Green Valley blues

Over the course of the past decade, Southern Nevada's prep sports scene has taken on a decidedly greenish tint.

That's green as in Green Valley High, the school that has become synonymous with athletic success in the 1990s.

Since opening in 1991, the Gators have been the envy of every other school in the Las Vegas area, capturing an astounding 23 large school state titles and earning numerous zone and division championships.

The Henderson school's success has been complete, from marquee sports like football, basketball and baseball to less prominent programs like tennis, golf and swimming.

But now, after nearly a decade of dominance, there's trouble in paradise.

Starting with the conclusion of the 1997-98 school year, when three of the school's more prominent coaches -- softball's Cindi Davis, wrestling's Jimmy May and girls soccer's Vince Hart -- stepped down, a trend began that has seen the Gators lose many of the talented individuals responsible for their athletic achievements.

Already this year, Green Valley has removed one coach -- football and boys basketball's Larry Thomas -- after a lengthy investigation into charges of financial wrongdoing. And the school reportedly is considering stripping Hart of his boys soccer coaching duties, also due to off-the-field concerns.

Another coach, baseball's Rodger Fairless, could be the next to leave if he gets his wish and becomes the first baseball coach at the Community College of Southern Nevada.

Throw in the departure of athletic administrator Ike White, who is scheduled to become a vice principal at Eldorado this month, and a couple of key questions arise regarding the mighty Green Valley athletic program.

First and foremost, why are the Gators losing so many valuable athletic staff members at one time?

Is it simply a natural series of events at a school now nearly eight years old? Or does it have more to do with a difference in philosophy between first-year principal Betty Sabo and longtime principal Carroll Johnston, who retired last year?

And perhaps the more important question: Despite all the changes, can the Gators continue to be the talk of the town when it comes to prep sports?

Although many area coaches and athletic administrators point to Green Valley's population base of stable, relatively well-to-do families as the key to the Gators' athletic prowess, the most significant factor actually may have been Johnston's foresight.

A former college athlete and high school coach himself, Green Valley's first principal worked hard in the months before the school opened to select a coaching staff that included a group of proven winners, such as May (three state titles at Basic) and Fairless (six state titles at Valley).

"Carroll envisioned athletics and academics hand in hand," Thomas said. "He hand-picked the people he wanted for a competitive athletic program and an outstanding teaching staff."

"The extra-curricular activities are crucial, and Green Valley has been successful both academically and in terms of extra-curriculars," Johnston said. "I take a lot of pride in it, but I'm not silly enough to think it's because of me."

Johston's modesty aside, his plan certainly worked to perfection. While most new schools struggle initially at the varsity level, the Gators were a factor by their second season, winning the 3A state baseball title and qualifying for the postseason in most other sports.

"I felt like I had a selection of the top people, and that resulted in quality programs," Johnston said.

By the school's third year, there was no doubt Green Valley was beginning to challenge private school Bishop Gorman as the area's preeminent athletic program, with the Gators capturing three state titles (baseball, girls volleyball, boys golf) and earning a trip to the football state championship game during the 1993-94 school year.

Since then, the floodgates have opened, with the school qualifying for the playoffs in every single boys and girls sport during the past five years and picking up 19 state titles in that span.

Downhill slide?

This year, however, the rest of Southern Nevada's 4A schools have started to notice a few chinks in the Gators' armor.

After capturing the boys soccer title in 1997, Green Valley likely wouldn't even have qualified for the zone playoffs last fall had it not been for a set of forfeits by Rancho. The Gators promptly lost in the first round.

In football, a season that began with the Gators chasing the Sunrise Division title ended with a whimper, also in the first round of the zone playoffs.

And although the school successfully defended its 4A boys tennis and girls golf titles with relative ease, the girls tennis team missed out on a golden opportunity to reclaim the state girls tennis crown.

More significant than stinging losses during the fall season, though, were a pair of scandals that put the school squarely in the public eye for two coaches' off-the-field troubles.

Following parents' complaints that Thomas had misused booster club-raised funds, the school began looking into the successful two-sport coach's financial records.

Although those charges were never proven, Sabo and her staff decided to strip Thomas of his football and basketball coaching duties, with payment of volunteer assistant coaches ultimately the reason for his removal.

Soon after that, the school began investigating allegations of an improper relationship between Hart, once the men's soccer coach at UNLV, and a student. Now, chances seem slim that the man who led the Gators to the 1997 4A state title will be asked back as coach.

Mass exodus

Assuming Thomas and Hart do not return, Green Valley will have lost coaches in at least six major sports -- football, boys basketball, wrestling, boys and girls soccer and softball -- in a one-year period.

The most significant coaching exit may be still to come, however. Since leading the Gators to a record sixth consecutive baseball title last spring, Fairless has made no secret of his interest in the CCSN position -- a job which could be his by month's end.

"I've got my resume in," Fairless said. "I'm just waiting to see what happens."

The Gators also will need to find a new administrator to head the athletic department after White leaves at the end of January -- a move he insists has nothing to do with Green Valley's recent string of coaching departures.

"It's nothing that came up as a result of the problems we've had here lately," White said. "It's been in the works for a while."

On the surface, it seems the individuals involved have different reasons for leaving Green Valley: Thomas and Hart because they had no choice, Davis and May for personal reasons and White (and potentially Fairless) for other positions.

But several coaches at the school agree that there is more to the school's recent exodus than meets the eye.

Different philosophies

More than one Gators coach said the recent trend can be attributed, at least in part, to Johnston's retirement after the 1997-98 school year and the promotion of Sabo, a Green Valley administrator, to the position of principal.

The approach Johnston and Sabo have to athletics and parental involvement in the sports programs could not be more different, according to those coaches.

Thomas recalled a meeting with Sabo in which the principal described a conversation she had with a football parent.

The parent complained that after a player dropped a pass, Thomas removed him from the game and said, "If you can't catch, you can't play."

Sabo's response, according to Thomas: "She told me that wasn't very nice."

Thomas also took issue with Sabo's decision to remove him for paying volunteer assistants, arguing that has been a common practice in Clark County for years -- an opinion supported by several area coaches in recent weeks.

Nevertheless, Thomas said he has no hard feelings for the Green Valley principal, who he said is "probably still trying to find her own style."

"It appears Betty Sabo probably wants her people in her positions, and you can't blame her for that," Thomas said. "The way I look at it is if she doesn't want me coaching here, I shouldn't be coaching here."

Sabo declined to comment, saying only, "Our motto is commitment to excellence and nothing will ever undermine that."

What next?

So as the most dominant athletic school of the '90s prepares to enter the new millennium, questions persist about how much success the Gators will have in the future.

Has Green Valley's string of unprecedented success run its course, or can Sabo replace the outgoing coaches with a set of new faces who will uphold the school's strong athletic tradition?

One thing is certain. As long as the school draws from an affluent area of Henderson, the Gators should always fare well in the so-called "country club" sports of golf, tennis and swimming.

Green Valley also still has a set of top-notch coaches in the fold, including girls volleyball's Erin Hill, swimming's Joe Sill and boys and girls golf's Del Sagers.

On the flip side, with three new high schools opening next year to boost the area's total to 21 4A programs, there will be more competition for the Gators.

And with Henderson's new Foothills High School poised to gobble up part of Green Valley's student base, the odds are clearly against the next eight years being as kind to Green Valley's sports teams as the past eight have been.

Even so, as so many athletes, coaches and fans throughout the state have learned over the years, it's awfully hard to count the Gators out.

"I think the bottom line is that what has taken place can either hurt the school or rejuvenate the school," Fairless said. "I'd like to believe the school will rebound from it."

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