Document text
59 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, May 10, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend April 7, 2004 Crater volleyball coach Jensen resigns By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — It hit home like a powerful kill. Leaf Jensen, for seven years the Crater High volleyball coach, was running a youth tournament recently. Meanwhile, his 7-year-old son was going through his first-ever Little League baseball practice. Then he checked next fall’s game schedule, and he’d miss the boy’s birthday for the third straight year, this time for a match in Roseburg. "It just didn’t sit right," said Jensen, who has resigned his position. "The next day I called and talked to (Dan) Speasl (Crater athletic director). Advertisement "You don’t get those things back. I just couldn’t see doing that anymore. I’ve spent 11 years with other people’s kids. Now I have to make sure I’m focusing on mine." Coaching and interacting with the kids was the highlight of the profession, said Jensen, whose youthful team went winless in the tough Southern Oregon Conference last season. But the year-round nature of athletics nowadays took a toll, particularly the out-of-area travel in the club season. "I was missing too many things my son was doing and my daughter is going to be doing soon enough," said Jensen, who has a 3-year-old girl. "It’s a number of things, but I need to be with my kids." Jensen resigned 1½ weeks ago. The job has been posted, but Speasl said it will be at least a couple weeks before there is serious movement toward filling the position. He noted there are some candidates in the Central Point system. Jensen, who coached four years at Ashland before moving over to Crater, took the Comets to the state playoffs in 2001 and 2002 — their first trips since 1988. In 2001, Crater qualified as the No. 2 seed from the SOC and lost a subtournament match to David Douglas, 15-10, 15-8. It finished with a 13-8 record. The following season, the Comets lost a third-place conference tiebreaker to North Medford, went to state as the SOC’s No. 4 team and won a road match at Dallas before being bounced in a spirited, second-round match. They lost to Reynolds, 25-23, 25-20, 26-24, finishing with a 17-11 record. "He’s done a good job for us," said Speasl. "He has a good club team going, and he had a whole host of freshmen in the lineup last year. I think he left the program in good shape." Only two seniors were on the roster last year as the Comets, with five freshmen, endured growing pains. They went 0-14 in a league that had four teams among the final eight at the state tournament. "I loved the group I had," said Jensen. "We really had such a young group. It’s hard to let go at this point, but at the same time, I’m leaving a strong group that is getting better." Since the high school season ended, the Comets have gone to 16-and-under age-group tournaments. Most teams didn’t have any players who played varsity ball. "I had half or three-quarters of my varsity out there," said Jensen. In the club season between the eighth and ninth grades, Jensen said, the unit was 64-2 in games and didn’t lose a match, winning all seven tournaments it entered. "They’re very accustomed to winning," he said. "It’s a real competitive group, and I think they feel like they have something to prove after having a bummer of a season last year. They didn’t like that much." Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times