Sacrifice is part of the job for area high school coaches

Fargo
Coaching jobs, at the high school level, are part-time positions but many with full-time demands – the biggest being time.
Bart Manson, who has been coaching high school boys basketball for 18 years, knows all about the demands that it can place on his family. While coaching Grand Forks Red River in a 2004 region tournament game, his wife, Nicole, was in the hospital preparing to give birth to the couple’s third child.
Manson made it to the hospital in time and several hours after the final buzzer sounded, he was holding his newborn daughter.
“Coaching is an addition to my full-time teaching position, so it does require me to juggle my time on the court with my family,” said Manson, who has been the head coach at Fargo Davies for the past four seasons. “Thankfully my wife is very supportive of my career as well as coaching and my kids enjoy time in the gym as much as I do.”
For coaches like Manson, devoting 25 to 40 hours a week during the team’s season is worth the demand on his time. Manson’s coaching contract at Davies pays him $7,300. From the first day of school, Manson estimates he spends 10 hours each week preparing for the upcoming season. After the season, he estimates he devotes five hours a week until June 1 when team camp season begins – which requires 25 hours a week until July 15.
Talia Butery’s base salary to coach the Fargo North swimming and diving team is $4,220. During the season, Butery estimates she spends more than 300 hours conducting practices and coaching at events. Last season, Butery coached on a half-time salary after giving birth to her son five days before the season started.
“I grew up in an environment surrounded by coaches,” said Butery, who has two children. “My grandpa was a high school coach in Minnesota for 10 years and my dad (longtime area prep coach Mike Merritt) has coached in the state for over 40 years. My mom, my siblings and their spouses all coach or have coached in the past. My husband has coached college and high school track and field. I grew up knowing the commitment it takes to be a coach.”
Scott Strenge, head coach of the Wyndmere-Lidgerwood football team, knows a lot about managing the demands of being a coach on top of having a family and a full-time job.
Strenge and his wife have two children. He also is the principal and activities director at Wyndmere Public Schools. He estimates his coaching position – which pays $4,494 – requires 400, if not more, hours of work that includes practices, games, travel, film sessions, meetings and preparation.
“The most difficult time is balancing all of my roles during August,” said Strenge, who coached the Warbirds to a state 9-Man championship in 2010. “There are many days where I get to school at 7 a.m. and do not come home until 10 p.m. My wife and kids know the demands and have been very supportive.”
Jason Thielges gets paid $6,200 to coach the Fargo Davies football team. He said between fall camp, the season and offseason duties, his time commitment to the job exceeds 400 hours. Thielges and his wife have three children
“From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. I’m a teacher and I focus solely on that duty,” said Thielges, entering his fifth year at Davies. “From 3:30 p.m. to the end of practice I’m a coach. After that I get home, play with the kids, talk with my wife and tuck the kids into bed. Then from 10 p.m. to midnight I usually watch film and plan the next practice. It’s definitely a balancing act.”
Brett Peterson has coached the West Fargo baseball team the past 11 seasons in addition to teaching physical education in the West Fargo School district. Peterson and his wife, Gretchen, have two sons. Peterson’s 2013 coaching contract was $3,608. He estimates from mid-March to the end of May he logged nearly 400 hours.
“I got into coaching first and foremost because of my love for the game of baseball,” Peterson said. “I also really enjoy working with the athletes and seeing how they grow in the four years we have them – not only as baseball players, but as a person as well.”
High school coaches are also susceptible to criticism.
“We had a tough season in 2013 and most people were very supportive, but there were a few people that were extremely judgmental,” Strenge said. “Too often coaches waste time worrying about the loud minority and unfortunately forget about the silent majority. It is easy to fall into that trap. … All teams go through ups and downs. Coaching is a great responsibility and I love the job.”
Thielges recalls a time walking down from the press box at halftime while he was an assistant coach for the Fargo South football team when he overheard a few fans question the play calling.
“The funny thing was we were on a 20-plus game winning streak at the time and I thought, ‘If they aren’t happy now they probably never will be,’” Thielges said. “Some people are like that and you can’t let it bother you.”