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This is not an easy time to be a high school sports coach as many kids have part-time jobs, are specializing in one sport or are just too busy with other things in life to participate.

And the parents of athletes, as those involved in prep sports know, are more involved than ever before. That, coaches know, can be good and bad.

Deb Schaefer is one coach who has things in perspective, and she is perfectly content with her school, the sports she coaches and with the life she has chosen. She has achieved a balance with her teaching and coaching positions at Melrose-Mindoro High School that most can only dream about.

And that balance is just one reason why there are 71 athletes out for track and field in a rural school with just over 220 kids. Yes, nearly one-third of the school’s students are out for track and field.

That makes Schaefer, who has coached track and field for 32 years at Melrose-Mindoro, break into a wide smile. And why not? Track and field at this school is hard work, and competitive, but Schaefer makes sure it is fun, too.

“The kids here love track. This is important to them and they are proud of the track program here,” Schaefer said. “The veterans on the team care so much that they help out the younger kids. That’s just awesome to see.”

Schaefer loves track, too, but she loves being around kids even more. And there is no doubt she fell in love with the Melrose-Mindoro School District and the area when she came here as a college graduate more than three decades ago. Schaefer, a native of Germantown, Wis., and a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh graduate, interviewed for a physical education teaching position in the district as a 21-year-old, got it and has never taught or coached anywhere else.

“I love rural America. Cities are nice to visit and see things, but living in the country is where I want to be,” Schaefer said. “I came here, loved it here and will probably retire here and die here. It is so exciting to be able to do what I love, then go home and relax where it is so peaceful and quiet.”

Don’t get the idea the 53-year-old Schaefer is ready to ride into the sunset anytime soon. She’s not afraid to challenge the girls or boys on the track team if they are not going all-out or are not focused on what they should be doing.

“She helps us learn whatever event we want to, and what we do in that event is up to us,” said Mustangs’ sprinter Stephanie Stello. “She doesn’t make us do it, she makes us want to do it. It is kind of intense training at times, but we have fun, too.”

Some of that fun involves an annual ice cream day, where the track athletes will bring a bowl, a cup, a cone or sometimes something much larger and make their own ice cream cones and sundaes after practice in the school. It’s something the athletes look forward to, and it’s a great way to build team chemistry, too, Schaefer said.

“She knows her stuff when it comes to track,” said Lars Grinde, who throws the shot and discus for Melrose-Mindoro. “She makes us work hard but also let’s us have fun at the right time. Yes, like the ice cream days. She has fun with it, too.”

Maybe that’s why Schaefer has coached track and field so long. She has coached the Mustangs girls team for all 32 of her years in the district and took over the boys track program 10 years ago when it had 11 athletes. It now has 36. She was the head volleyball coach for 21 years, the head girls basketball coach for seven years, and even coached the boys freshman basketball team for a year.

She’s also coached the Melrose-Mindoro boys and girls cross country teams for the past five years.

Why does she do it? And when does she find time for herself?

“I came from a generation where there were no girls sports,” Schaefer said. “That is why I enjoying teaching PE so much. I have an opportunity to teach kids about physical activities, and I also love to coach. I tell people all the time I have the best job in the district. I teach physical education at the elementary and junior high level, then coach high school kids. I am the only one in the district who is literally K through 12. I have the perfect job.”

It does come with a price, however. With her daily teaching and coaching responsibilities, she doesn’t get much time to herself. If she’s not with the teams at practice, she’s either coaching them at an event at home or on a bus with them to an event on the road.

That’s just fine, Schaefer said, as it keeps her young.

“This is what I do. I think I’m pretty good at it,” Schaefer said. “I know I enjoy it, and the kids; there is a genuine respect there. I’ve only had one job that I was interested in. Maybe it was the seven-year itch or something, but in my seventh year here I applied for a job in Lodi. All the way down there I kept thinking I didn’t want to do this. With all the great kids and experiences I had here, I didn’t want to leave. So I didn’t.”

And it’s a good bet there are hundreds of students and athletes in the Melrose-Mindoro School District that are certainly glad she didn’t.

Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403 or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com.

AREA TRACK AND FIELD COACHES IN 30-YEAR CLUB

BRUCE BREWER, Bangor: He’s in his 32nd season of coaching the Bangor girls, and he added the boys program to his duties in 1990 because, as he says, “no one else would do it.”

His girls teams have won 18 Scenic Bluffs Conference championships.

“You get attached to a few kids,” he said. “You promise that you will hang around (until) they graduate. Then, the next thing you know, 30 years have passed.

“That’s the life of an old track coach.”

PAUL BERGE, Holmen: He’s in his 32nd season of coaching Holmen’s girls, and the Vikings won an MVC title in 2002.

Holmen is enjoying another strong season this spring with some big relay efforts leading the way.

The most prolific individual to compete under Berge is current Notre Dame athlete Joanna Schultz, who won the Division 1 state 200- and 400-meter dashes four times each.

LEROY KRALL, West Salem: Krall’s Panthers are the defending Division 2 state champions in girls track and field, and he’s in his 30th season of coaching the program.

West Salem’s girls have won 13 conference, 16 regional and two state titles — it also won Class C in 1979 — under Krall. He’s coached 103 state place-winners, 17 of which were state champions.

PAUL STEVENS, Caledonia/Spring Grove: Stevens has coached his girls team through tenures in both the Southeast Conference and Three Rivers Conference for the last 30 years.

He also coached the boys program for a stretch, helping individuals from both teams advance to state despite not having a track and field facility. The grounds have since been updated, and Stevens has seen his program grow with its development.

CHUCK WALEK, Whitehall: He’s in his 30th season of coaching Whitehall’s boys and his fifth of coaching its girls.

Walek’s boys teams have won 15 Dairyland Conference championships, nine regional championships and won the Class C state title in 1986.

His girls team has won the last two Dairyland championships and was Division 3 state runner-up last year.

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