IT DIDN’T LONG for Port Angeles to fill its other vacant coaching position.
A few days after announcing the selection of its new football coach (Dick Abrams), the Port Angeles School District handed the keys to the Roughrider boys basketball program to 38-year-old Wes Armstrong.
And if the former R.A. Long and Lower Columbia College standout has his way, he’ll make that thing purr.
Sounding a lot like that last head coach (Erik Lathen), Armstrong promised to deliver a high-pressure, fast-paced brand of basketball back to Port Angeles next season.
“My teams always outwork their opponent on the defensive end,” said Armstrong, who went 35-45 in his first head coaching gig at Class 3A Rainier (Ore.) High School from 2005-08.
“The teams I’ve coached have always played with a high level of intensity and are known to be very fundamentally sound.
“That’s a trademark I hope we bring to the Port Angeles program.”
After struggling in his first year at Rainier, a 2-23 season, Armstrong led the Columbians to back-to-back state tournament appearances in his final two years. His teams improved upon its record each year, finishing 18-9 in his final season.
“Our first year I think we had 14 players in the entire program, so basically I was banging down people’s doors to get them to come out and play basketball,” he said. “After that, the kids bought in to the program, and we had some success.”
He took a year off from coaching to complete a program through City University to become a credentialed special education teacher. Now that he’s nearly done with that, he said he’s ready to get back to the bench full time.
“I want to play up tempo,” Armstrong said. “That’s my style. But I have to wait and see what kind of personnel I have.”
Last year was somewhat of a lost season for the Riders.
After Lathen resigned last May to take a job in Beaverton, Ore., the district was unable to find a long-term replacement.
Instead, it hired longtime assistant Art Bell as interim coach just weeks before the season began.
That, combined with the loss of several seniors, led to a disappointing 3-15 showing as the Riders missed the postseason for the first time in three years.
Despite that, Armstrong, who also served as an assistant coach at Lower Columbia College, R.A. Long High School and Kelso High School earlier in his career, said he’s coming in with high expectations.
“I want to go in there and create an environment that wants to win and contend for that league title every year,” he said.
“Some people might think that’s arrogant, but I want the kids to believe that we have a chance to win every ball game.
“I want to go in there and win.
“We’re going to do it the right way as well, very similar to the new football coach [Abrams].
“He talked about life skills, and that’s one of the great things about high school athletics, is you can teach kids about life also.”
I’m a dummy
Speaking of the new football coach, let me take some time to correct a mistake from a previous column.
In Wednesday’s story about Abrams, it was stated that he served as a defensive coordinator under legendary Terry Ennis at Everett High School.
While it is true that he was a defensive coordinator for Ennis, it was actually at Cascade High School in Everett.
PT’s Ricardo
PAPER AIRPLANES RAINED down upon the court from all sides.
Standing in the middle of it all, microphone in hand, was Port Townsend High School athletic director Scott Ricardo.
As the frenzy died down, a wild-eyed Ricardo got down on all fours and crawled toward the Redskins logo painted on center court of Bruce Blevins Gymnasium.
He pressed his face on the hardwood, craning his neck to see which airplane had landed closest to the center.
It was all part of a fundraiser during a boys basketball game.
And this was in front of some 700 Redskins faithful packed together like sardines in Port Townsend’s stuffy shoebox of a gym.
That, in essence, is Scott Ricardo.
A man so dedicated to team-building what he coined “Team Port Townsend.” He would sacrifice just about anything to make it work . . . maybe even a little dignity.
Yet the 55-year-old native of California might have to move on following the end of this school year, another casualty of the budget crunches befalling school districts throughout the state.
Wrong RIF
Ricardo received a RIF — reduction in force — notice earlier this month from the Port Townsend School District, which may have to reduce its budget by $1 million for the 2009-10 school year.
Since he has been employed by the district for only two years, Ricardo was a prime candidate to receive a RIF.
“My wife and I want to stay here,” Ricardo said during a telephone interview. “I do have a plan to make a living if this doesn’t go through here, but I do love this job and treat it as a passion.”
That was quite apparent.
In his time, Port Townsend has refurbished Bruce Blevins Gymnasium through donations he helped solicit, had athletes go on to earn state titles and scholarships, and brought a sense of community to an athletic program that truly needed it.
It was all part of Ricardo’s vision of Team Port Townsend.
“Team Port Townsend is everyone for the common goal of the student athletes,” Ricardo said.
“The commitment was from our athletes and coaches.
“If we’re going to get people in the stands then they needed to work hard as a team. . . to think about Port Townsend before they think of themselves. In most cases, our coaches bought into that.”
Attendance at many sporting events has been up the past two years, most notably boys and girls basketball game (although, the boys’ success likely had something to do with that as well).
“I felt good that I was hired to do a job, and I did it,” said Ricardo, who has also taught three physical education classes each semester. “It’s been a good ride.
“There’s a lot of pride in this town right now, and I hope it continues.”
Ricardo actually received a RIF last year as well, but he was able to retain his job.
Now that the district is in even more dire straits, the possibility of another save is slimmer.
Instead, the district may opt to break up Ricardo’s athletic director responsibilities among a handful of administrators, according to the district superintendent, Tom Opstad.
One of the few things that could save Ricardo is if other teachers or administrators within the district decide to retire or move somewhere else.
“A lot of things that are not in our control do occur as the spring and summer approach,” Opstad said.
“We basically just have to wait and see how everything shakes out.”
_____
Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column normally appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
