Winter activities, winter difficulties

Winter sports and activities in Wyoming face unique challenges, including trying to travel to compete when roads are treacherous and can close at any time.

Several of the Green River High School sports and activity teams encountered these extra difficulties last weekend, including the Cheer and Dance teams who traveled to Casper for State only to have the competition canceled and the Speech and Debate team who had to be rescued when their bus broke down.

Competition canceled

The GRHS Wolf Pack Dance team headed out first thing last Thursday morning and made it to Casper without any trouble, only dealing with a little snow blowing across the road. They had a smooth day without any hiccups, which Coach Christine Peterson said was unusual.

"We were able to practice at the Casper College gym and everything went really smoothly and we went out to dinner at Olive Garden," Peterson said. "I was commenting that night on just how great the day was and how smooth it was and no problems, and I knocked on wood. And then the next day, what we didn't even expect would happen, happened." 

The team was excited and ready to compete when the coaches got a message from Green River Athletics Director Tony Beardsley telling them the State competition had been canceled because the roads were closed and the judges couldn't make it there.

"And [he said] we needed to be on the buses in 30 minutes to make it home before the roads closed," Peterson explained. "It felt urgent." 

Peterson knew it would take more than 30 minutes just to get costumes put away and bags packed, but the team hurried as quickly as they could. The dance team also decided to caravan with the cheer team on the way home as an extra precaution.

"We were grateful to make it home without any closures," Peterson said. "We just took a different route that was not through the closed areas and made it home. So I counted that as a blessing."

The Wolf Pack team members were disappointed to not be able to compete, but Peterson was proud of their good attitudes.

"They were surprised but resilient as well," she said. "I think if dance teaches you nothing it teaches you to be resilient."

Dancers have a long season that goes through most of the school year and they continually have to learn to adjust when things don't go the way they expect, Peterson explained, whether it's having to change formations in a routine or having to cover for a team member who's sick or injured.

"Adapting and making changes is part of what they learn being on the dance team," she said.

As a coach, this is not the first time Peterson has had to adjust to changes. The event that solidified this principle in her mind was the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the dance team competed in State before the State basketball game competition, which was one of the first events canceled at the beginning of the pandemic.

"We were at a basketball game, we performed, and then they sent everybody home," Peterson recalled. "I never took it for granted ever again like that we would be able to compete."

The team has faced other cancelations or near-cancelations from things like weather and other factors outside their control in the past, so Peterson teaches the team members to put in the work and focus on what they can do even when situations are outside of their control.

The State Spirit competition has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 8. After getting over the initial disappointment, the Wolf Pack Dance team is focusing on the positives.

"Now that we're past that a little bit we're looking forward to having a little bit more time," Peterson said, explaining the team will use the extra month to keep practicing and perfecting their skills.

The team is already learning a new routine for basketball games and not worrying about trying to "hammer the state routines to death," Peterson explained, because those routines were already ready to go, but she believes the extra time will only help the team feel even more ready and confident.

The team is also using the unique circumstances as an opportunity to connect even more with the community. They're hoping, if they can get the gym space, to hold a community event the weekend before they go to State, featuring a year-in-review showcase of dance routines, as well as hosting a children's camp and inviting the middle school dancers to perform. Peterson hopes they can make it a new event to "showcase dance and to bring the community together," making the best out of a difficult situation.

Roadside rescue

While the GRHS Speech and Debate team did get to compete in their tournament last weekend, they still faced extra challenges from the weather, including an extra night in Casper and a side-of-the-road rescue from the GRHS Boys Swimming and Diving team.

The Speech and Debate team headed to Casper last Friday morning for the Natrona County Mustang Classic. While Green River made it, many other teams across the state didn't. About 20 teams were registered to compete, and only seven actually made it to the tournament on Saturday, according to Assistant Coach RaNae Johnson.

"It's usually a massive tournament and it was really weird," Johnson said, explaining that the tournament felt empty and unusually quiet with so few teams.

Speech and Debate, like dance, is another activity that inherentely prepares students for the need to adjust to changes. Johnson said they talk with the team regularly about how life is full of things you don't expect and things are subject to other people's perspectives and decisions.

"Life isn't fair. Life is full of ups and downs and bumps and detours and all kinds of things that send us in different directions and it's how we respond to those things that is really what matters," Johnson said.

Despite the unusual circumstances, the Wolves responded well and did well, taking second place in the tournament. While they typically come home right after awards and get back late at night, they knew this time they'd have to stay the night since the snow was deep and the roads were closed.

When the roads reopened Sunday, the team got ready to go. They decided to caravan with the swimming team, which was headed back from competing in Gillette. The two teams decided to eat lunch in different spots, however, with the Speech and Debate team opting to grab food in Casper before leaving and the swim team getting a head start with plans to eat in Rawlins.

As the Speech and Debate team hit the road, the weather wasn't their problem.

"The roads were actually not bad, which was a little surprising, because we were expecting them to be horrid and expecting tons of traffic because they just opened," Johnson explained.

While the roads were alright, the bus was not. About 20 miles outside of Casper, the check engine light came on. After checking everything and making some calls, the bus driver was advised to keep going. After another 10 miles or so, the team was driving up an incline, and the bus kept getting slower and slower.

"We had to pull over and it ultimately just stopped," Johnson explained.

The bus driver made more calls, including one to the driver of the swim team's bus. The swim team had just gotten back on the road after eating in Rawlins, so they turned around.

"They came back to get us and we ended up just cramming onto that bus, and that is how we rode home," Johnson said.

The Speech and Debate's group of 30 people joined the swim team on their bus, ending up with around 60 people crammed together, with all the seats doubled up or even tripled up.

"It was it was definitely an interesting ride the rest of the way home," Johnson admitted, but she acknowledged "It sure beats freezing to death out in the cold."

Johnson said she was especially proud of the Speech and Debate students, who maintained a positive attitude throughout the experience. The team members even kept up their tradition of singing the Green River Fight Song and a little ditty to thank the bus driver as they pulled into town - a tradition that surprised their swim team bus mates.

"It was just fun to see them continue to be themselves even amidst their peers that they may or may not interact with on a day to day basis," Johnson said.

The team and coaches were also especially grateful to the swim team, who gave up their own comfort to help out.

"It was a big sacrifice for them," Johnson said. "But we greatly appreciate their willingness to pick us up and not leave us to become Speech and Debate popsicles."