The Sailors: Steamboat Springs’ highly motivated football team
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Steamboat Springs is a thriving city located in northwest Colorado known for its mineral springs, special events, unique arts and culture, educational opportunities and sports. The city is home to the Steamboat Springs High School football team known as the Sailors.
Established in 1910, the Sailors have been entertaining residents with great football for a long time. As one of the 20 sports teams in the public high school, the football team has kept the energy at the stadium very high.
One of the best things about the Sailors is how they always have motivated and energetic head coaches who care a great deal about the kids. Coaches like Mark Drake, for example, headed the team brilliantly for a long time, during which Aaron Finch served as his assistant.
Coach Finch took over for Drake in 2004 and headed the Steamboat Springs High School football team for six years before resigning to pursue new business ventures. Under his leadership, which ended in the 2009-10 season, the Sailors made it to the state playoffs five times out of six. He made a 52-18 record in those six seasons before handing the reins over to his defensive coordinator, Lonn Clementson.
Coach Clementson led the football team as head coach for seven years, during which the team played four consecutive 4-6 seasons, two 0-10 campaigns and dropped from a Class 3A to Class 2A.
When he stepped down in 2017, Shawn Baumgartner was named head coach of the Sailors after serving as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator for two years. Former defensive back Baumgartner coached the Highland High School’s football team for three years, Weld County for a year and the North Dakota State University football team for 12 seasons.
“My biggest thing, vision-wise, is starting to build those relationships with younger kids,” Baumgartner said when he was first hired. He has since left the program to pursue other career options.
When Luke DeWolfe, the school’s athletic director, saw that no one was coming forward to fill the vacant head coach position, he suggested that Jay Hamric would be a good fit for the job.
Hamric served as the team’s interim head coach for the 2021 season while maintaining his job as the Steamboat Springs School District’s director of teaching and learning. He has been very involved in football for a long time, having been a quarterback and fullback in high school and college, respectively. He coached different football teams in Florida and West Virginia. He has also coached other sports.
“I didn’t want to see the program take a step backward this year by not having a coach or someone who can’t commit fully to the program,” Hamric said. “Coaching takes a lot of time and energy and effort. I care greatly about these kids. I care greatly about the program.”
After living in Steamboat for about four years and working with the school long enough to know most of the Sailors, Hamric won’t have a hard time earning the trust and respect of the players.
After the COVID-19 break, the football team returned stronger and began the season with a 28-15 victory against 2A Valley. Since then, the team has played a couple of games, winning some and losing some.
Overall, they hold a 0.60 win percentage, going 6-4 from 4-2 home games and 2-2 away games. They are fourth in the 3A Central West, 126th in All Colorado rankings and 29th in All Colorado Division 3A rankings.
In October, the Sailors won the game against Eagle Valley Devils 31-30. The team also beat the Demons 14-6 and 28-27. Unfortunately, they lost to Palisade Bulldogs 62-26 and the Huskies 20-7.
Although the team hasn’t won any title since the 2009 season, they’ve been playing beautifully so far, and we’re looking forward to a massive turnaround in the football program.
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