Idaho’s smallest sports program returns to action
SUGAR CITY (KIFI) - The Leadore Mustangs looked like any other volleyball team when they arrived at a three-way meet Wednesday.
But the U.S. Census says the tiny town of Leadore, nestled within the mountains of Lemhi County, only has 100 residents. The Leadore School, too small to be separated by grade, has just 32 high school students.
The Mustangs played a match each against Firth and Sugar-Salem - both 4A schools. Leadore is not just a 1A school, but according to the IHSAA, one of the smallest schools in the Gem State.
“In the first few seasons that I coached," recalled Susan Whittaker, "I had to talk a few girls into playing just so we could have six [players].”
Whittaker is now in her 11th season as Leadore's head volleyball coach.
“Maybe I’m crazy," she admitted, "but I love the sport and I love the girls, so I keep with it.”
Volleyball isn't the Mustangs' only sports program. Leadore also fields boys and girls cross country teams in the fall, boys and girls basketball teams in the winter, and rodeo and track & field competitors in the spring.
Whittaker said the volleyball team has grown considerably since those early days. They've recruited a full bench this season.
“Right now we have 16 girls on the team," she said. "I think we have 18 or 19 girls in the high school total - and one of them runs cross country.”
The school's small size creates strong bonds, Whittaker explained, so it actually isn't difficult to put a team together.
"When we have 30 students in the high school, we try really hard to have every kid involved and every kid active with the program," she asserted. "Pretty much everyone in our school participates in one form or another, whether it's playing on a sports team, or managing the teams, or simply traveling with the teams."
“Collectively, just the culture in our school, the kids just want to be involved," she added. "They genuinely want to help in one way, shape, or form.”
It's one thing to put together a team, but another to be a competitive team. Some players have to drive 45 minutes each way for daily practices. The squad has to travel a minimum of two hours to play conference opponents. But the players don't mind.
“We’re a very strongly agriculture-based community," Whittaker explained. "So as far as athletic programs go, these kids are just tough."
"They work hard, day in and day out, all summer long," she continued. "A lot of them joke that when they go back to school, they actually get to sleep in.”
Playing best-of-three tournament rules, the Mustangs were defeated two-sets-to-none in both of their contests. However, they kept those sets close and held their own against two much larger schools - one eight times its size, the other 17 times its size. That's an accomplishment in itself.
