Junior college history leaves some DSC coaches with lower salaries
Whitney Phillips and Tyler Roberts
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: DSC News
"The position is designed around the person," Cluff said. "All of us have multiple responsibilities."
He also said it is very common for coaches to have other jobs not affiliated with the college, but few have responsibilities that cause them to miss games or practices. For example Littlewood is an NCAA Division I men's basketball referee, who refereed 52 games last year, including the Elite Eight game between the University of Connecticut and Missouri.
However, Cluff said Littlewood has only missed about four baseball games. Former DSC Athletic Director, Dexter Irvin, had to approve him refereeing the Elite Eight game because he would miss a conference game. Even then Littlewood was here for the first game of a doubleheader and then drove to Arizona to referee the game.
Cluff said of the department's $3.2-million budget, about $2 million is dedicated toward salaries and scholarships. Since that money spreads fairly thinly over all the athletes and employees, the department has to rely on part-time coaches to run the other six teams. This may have an effect on how well the teams do. Kristensen said she was a part-time coach at another institution, and she found it difficult to have to focus on more than just her team.
"I know we're making the transition, but I feel at this level, it's hard to be a part-time coach," she said. "It's really hard to be fully committed to your team, and you can't cut corners. My hat goes off to them for being successful."
One of the perils of having part-time coaches is keeping them around for an extended period of time. One specific example is that of former softball head coach Beth Collett, who resigned last year after guiding the team to the NCAA Division II Softball World Series. It was her first year as head softball coach at DSC and Cluff said part of the reason she left was the part-time pay, but it was not the only reason.
"To get her here we had to convince her and talk to her a lot," Cluff said. "I was not 100 percent convinced she wanted to be here even after she was hired. Dexter (Irvin) told her if she gave him three years as a part-time coach, he would find her a full-time position on staff. I believe she had already made up her mind to leave before the team qualified for the postseason."
He also said it is very common for coaches to have other jobs not affiliated with the college, but few have responsibilities that cause them to miss games or practices. For example Littlewood is an NCAA Division I men's basketball referee, who refereed 52 games last year, including the Elite Eight game between the University of Connecticut and Missouri.
However, Cluff said Littlewood has only missed about four baseball games. Former DSC Athletic Director, Dexter Irvin, had to approve him refereeing the Elite Eight game because he would miss a conference game. Even then Littlewood was here for the first game of a doubleheader and then drove to Arizona to referee the game.
Cluff said of the department's $3.2-million budget, about $2 million is dedicated toward salaries and scholarships. Since that money spreads fairly thinly over all the athletes and employees, the department has to rely on part-time coaches to run the other six teams. This may have an effect on how well the teams do. Kristensen said she was a part-time coach at another institution, and she found it difficult to have to focus on more than just her team.
"I know we're making the transition, but I feel at this level, it's hard to be a part-time coach," she said. "It's really hard to be fully committed to your team, and you can't cut corners. My hat goes off to them for being successful."
One of the perils of having part-time coaches is keeping them around for an extended period of time. One specific example is that of former softball head coach Beth Collett, who resigned last year after guiding the team to the NCAA Division II Softball World Series. It was her first year as head softball coach at DSC and Cluff said part of the reason she left was the part-time pay, but it was not the only reason.
"To get her here we had to convince her and talk to her a lot," Cluff said. "I was not 100 percent convinced she wanted to be here even after she was hired. Dexter (Irvin) told her if she gave him three years as a part-time coach, he would find her a full-time position on staff. I believe she had already made up her mind to leave before the team qualified for the postseason."
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posted 11/25/09 @ 5:38 PM MST
This artilce is very interesting.
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