Story Written By: Zach Segars @ CHSAANow.com
AURORA, Colo. — The Grandview Wolves flag football program is turning a corner under head coach Mark Fisher.
After a rocky start to the season, the Wolves won both of their games last week and allowed just one touchdown across the two outings. With those standout showings, Coach Fisher is being honored as this week's Denver Broncos Flag Football Coach of the Week.
Mark Fisher
Overall Record at Grandview: 4-5
Overall Record as a Flag Football Head Coach: 4-5
Previous Coaching Experience: Eight years of head coaching experience and 20 years of assistant coaching experience in tackle football.
Why do you coach high school sports?
I just like working with kids, feeling like I'm making a difference, and just watching the kids grow through teaching them a sport. It's something I started doing right after I got done playing in college, like right after I got out of school, and it's just been something that's become a real passion of mine.
Why do you coach the way you coach?
I have been a high school counselor for nearly as long as I've been in coaching, about 26 years. So I believe, in a lot of ways, in being positive when working with kids. There are times when you have to hold some accountability for things, but I like to keep it as positive as possible. I'm a firm believer that, when you give some positive reinforcement and help kids understand what we're doing and why we're doing them, they'll respond very well. It's not all about winning and losing, but more about teaching them the right way to do things and how to be a good person as well as a good player.
What is a lesson you try and teach your athletes?
The value in earning what you get is a lot of it. But a lot of it is also about responsibility, accountability, and doing the right things in and around the classroom. Now, we don't have any issues with that, but I'd still like to impart that, as an athlete, you have a lot of eyes on you all the time, and whether that be little kids or teachers or classmates, how you behave and conduct yourself carries weight and is a reflection of our program.
How did you get into coaching flag football?
I had been coaching tackle football since 1996 and last year I finally took a year off from coaching. But, when everything with flag football got approved late last school year, it intrigued me. Our athletic director came to me and asked if I had any interest, and I did, and it happened very quickly from there. I just decided it was something I wanted to take on and I thought it'd be a really cool new experience.
How did you go about building the program to get it where it is now?
The biggest thing for this team is that they got to compete in the pilot program the past couple of years, so we already had some girls that were involved with it. Our numbers started out really low during the summer, but, as we went, we got more and more girls and excitement built around the program. We ended up with 47 girls total by the time we got going in the fall, so it's worked out pretty well for us.
Why do you think it's important to offer flag football?
It's another great sport for the girls to play, of course. One thing I have learned though, while doing this, is that I underestimated just how much these girls wanted this opportunity. They're extremely hungry to learn football and understand the ins and outs of it. We had some girls who showed up knowing a lot, and some who arrived with little prior football knowledge, but all of them approached it with an eagerness to learn and be a part of this special thing.
What does it mean to you to be part of this inaugural season?
It's an honor to me in a lot of different ways. Because it's the first year, there are just so many exciting firsts. The girls are so excited that we're getting our first official win, scoring our first touchdown, playing our first games in stadiums and getting to chase a trophy. It's also just been such a cool experience to see the girls grow. They've gotten so much better as we've gone through the season and they've learned so much. Now, I find myself coaching with a lot of the same terminology I would have when I was coaching tackle.
What's something that you have learned from coaching?
You have to learn to adapt to a lot of different variables. Over the years, I've coached so many different types of kids across so many different skill levels, going through really high highs or low lows, and they all require something different. You'll always go through ups and downs as a coach, but if you know how to adapt, you'll always be able to navigate them.
