Gatch ready to keep the Ponies rolling

There is a tremendous tradition when it comes to Havre High football. The Blue Ponies and their faithful fans are used to winning, which can bring forth some high standards.

New head football coach Ryan Gatch isn’t afraid of those high standards. In fact, he’s ready to get to work and help HHS maintain its status as a perennial playoff team in Class A.

“I have to come in and evaluate things,” Gatch said after he met his players for the first time Tuesday. “But as the evaluation goes, you just jump in and you get to work. That’s the key, you need to get in and get to work. You have to get on your film study and get the coaches in and get all the players on board, the parents on board. You have to get everyone on board with a unified vision. I think that’s a big key to creating that positive vision for the program.”

And Gatch, who just arrived in town this week, isn’t wasting any time. For starters, he has already got to work putting a coaching staff together and while there is still plenty that needs to be finalized, he said there are plenty of quality coaches to choose from.

“There are a lot of really good coaches to choose from in this area,” Gatch said. “So we are trying to get those positions filled and trying to find guys that are going to be really passionate about the program because that’s what you need. We want to establish a program that is about high energy and high motivation and that starts with the coaching staff.”

However, Gatch has been working on more than just putting together a staff. He also spent time Tuesday at Havre High meeting with his new players and close to 50 players turned up to give the new coach a chance to introduce himself.

“I thought we had a good turnout, I think we had 45-50 kids,” Gatch said. “So that was a real positive. One of the things that we want to do is try to get kids excited about playing football.”

With a new coach, there is always plenty to learn and there will be a learning curve with Gatch and the 2016 Ponies. Yet, the veteran head coach is looking to combat that by holding summer workouts starting next week. Players will do weight training and possibly do some installation, but either way, Gatch is a big believer in the offseason.

“I think it’s an important factor, not just for football, but for all sports,” Gatch said. “If you look at a performance training model with an accountability level, it’s all year-round thing. I fully believe that the team is built from those workout sessions. That’s how they get to know each other, and that’s how they know how to push each other through those fourth and shorts. I believe in that stuff 100 percent.

“We are going to give the students a number of different opportunities through our weight and conditioning program, but everything is voluntary,” he added. “High school kids have a lot of stuff going on. They have family vacations and other sports going on. There might be wrestling camps or basketball camps or baseball tournaments, there is all that stuff going on and the ultimate goal is to enhance those other sports, as well as football.”

Gatch also said that the Ponies will be heading to a team camp at Montana Tech and later this summer he will be holding his own Havre High football camp, both of which, he said will be great coaching opportunities.

“It’s about building and establishing a program so that kids can come be a part of it,” Gatch said. “You can run camps in June and July. We will run a team camp and go to a team camp. I contacted the basketball coach, the wrestling coach and the baseball coach, because we wanted to pick the weekend that would give our kids the best chance to attend.”

Gatch like many coaches, is not fond of looking too far into the future. He’s focused on the here and now, starting with summer workouts next week. Yet, he did say he was looking forward to competing in the Central A conference and also is looking forward to the non-conference schedule, which gives him a chance to compete against some of the Eastern A schools he saw as a player.

“The Central A has always been a very competitive conference,” Gatch said. “Lewistown has a good program and there are a lot of good teams in this area. I like that we get to play a lot of teams from the Eastern A too. I think that’s what you want from your non-conference schedule, the tougher, the better.”