BY TARAH JOHNSON
[email protected]
With the departure of assistant principal Jon Coleman in the upcoming 2016-’17 school year, he will no longer head coach the Roseville High School Trap team which he has worked alongside for seven years.
Prior to coaching, Coleman wasn’t familiar with the sport. He soon learned the skills needed to coach, shoot and perfect both his accuracy and skill to repeatedly fire at targets and hit as many as possible.
“I came into shooting late in life. It actually started when I went in and talked to [former co-coach] Wilson about it,” Coleman said. “Woodcreek had a trap team, so we decided to start one here.”
According to junior, Lauren Banks, who has been on the trap team for three years, the team has an undeniable bond with each other and with the help of Coleman, was able to perform to the best of their abilities.
“The trap team is something where everyone can have fun and we’re like one big happy family. I personally love Coleman as a coach,” Banks said. “He just wants to make sure that everyone is having fun and he doesn’t hound you to get better scores. I’m going to miss how he tries to make everyone happy and make sure that everyone is safe.”
Junior Emily Todd has been apart of the trap team for three years now, two of which being on varsity. She recently scored a nearly perfect score at her last competition, a 95 out of 100.
Todd not only credits Coleman’s coaching, but both the sport and team for providing her with new friends and enjoyable activities.
“Trap is really fun to do and I’m pretty good at it,” Todd said. “I’ve been doing it for awhile and there’s just a lot of fun people doing it. I’ve made a lot of new friends.”
According to Coleman, the trap team consists of diverse students who are motivated to achieve their goals. Not only is trap both an individual and a team sport, it also produces a concentrated-environment that engages its players.
“Trap is an individual and a team sport, and there’s an even playing field for everybody to choose,” Coleman said. “We also have a huge range of kids, whether it be AP students, Special Ed kids and boys and girls.”
Many team members will miss Coleman being both on and off campus next year.
“Coleman is the greatest man I have ever known,” junior trap team member Alex Cotter said. “He taught us to work together and to constantly be safe, whether it be handling equipment correctly or just making sure we were drinking enough water.”
According to Coleman, the best part about being the trap team coach was the relationship he’d formed with his kids, and appreciated their hard work that they continuously put forth.
“My favorite part about coaching is the kids. I work with really great kids,” Coleman said. “They’re willing to work and they do work hard but they still have fun. And as soon as it’s not fun, it’s like ‘Why do it’? I love working with kids and it mostly just makes me sad.”
The future of the trap team is still unknown due to due to Coleman’s soon-to-be absence, but he hopes the team continues to expand in both team members and opportunities.
“It would be really hard to coach the trap team [without working at Roseville High School anymore] and that makes me sad,” Coleman said. “I just hope that the trap team continues in the future and it continues to grow and the kids have fun.”
