Manzanola’s Kyle Bauserman is every father’s dream come true.
The senior is going to be valedictorian. He bought his truck with his own money and puts in countless hours at the family’s produce farm. That’s all off the field. On the field, he can and probably will play any position his father and coach, Steve Bauserman, asks him to play.
“I don’t expect anything out of him that I don’t expect out of every single one of my players,” said Steve Bauserman, who has coached Kyle since he was a 6-year-old baseball player. “It has never been a problem.”
Stereotypes about kids playing for their fathers and getting preferential treatment tend to come with the territory, but in the case of the Bausermans, it’s just not there.
“Maybe once or twice early on in baseball, but never again,” Steve said.
Dad took over as coach of the football team when Kyle was a sophomore mostly for his son’s safety. The Bobcats were mired in a four- year losing stretch and when Kyle was a freshman quarterback, opponents were getting to him – hard.
Then two games into his sophomore season, Kyle suffered a broken arm when a 250-pound lineman piled on after he scored.
But the injury gave father and son new respect for each other. While recovering from the injury, Kyle never missed a practice or a game.
Late in the 2003 season against Elbert, the Bobcats had the ball inside the 20-yard line five times in the first quarter and failed to score. In the second half, faced with a similar situation, Kyle leaned over to his father and asked him to try a certain play. It led to a touchdown, and a 28-0 victory that ended a 25-game losing streak.
“We understand what to do and what we are thinking,” Kyle said. “And a lot of the time we are thinking the same things, and that’s a little scary.”
At Mountain Valley in Saguache, it’s a completely different family tie that binds Indians coach Will Shellabarger and player Marty Shellabarger.
Will, 24, who also coaches basketball at Moffat, his alma mater, is Marty’s big brother and football coach.
“The coaching really never stops,” Marty said. “Most players get to go home after games or practice and relax. I’m still getting coached. It’s definitely a unique situation.”
Will is just as tough on his brother as he would be on any other player. He even suspended Marty for a game last basketball season and made him tell everybody on the team why. Marty plays football for Mountain Valley because Moffat, his school, doesn’t have a team.
When he is trying to demonstrate a drill in practice, Will often will picks his brother to help, but not because he is playing favorites.
“I know if I slip up and accidently whack him in the eye or something, I don’t think Mom would sue me,” Will said. “(Marty) knows that I expect him to toe the mark, and maybe that’s why I’m a little bit harder on him.”
Unlike the Bausermans, the Shellabargers keep their family plotting private. Scheming and play calling usually are limited to the kitchen table.
“He’s got a lot of ideas, but I don’t want him showing up the other guys, and I would as soon he gives them to me in private,” Will said.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-820-5446 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
