GOLD BEACH, ORE.
No other school in the lower 48 states is as far west as Gold Beach. And not many schools can equal Gold Beach in terms of rugged terrain nearby and loads of rain and mud.
Photo courtesy of Gold Beach football
Remote location has also been an obstacle for
Gold Beach (Ore.). The westernmost football-playing school in the contiguous United States, Gold Beach sits on the mouth of the Rogue River in a northern hemisphere rainforest. It is located on a very rugged coastline in southern Oregon and experiences severe weather during the year.
"We have traveled seven-plus hours one way to play games," said coach Kevin Swift. "We even pay an opponent $2000 to travel to Gold Beach to ensure a home preseason game."
A small town with a large retirement community, Gold Beach relies on tourism and the sport fishing industry to bring in revenue. Enrollment figures have been going down, according to Swift, with 120 fewer students than when he arrived at the school 14 years ago.
The extreme conditions also affect practices and playoff games.
"We practice inside or in a covered horse arena because of severe storms that start in late October and run through the playoffs," said Swift. "We also play most of our home playoff games in Coos Bay, which is two hours north of Gold Beach."
Lack of numbers creates depth problems and it is often difficult to find quality assistant coaches. Swift helped change the atmosphere in Gold Beach, however, by starting a summer football camp.
"We have a great football camp that allows coaches, players and parents to escape to an extremely beautiful coastline with perfect summer weather to practice in full pads," said Swift. "This is a huge advantage for us because we are now a total football town and everyone is behind the program year-round."
The change has been evident on the field. Gold Beach has won four state titles in the past seven seasons with a 14-0 season in 2007.
"We created a program that has staying power," added Swift.
If you want to beat Gold Beach at their place, you'd better be ready to get muddy.
Photo courtesy of Gold Beach football
