Local coaches vying for college positions

     By W.G. Ramirez
     View staff writer
      Several prominent local coaches have expressed interest in the part-time head coaching positions for the new baseball and softball programs at Community College of Southern Nevada.
      Competitive play is projected for the spring 2000 season, and coaches are expected to start work in January.
      Green Valley High's Rodger Fairless confirmed he has officially applied for the baseball position. Fairless has led Green Valley to the last six Nevada championships and also coached Valley High to six titles.
      He said he's prepared to take the same championship approach at the Community College.
      "I'm at the point where I feel it's time to take my coaching to the next level," Fairless said. "It's an obvious transition that I am ready to make. I've enjoyed my time coaching high school kids, but this is a move I've dreamed of and feel I am ready for."
      Bishop Gorman's Tim Chambers is expected to apply by Jan. 9, the deadline for applications.
      "I think the talent level in Las Vegas has gotten to be so big that the team will be able to compete with anyone in this country," Chambers said. "I think the biggest thing the coach will have to do is go out and get some pitching."
      In the past seven years, Chambers has sent more than 45 players either to college or pro baseball, and with the 1999 season approaching, he expects the number to top 50 with four or five players moving on next year.
      "If the community college is committed to winning," Chambers said, "the opportunity is there for that program to be a first-class, top-notch powerhouse."
      Three names have surfaced for the softball job, although none of them confirmed if they were interested.
      The most notable of the three is former UNLV standout and Olympic Gold Medalist Lori Harrigan, who said she's currently training for the 2000 Olympics.
      "That is basically what I am concentrating on right now," said Harrigan, who recently had rotator cuff surgery. "I need to get my arm back in shape and concentrate on 2000, that is my goal."
      Christine Parris-Washington, an assistant under UNLV coach Shan McDonald, said she hasn't had a chance to look into the type of commitment CCSN is prepared to make, but feels it would be a great opportunity for whomever is selected.
      Asked what sort of commitment she would be willing to make when told the position was only part-time, Parris-Washington said being a head coach automatically requires full-time attention.
      "Developing a brand new program, assessing the talent, recruiting and the day-to-day operations of making a pilot program successful requires a lot of work," said Parris-Washington, an all-American at UNLV. "If I were to become a head coach anywhere, I would anticipate working more than 40 hours a week."
      Silverado High coach Chuck Pope admitted he has given the job a second thought, but said he's completely satisfied at Silverado and with his nationally ranked Amateur Softball Association 18-and-under Vegas Stars squad.
      "I really do feel that I have one more thing that I think I can reasonably go after," Pope said. "That one more challenge could consist of anything. Whatever it may be, it would be a different avenue that would create a different challenge.
      "Where that challenge lies, whether it's in a community college program or even a college situation, that would be a tremendous challenge that would entice anybody."
      Pope agreed with Parris-Washington's comment, saying he already puts in more than 40 hours with the Stars and the Skyhawks.
      "I am so pleased and so happy with what I'm doing with the ASA stuff, these kids make my heart pound and get bigger," he said. "No community college could top what I'm doing with these kids. I've got it made."
      Approval for Nevada's first-ever community college intercollegiate athletics program came from the Board of Regents, University and Community College System of Nevada, at its October meeting. In November, the Regents reviewed and approved CCSN's proposed athletics program and self-supporting budget.
      The initial start-up cost of $50,000 will be provided from the college's non-tax discretionary funds. CCSN's eight-member Intercollegiate Athletics Advisory Committee, appointed by president Richard Moore, will also conduct fund-raising.
      "I am pleased to announce that an initial $50,000 in private funding is being secured through two of our committee members," said attorney John O'Reilly, committee chair. "Our short-term financial objective is to obtain another $100,000 in private pledges."
      Moore said the student body has also agreed to help with funding. Twenty-five cents of each $2 credit hour student fee will be contributed by CCSN's Associated Students .
      Gordon Gochnour, the interim director of athletics, said he and the committee are considering joining the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, part of the National Junior College Athletic Association's Region I.
      The conference consists of 14 colleges, including seven in the Maricopa County system serving the greater Phoenix metro area.
      "Our athletic advisory committee will meet with ACCAC representatives this January," Gochnour said.
      Aside from Gochnour and O'Reilly, members of the committee include: Gloria Banks-Weddle, vice president of Nevada Power Company; former Nevada state senator Tom Hickey; former Las Vegas mayor Ron Lurie; Mike Meyer, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Vegas; CCSN student government treasurer David Abramson; and, Professor Chris Kelly, dean of business, industry and public services departments at CCSN.