Team leadership is a big focus for the Roaring Fork High School football team coming into the 2024 season, as the Rams look to return to the varsity ranks after a one-year hiatus to rebuild the program.
Recently, 19 of the team’s upperclassmen took part in a two-day Teen Leadership Breakthrough camp, held at the Spring Creeks Ranch on the Gianinetti spread.
“The camp really focuses on giving these kids the confidence it takes to be a team leader,” Rams head football coach Scott Noll said. “It’s about accountability, teaching them not to use powerless words, and talking to them about coming together as a team and showing up for your team.”
Noll is friends with the co-owner of the company that developed the camp and had been planning it since last spring when the Rams made a commitment to come back at the varsity level this season.
“It’s super powerful for the kids, and the camp ends with a big graduation where there’s a lot of enthusiasm and where they talk about how much it brought them together and created a bond, which is all I could ask for,” Noll said.
He and his crew of assistant coaches, Cody Burkholder, John Nielsen, Jon Amdur and Sam Morse, are hoping that carries over to the 2024 gridiron campaign.
The Rams return with a solid roster of around 40 players, which should provide for both varsity and junior varsity squads, Noll said.
Many of the varsity level players took last season to develop at the junior varsity level, going 4-0 in competition, while some chose to join neighboring Glenwood Springs so that they could play varsity.
Noll will be looking to several players to carry the load, including seniors Hunter Noll, Cole Fenton and Balaram Koss, and juniors Donny Read, Eli Norris, Walker Connor and Kenny Riley on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, plus a solid core of offensive and defensive linemen.
“Some of the kids I had coached before but dropped away are coming back, and I think we have some really good talent,” coach Noll said. “I feel like we can really build some momentum coming into our conference games.”
The Rams open the non-conference varsity slate of games on the road at Ellicott on Aug. 30, with the home opener on Sept. 6
against Yuma at 7pm, and another home game the following week (Saturday, Sept. 14) against Del Norte at 1pm.
Roaring Fork opens Class 1A Western Slope League play on Oct. 4 (Homecoming/Potato Day weekend) against Grand Valley at Rams Field, located next to Carbondale Middle School.
Rams soccer
Head coach Nick Forbes is looking at a transition year with his boys soccer team, following the graduation of several starters from last season.
“We have nine positions to fill, but we have huge numbers out for the team,” Forbes said. “We have a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm, and some hard-working players.”
How that translates to game day remains to be seen, but the Rams — steeped in tradition and just three years removed from a 3A state championship — are expected to compete in the 3A Western Slope League.
Roaring Fork opens its season at home on Aug. 28 against Crested Butte, with a 6pm kickoff.
Rams volleyball
Karen Crownhart returns as head coach of the Roaring Fork girls volleyball team, along with a returning cast of starters from the 2023 team who bring multiple years of varsity experience to the court.
“These girls have been working together for a long time and have a lot of comfort with each other as teammates,” Crownhart said.
Her twin daughters, Carley and Erica (now seniors), enter their fourth year as varsity starters in the setter and libero positions, respectively.
Also returning are seniors Elizabeth Fullerton and Maddie Anderson, and juniors Yaki Hernandez and Nikki Tardif, bringing some needed power to the front line.
The Rams open the season at the Glenwood Springs tournament the weekend of Aug. 23-24, with the first home match slated for 6pm, Aug. 30 against Steamboat Springs.
Hybrid teams
Formal practices also began this week for four fall sports teams that are hosted by Basalt High School, but which include athletes from Roaring Fork — girls softball, coed cross country running and boys golf and tennis. The golf team hosted its home tournament at River Valley Ranch on Tuesday (results to be reported in next week’s Sopris Sun). The Longhorn Invitational cross country meet is slated for Aug. 24 at Crown Mountain Park.