Two main sports almost scrapped at Nebraska high school

Dana Becker

Two main sports almost scrapped at Nebraska high school image

As the summer winds down and August approaches, high school students involved in football and volleyball get excited. That is because practice begins soon and games follow.

But for a high school in Nebraska, excitement was far from the case. Neither the varsity football or volleyball teams currently have a head coach, leaving key spots vacant as the seasons approach.

The school, though, appears to have found qualified candidates, as the Omaha World-Herald reports. Kayla Fisscher, the Rock County athletic director, said "We've gotten responses from qualified people and we're going to start the interview process soon."

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Rock County and Keya Paha County are a Class D co-op school in Nebraska. Ryan Richey and Heather Painter stepped down following the 2024 season as head coaches of football and volleyball, respectively.

With nobody wanting to take on the added role of being a head coach of either sport, the school districts took to social media to make a plea for applicants to submit their resumes. School officials said they were looking at being forced to cancel the season if a head coach was not hired by August 1.

"We've had assistant coaches working with the players," Fischer said. "I don't think the kids have been too worried about it because they knew we've been working hard to fill those spots."

Both schools are near the South Dakota border in north-central Nebraska.

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Dana Becker

Dana Becker is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He has been a sports writer since 2000, covering high school sports, the Big 12 and more for On SI, The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others.