June 2012 - InMaricopa.com

28m SPORTS InMaricopa.com
June 2012
Outgoing AD: Bar has been raised
BY WAYNE BLOCK
Progress.
When Brian Winter assumed his
duties as vice principal and athletic
director at Maricopa High School last
summer that was what he was looking
for in his first, and what turned out to be
only, year on the job.
And that is what he said he achieved.
“We got a lot of things in place;
raised the bar on a lot of levels,” he
said speaking in his office days after
tendering his resignation. Winter will
move to Goodyear Millennium High
School in the same two positions at
MHS.
“Like I said when I got here, and I
really believe it, I think this place is a
sleeping giant,” he said.
Although there was not a lot of
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success on the playing fields during
the past school year, Winter said much
progress has been made that will lead to
a better athletic future.
“We started doing some of the
legwork in terms of a booster club, trying
to create more of an umbrella booster
club that didn’t exist,” he said.
“We were able to create a sense of
direction with our coaches and that’s
probably the most difficult thing.”
Turnover in head coaching positions
had become a problem in recent years.
“Our coaching stipends are not very
good; they’re not comparable. At the end
of the day, that’s going to be a challenge,”
Winter said. “Many of our teachers and
coaches drive, they’re not residents of
Maricopa. If they can make more money
teaching and coaching closer to where
they live — we’re fighting that.”
A major improvement during the past
year has come in facilities.
The baseball and softball fields
received major improvements, going
from poor playing surfaces to good.
Some improvements were made
possible because of increased gate
receipts and pay-to-play fees, and
volunteers made huge contributions, too.
Tom Dugan, owner of several NAPA
Auto Parts stores “was kind of our
volunteer grounds person,” Winter said.
“He did the bulk of the mowing on this
campus all year.”
The Whittles, Aaron and Chad, were
both guys who came onto the campus
and volunteered at various times. They
did a lot of work, particularly on the
softball field.”
Facility upgrades included: pouring
a curb to keep rocks from going onto
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JAKE JOHNSON
Brian Winter looks back over his year as MHS
athletic director.
the track, completely redoing the weight
room including padding on the walls, and
painting Ram Country on the football
stadium and banners that will hang in the
gym next year honoring Maricopa’s past.
“Eleven state championships and nine
runners-up,” Winter pointed out.
Winter has fond memories of the high
points of the year athletically.
“The girls’ basketball team had a
nice run and had a playoff game; Chris
Lessard’s second place finish at the state
cross country meet; our varsity football
team finished the season strong,” he
said. “I think we were competitive on a
lot of levels.”
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