Vocational school students struggle to stay competitive on gridiron

By Sean Ammerman

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 | 1:38 p.m.

For most practices, Tyrone Purvis is lucky if he has enough time to stretch before hitting the field with the rest of the Las Vegas High football team.

Purvis attends class at the Southeast Career and Technical Academy, a vocational school on the edge of Green Valley that doesn't field a football or wrestling team. The Clark County School District allows students in those sports to play for the school where they would have been zoned.

The senior defensive lineman has 20 minutes to get from one school to the next after completing his classes.

By the time he gets off the bus, suits up and is out on the field, his teammates are usually warmed up and ready for drills.

"Missing the stretches can be a problem sometimes," Purvis said. "When we do our tackle drills they can hurt a lot sometimes."

Purvis is one of about 20 students at Tech who play football, Athletic Director Brent Becker said.

Although playing football and going to school at Tech may be difficult, St. Louis Rams star running back Steven Jackson showed it's far from impossible.

Jackson attended Tech while he impressed scouts playing for Eldorado.

"It takes a special kind of kid to go (to Tech) and play football, but it's not like you can't play football by coming here," Becker said. "It won't affect your playing time, but you may have longer days. Every coach is accommodating to our players."

Becker, who keeps track of the eligibility of Tech's football players, said the school has students who play as far south as Boulder City and as far north as Canyon Springs.

On Fridays, when most varsity players wear their jerseys to school, the hallways are sprinkled with students sporting the various colors of Southern Nevada teams.

"You can see them at lunch," Becker said. "All the kids have different color jerseys on. That's how I spot which ones are mine."

Becker said most of the players spend the day in the transportation wing of Tech, which has classes in majors such as automotive technology.

Tech senior Edward Weist, a starting safety for Chaparral, likes to fire rivalries with Northeast Division opponents between his automotive classes.

"In class, sometimes (Purvis) and I will make bets with each other," Weist said. "We bet 100 push-ups over who would win the game. I lost but I had a good game."

Players don't see their coaches and teammates as much during school, which can make it take longer to bond with players.

Plus missing the beginning of practice — a reality for most —prevents them from being team captains.

"Sometimes I wish I went to Chaparral, just so I could be more involved with everything that goes along with football season," Weist said. "We don't have a homecoming game or pep rallies here."

Chaparral fullback Padric Hall also attends Tech to give coach Fernando Carmona two starters off campus. He's able to track their academic process through a district data base and had nothing but praise for the athletes in the unique situation.

However, he admits it can be challenging.

"It's tough because they miss out on a lot," Carmona said. "They have a hard time bonding with the team. We see them for three months and don't see them again."

Sean Ammerman can be reached at 990-2661 or [email protected].