The pace of his daily routine quickened considerably for Gene Bunnelle when he changed work sites in 1965 from Carbondale High School to the Colorado High School Activities Association.
At Carbondale, a small mountain community near Glenwood Springs, Bunnelle was the high school principal. On occasion, he would pop into the basketball gym to see how coach Sonny Darien’s team was doing. Bunnelle had coached basketball in earlier days at Fruita High School and, before that, out of state before moving into of the Grand Junction area in 1957.
During his five-year term at Carbondale, Bunnelle came to Denver for the CHSAA’s Board of Control meetings. When he changed jobs, his focus changed from equipping Carbondale High and the other members of the Colorado River Valley League for the state’s rapidly changing high school sports picture.
“It was hectic and a big change in routine for me,” Bunnelle said last week from his retirement home in Aurora. “There were a lot of new things going on in high school sports when I made the move.”
After a couple of weeks on the job, Bunnelle remembered telling CHSAA commissioner Ray Ball that his job would be great if he didn’t have to deal with eligibility questions and answer telephone calls.
Bunnelle joined a CHSAA staff that included Glenn Wilson, Ball and Sharon Wilch, who came on board to help administer the pending admission of girls sports to the CHSAA’s agenda. Bunnelle served as administrative assistant and assistant commissioner.
The sanctioning of girls sports, with the first state championships in 1976, and the opening of CHSAA doors to private schools were monumental changes in the state’s high school sports programs.
“We did a lot of work on the private school admission,” Bunnelle said. “Overall, the CHSAA stand was that it was a good move. There were concerns about recruiting and things like that.”
In 1968, private schools entered the public school leagues. The exodus from long-standing ties ended the Denver Parochial League with the loss of Regis Jesuit, Mullen, Holy Family and Machebeuf.
Bunnelle looks at the increase of private school membership in the CHSAA as one of the biggest changes since he retired in 1988.
The girls sports teams were ready to go when their programs were sanctioned. There already had been unofficial competition and state championship events throughout the state.
In the early years of Bunnelle’s CHSAA term, the high school sports programs were divided among three classifications. Enrollment size was the main criteria.
“We had all three state championship games in basketball on the same night and at the same location,” Bunnelle said. “It was one of the biggest sports events of the year. We played in both the Auditorium Arena and Denver Coliseum before we played the championships in the coliseum.”
Bunnelle rubbed elbows with many of the high school sports legends of his day. He doesn’t name them for fear of missing someone.
But if he did, the names of Jim Baggot, Greeley; Lloyd Gaskill, Limon; Rob Conklin, Denver South; Sollie Raso, Pueblo; Fred Tesone, Cherry Creek; Gib Funk, Colorado Springs and Lou Kellogg, Regis, would be on the list. Bunnelle could fill several pages.
Along with his administrative work with CHSAA, Bunnelle also achieved acclaim in officiating football, basketball and baseball. His portfolio includes national awards for his committee work in officiating rules and state high school activities associations.
Bunnelle is a happy observer. He does take time out for a round of golf each week. The winter months can be a little quiet.
Bunnelle bio
Born: March 13, 1927, in Rankin, Ill.
High school: Rankin
Colleges: Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa.; Western State College, Gunnison Family: Wife Vivian, son Steven, daughter Cheryl
Hobby: Golf
