Students in some Clayton High School sports teams have had the opportunity to learn from new coaches this fall. This year’s new coaches are Kurtis Werner, who is now the head coach for the boys and girls cross country team, Krystal Williams, who coaches cheerleading, and Allie Park, the softball coach.

Werner was formerly the assistant coach for the cross country team, but became the head coach after former head coach Mike Nelke became Activities Director. He says one of the biggest surprises about this year’s team is the number of students who have joined the team.
“One surprise this year has been numbers,” Werner said. “We have about thirty boys and girls running cross country this year. The biggest surprise from the numbers has been the amount of underclassmen that have joined the program. These underclassmen are the future of the program and right now the future looks bright for the Greyhounds.”
Softball coach Allie Park said this is her first year coaching softball, and it has been a big learning experience for her.
“I have just tried to put together all the skills and coaching styles from coaches I have had in the past and give them [the girls] the tools they need to be successful,” Park said.
Despite the relative inexperience of several players on the team, Park has seen drastic improvement in the team since the beginning of the season and is happy about the attitude of the players.
“The girls are really upbeat and always stay positive, which is great, and that is a challenge in itself – learning new things and keeping yourself and your teammates positive,” Park said.
With the large number of students on the cross country team, Werner’s biggest challenge so far has been organization. However, things are less complicated than Werner initially anticipated with the return of former coach Anne Etling and the help of another coach from Truman State University.
“I hired one of my former running teammates from Truman State University, Kevin Crean. The strong relationship and openness of the coaches towards ideas has allowed trust to develop between the team and coaches,” Werner said.
Park also said the assistance of the coaching staff and her own experience playing softball in college has eased her transition as a new coach and has helped shape team dynamic.
“I just finished my career in college softball, so making that transition from a player to a coach is new to me,” Park said. “But it’s fun because I feel like I can give back my knowledge that I have accumulated over the years and make these girls into terrific ballplayers.”
Werner and the other coaches have worked closely with team members on conditioning exercises to ensure that the runners don’t get injured, and this has also contributed to increased collaboration.
“The cooperation of the athletes to do a lot more speed work, distance, agility, and abdominal drills has allowed the team to both improve and become a real team,” Werner said.
As head coach, Werner said one of his other goals is to learn more about runners’ injuries, due to the high number he and the other coaches have encountered.
“I would like to sit down this winter and study-up on aches, pains, and other injuries and how they could be prevented. Coach Crean, Coach Etling, and I have a minor understanding of what is wrong with a runner some of the time, but I would like to not necessarily diagnose problems, but have an idea of what is wrong so the athlete can properly take care of the injury,” Werner said.
For Park, team bonding has been crucial to the success of the softball team.
“We do everything as a team; I think the smallest things really make an impact,” Park said. “For instance, we had a team barbecue at the beginning of the season so everyone could get acquainted.”
Park strongly emphasizes positive feedback and collaboration among the players to strengthen team bonding.
“I like to teach positive thinking and leadership. I tell them they cannot get mad at each other when one makes a mistake, and they have to pick each other up. And during practices, I like for the girls to learn from each other. If each and every girl knows what the other does right and wrong – they can help and learn from each other,” Park said. “Softball is almost like a sisterhood – and when a group of girls get together, they can be mean, excited, happy, sad, or irritated. But they still have to work together; it’s a team sport and the team chemistry is very important. We are getting there; I tell them they are looking more and more like a team everyday.”