comparing Southmoore to Oklahoma City’s Centennial High School, which underwent a similar ‘starting from scratch’ process leading up to this past football season.
When Oklahoma City’s Centennial High School started its inaugural two-a-days last fall, 14 players showed up for the first practice. During a 1-9 opening season, the Bison often played with 20 or so players, and managed to finish the season with 34. Centennial head coach Randy Wilson said, however, that Southmoore has two distinct advantages over the situation the Bison were in. First, with the size of the Moore school district, overall numbers shouldn’t be a big problem. Second, since Southmoore head coach Chris Jensen was hired in December, he has a good head start on player identification and training.
“I was hired late (in May), and I didn’t have an opportunity to identify many of the athletes and get them in our program, and summer pride program,” Wilson said “It’s important to be able to identify your kids and know who they are, and what they can and cannot do. He’s going in knowing some of the kids, and that’s a big positive.”
Another intriguing aspect of the story that hit the cutting room floor was the situation facing the players who have a choice between going to Southmoore or staying at their original school (Moore or Westmoore). As you can see from the following excerpt, many of the players I talked to were torn in their decision, and for good reason. Choosing between the school you’ve grown up with and a new, exciting opportunity is a heavy load for a high school student. (Note: This idea was cut from the story because I’m going to develop it for a new story in a week or so, around when the players have to decide)
After several weeks of administrative discussion, it was decided that all upcoming seniors who live in the Southmoore district will have a choice between staying and switching. The only other players with a choice are upcoming juniors who lettered their first two years of high school.
