Ex-Mount Si football star helping Las Vegas high school athletes thrive in the face of adversity

A former Mount Si High School football star from 20 years ago is now giving back in more ways than one, helping kids succeed despite the challenges they face every day.

In an email interview with the Snoqualmie Valley Sports Journal, Harris talked about his experience at Mount Si. “Mount Si Football and their coaches gave me an opportunity to be a part of something special. Wildcat Football gave me discipline, direction, and confidence. It has helped in defining my work ethic, persevering in the face of adversity, and overcoming many of life’s obstacles,” Harris wrote. “Much of what you learn from football doesn’t happen on Friday nights, it happens from what you put into your off-season from winter conditioning, spring camp, the long summer workouts and the relationships you build with your teammates.”

Harris added that his time with the Mount Si program has influenced how he coaches the kids in Vegas. “Many of the qualities I impart on my student athletes were developed and learned while I was at Mount Si,” Harris wrote, in particular crediting coaches Kinnune and Christine Kjenner, along with his parents, in helping him excel.

The longtime coach has been instrumental in helping track and field programs at both Sunrise Mountain and Chaparral turn around. “When I first moved to Las Vegas, I became the head freshman football coach (at Chaparral) and inherited a non-existent track and field program. My first year we had a total of 36 athletes in track and field, and this was unacceptable. I made it my mission to increase participation, build a family environment, and provide an opportunity for students to find success and improve their health and fitness. By year two, we had over 70 athletes on the men’s and women’s team. Before I left Chaparral last year, we had more than 120 total athletes in the program. Our men’s and women’s team won our division, our men’s team took runner-up at regionals and third place at the state track meet. I was awarded Southern Nevada Coach of the Year in 2013,” Harris wrote.

He continued, “When I transferred to Sunrise Mountain for the 2013-14 school year, the track program was much more organized and developed, but it did not have an inviting and welcoming atmosphere. Although our athletes are competitive, we did not have numbers to sustain a true program. In my first year, we took our participation numbers from 62 total athletes to nearly 100. We hope to increase that number by another 20-30 athletes by next year. Our women’s team won the division, while our men’s team won the region. Both our men’s and women’s Team took 4th place at state and we have had 4 athletes sign letters of intent to compete on the college level. I was awarded my second Coach of the Year award in 2014.”

Those four athletes are led by girls’ hurdles specialist Brittany Veal, who won the Nevada 1A state title in the 300m hurdles and has signed with Southern Utah University, just up I-15 from Las Vegas in Cedar City, UT, and top boys’ athlete Manuel Hernandez, who was part of a state 1A winning 4×800 boys’ relay team and will compete this fall for Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Another girls’ star, Ebonique Diaz, has also signed a letter of intent to compete for Southern University in New Orleans.

Harris and his athletes succeed despite tremendous challenges. Noting the school draws from a diverse neighborhood that is one of the lowest-income in the city, “we have nearly 60% Hispanic and 25% African-American students. More than 95% or our students are on free and reduced lunch and require a lot of extra attention in the classroom. Our students come from home lives that lack boundaries, commitment, and dedication,” Harris wrote. “At the same time, our students at Sunrise crave those things they do not have. They want structure, a purpose, and someone who will pay attention to their needs. My coaching staff and I provide those students with that opportunity. In return, we receive athletically superior kids who want to please and compete.”

Harris, in addition to coaching, also is a physical education teacher at the school. “I bring the same philosophy (that I have as a coach) into the classroom. I want my students to know I will fight for them and protect them as long as they follow the rules and give the best effort they can on a daily basis. Our students have not been taught good habits and their role models in life have not always been positive,” he wrote. “A majority of our students come from single parent homes or are being raised by extended family like grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Many times we are teaching them the importance of education, what education can do to change their lives, and try to show them a different lifestyle if they can persevere and overcome all the hurdles.”

From afar, Harris has been watching with tremendous pleasure the growth of Mount Si football. “I am not surprised, and, actually, I expected that sort of turn around,” he wrote. “When a school, business, athletic program becomes successful it starts from the top. Coach Kinnune has had a vision from the first day he became a Wildcat. Once coaches, athletes (and) parents buy in to a philosophy and program’s direction, you have the foundation to be successful. “

Harris told the SVSJ he is committed to continuing his coaching duties in Las Vegas for two more years, then he and his wife, who is a nurse, are looking at returning to the Puget Sound area, where he started his coaching career – before heading south, he spent a couple of years at Auburn Riverside High School in Auburn.