Colfax school board tells grid team 'Tough Turkey'

A 26-strong crowd packed into the Colfax school board’s conference room Monday night to ask for approval of a Thanksgiving morning football practice. The school board later that night declined their request, standing by a policy decision they made last year that prohibits extra-curricular activities on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The board last year directed Superintendent Michael Morgan to end such activities on Thanksgiving or Christmas after getting many complaints from parents about football players practicing last Thanksgiving.

The Colfax varsity football team, undefeated this season, is at the same juncture this year and will play a semi-final game against DeSales Saturday at 4 p.m. in Kennewick.

At the meeting Monday night, Steve Teade, a football parent, asked the board to reverse its policy.

“This is no different than sending a kid off to take SATs or a test without being able to fully study before the exam,” Teade said.

One football player gave the board a list of signatures of Colfax football athletes who said they wanted a Thanksgiving morning practice.

One 1987 graduate of Colfax, Wes Claassen, a farmer near Dusty, came to the meeting to say he too feels the players should be allowed to practice that day.

“I know it’s a tradition to practice on Thanksgiving because I did it in 1987 or 1986,” Claassen said.

Traditionally, when Colfax football grads return to Colfax for the holidays, Teade said, they play an alumni game the night before Thanksgiving.

Alumni traditionally have given players advice and encouragement on Thanksgiving morning practices when the Bulldogs have advanced that far in the playoff.

Teade said this tradition should continue. He also pointed out that the practice this year would be optional.

Supt. Morgan pointed out later the board never voted yes or no last year on a practice policy. Instead, they “directed” him to inform the school staff that extracurricular practices on Thanksgiving and Christmas would not be allowed.

The board Monday decided to stay with its policy from last year because members felt Thanksgiving belonged to athletes and their families.

When asked if the Colfax football team could still practice unofficially on that field on Thanksgiving, Morgan said they don’t discourage the public from using the facilities. He added, however, that coaches should be concerned about players getting hurt in an unsupervised session.