DON McDERMOTT MORE COLUMNS Rich Lauver Advertisement

Let's put it at the top.

Rich Lauver has resigned as the head fast-pitch softball coach at Pahrump Valley High School, five years into a run in which the sport has become a major program. It is my belief that a Nye County School District search committee should be formed to actively recruit at schools where fast-pitch softball is big time and a suitable replacement can be found.

Schools like Las Vegas, Centennial, Silverado, and Sierra Vista, as well as Reno McQueen and Sparks Spanish Springs have such coaches. As the man once said, "Look at their record."

Pahrump Valley is losing one of Nevada's quality coaches in Lauver, who directed the fast-pitch softball teams to three Class 3-A state championships and were 127-70 in all games the last five seasons.

His 2007 team finished 23-23 in all games, was 13-3 in the Southern Nevada Class 3-A League and advanced to the state tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.

Seven players were named all-state, and 11 received all-league honors. The team MVP was a freshman infielder and one of its best hitters was another freshman. The top two pitchers were juniors and seven other juniors played key roles for the Lady Trojans as they rebounded from 0-9 and 1-11 starts to win 22 of their last 34 games to finish at .500.

Lauver intends to move to Pennsylvania to enter private business, and if his wife Cassondra finds a teaching job this summer, the move will be immediate.

The head coach's job has been posted in the Nye County School District, as has an assistant coach's position, vacated by Maggie Villa.

We're not saying someone in the Pahrump Valley isn't qualified to be the Lady Trojans' softball coach, but we believe that if there were such people, they would have already been involved with the high school or summer development programs.

High school athletic teams are supposed to be entertaining at best, then competent and competitive ... and most of all, the athletes are supposed to have fun, as well as learn to work individually and within the framework of a team.

The coaches are supposed to be teachers who place the needs of the team over the desires of an individual, with a basic goal for the individual to improve every time he or she competes.

The softball teams were never dull, and most of the time, they played at a level of competence to be envied by opponents. In Lauver's reign as coach, Southern 3-A teams became infinitely more competitive, as they played defense and pitched with increasing competence.

And let's keep it real.

If Bob Hopkins decided to give up coaching girls' basketball and boys' golf ... if Craig Rieger chose to stop directing the Trojans' wrestling program ... if Julie Floyd didn't want to coach girls' golf ... if Jason Odegard backed off coaching girls and boys track ... the same message would be put forth. Get someone who knows how to get the job done, with their players, as well as finding competent assistants.

In the last eight years, those coaches have combined to direct teams to nine state championships, uncounted individual Nevada titles as well as numerous league and regional crowns. And those feats have been accomplished by quality student-athletes attracted to those programs.

The biggest factor in the success of those particular coaches is their longevity at PVHS; they did not come here to stay a year or two, improve their resume, and then move on to supposedly greener pastures.

In the Great American Desert that is the Pahrump Valley, there is still much glory to mine. All we need are more muckers seeking talent and miners in search of glory to reap the benefits from our student-athletes.