THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Once the smoke clears - and hopefully that's soon - there will be a familiar face in a familiar place.
And a few of his coaches couldn't be happier for that.
WHEN IT was announced that Todd Gilkey was returning as athletic director at St. Maries High, replacing Cory Newton, who moved out of the area, Lumberjacks football and baseball coach Craig Tefft was thrilled to hear of the return of the guy that hired him from Potlatch.
"I love it," Tefft said. "It just makes things so exciting. So many people are excited about playing in this program right now. It's really exciting to have Todd back."
Gilkey was named 3A athletic director of the year at St. Maries in 2005, and 5A AD of the year in 2010 and '13 and recently completed a stint on the Idaho High School Activities Association board of control.
"He's the best AD in the state as far as I'm concerned," Tefft said. "Ever since he got re-hired, he's been here working on things and working with us coaches getting us what we need and helping us. He's a great guy to have around the program."
Meanwhile in Plummer, after enrollment dropped a few years ago, the second year in Division II (99 students and below) for the Lakeside Knights could be its last after those numbers climbed back over 100 at the end of the last school year.
"We're really close with the numbers," third-year Lakeside football coach Chris Dohrman said.
Lakeside qualified for the boys state 1A Division II basketball tournament last year for the first time since the 2005-06 season. The girls, also coached by Dohrman, advanced to state for the first time since 2004, winning the consolation championship.
"I believe that if we're at that number or above, we'll petition down," Dohrman said. "We just don't have the numbers to compete (at a higher level). We'll play where they put us. It's just one of those deals that if we're slightly over 100, it's hard to compete at 160-180."
THE SOCCER field at North Idaho College got a little bit of a renovation with the hopes of being in top shape when the season kicked off.
Mother Nature has had some other ideas.
The school replaced some areas where the ground was not level due to wear and tear on the field.
"The really hot June hasn't helped," NIC women's soccer coach Dan Hogan said. "The grass kind of struggled and is a little behind where we wanted it to be."
Both the men's and women's team have been practicing at Canfield Middle School, with the men's program using the fields at Whitworth University in Spokane every once in a while.
The NIC men's team is scheduled to scrimmage Whitworth next Tuesday at home, while the women won't play at home until a Northwest Athletic Conference match against Treasure Valley on Sept. 12.
"Hopefully this year the field will be playable and next year will be in good shape," Hogan said.
GAMES ON the football field are only a few days away from getting started and already most of Friday's schedule has been moved to the Kibbie Dome in Moscow.
Rocky Mountain vs. Lake City, Skyline vs. Coeur d'Alene and St. Maries vs. Kellogg have already been confirmed to take place inside the dome, with others still weighing options on where or what to do from here.
Once they do, it should be entertaining.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.