The plaza on the courthouse square was packed Tuesday evening as more than 300 student athletes, classmates, parents and members of the community gathered for a pep rally for all fall activities at Greene County High School.
Local sportscaster Doug Rieder introduced Ram volleyball coach Donna Carhill, cross country coach Jeff Lamoureux, swimmers on the Boone high school swim team, Wes Anderson with the color guard, cheerleading advisor Shannon Black, and head football coach Mitch Moore. Each coach or sponsor introduced students in their activity.
Moore, who is new to the district and also the activities director, introduced members of the team leadership committee and several assistant coaches. He told Ram fans to watch for an up tempo, fast paced offense and a defense much improved over last year. The 2016 football team won just one game during the season.
Moore was hired last March and began to work on the sports culture immediately. He left the Iowa State Football coaching staff to coach a high school team because he wanted “to make an impact on kids’ lives and be part of the community,” he said Tuesday. His goal is to make his players “better men, better leaders, and better husbands and fathers one day.”
Part of Moore’s culture is to help his players see they need to give something back to the community because of they support their activities get. Since last spring football players have done community service like helping with set up at the Relay for Life, helping move furniture and equipment from the now-vacated Grand Junction school, and helping erect the Scranton playground equipment. Players have tallied 500 hours of community service as of this week, Moore said.
He has also held a practices in the outlying towns and invited community members to watch. Those practices have drawn many residents.
The Ram fall sports season starts Thursday with a cross country meet in Ames. The football team hosts Carroll Kuemper, ranked #4 in the state, Friday night in Jefferson.
The pep rally was organized by the Greene County Activities Booster Club.
