A new brotherhood

"I'm just thankful I get to be a part of the start of this. I don't get to be here next year, but I honestly don't care at all. It doesn't bother me at all. I just love being a part of this, starting a new tradition."

Dayne Anderson is one of two seniors playing football for the Encampment Tigers this year. This is also the first year in nearly three decades that Encampment has had a football team to call its own. For three years, between 1988 and 1990, Encampment had a team, but low turnout led to the program being cancelled. Since then, Encampment and Saratoga merged their programs.

Encampment students would play for Saratoga in the fall as they took the gridiron, but would play against the Panthers in the winter when they hit the hardwood. All of that began to change on November 13, 2018 when several Encampment students stood before the Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) Board of Trustees. Koye Gilbert, who was a freshman last school year, stood before the board and asked the board for permission to pursue a six-man football program.

Nearly a year later, on October 12, the Encampment Tigers hosted their first game as they welcomed the Natrona County High School (NCHS) Freshmen. What had been little more than a field of sagebrush and prairie dog holes had been revitalized into one worthy of football.

"A lot of periods in ag (vocational agriculture) were out here painting goal posts or leveling the field, filling holes. Not even kids that are on the team, just kids that are part of the school and want to contribute," said Dalton Peterson. "I don't think we've talked to a person that hasn't been willing to do their part." 

"We had zero, we had nothing. The field was in disrepair, but the community has been so supportive whether it's been through donations or volunteer work or whatever it is," said Kegan Willford, head coach of the Encampment Tigers.

One could point to multiple reasons as to what an achievement it is for Encampment to have its own football program. For starters, while the CCSD2 Board of Trustees approved Encampment to pursue a six-man program, it came with little funding from the school district due to the lateness of the request. Even though Encampment had permission to start the program, they would had to find the funding themselves.

"It had to start somewhere and as soon as we could get it, that was when we were going to take the program and just have the program start," said senior Reid Schroeder.

Schroeder was one of the students present at the November meeting of the school board. When board member Kaycee Alameda asked if any seniors would be upset at not being able to letter due to playing a junior varsity (JV) schedule, Schroeder stated he was comfortable playing a JV schedule as a senior. He still stands by his statement.

"I was absolutely willing to start a program regardless if we were able to compete in the season or not," Schroeder said.

Driven by the desire to have their own program, Encampment students hit the ground running, gathering support from local businesses and private individuals to ensure the program was a success. Of course, all of that wouldn't matter if there weren't any teams to play. Bringing truth to the adage that Wyoming is "just one long street," teams throughout Wyoming were willing to add games with the Tigers to their schedule.

This season, Encampment has played the Meeteetse Longhorns, the Farson-Eden Pronghorns, the Dubois Rams and the NCHS Freshmen. Before the season ends, they will play the NCHS sophomores and the Cheyenne East sophomores. Through it all, the team has maintained the drive to see the program to fruition.

"You can really attribute a lot of that to the leaders of our team. They have really stepped up every step of the way and they have been so committed. Whether it's been coming in during the summertime, spending extra time before school, after school or after practice to try to make this work. We don't have to ask for very long if we ever need something done or for somebody to volunteer." Willford said.

While this season has been something special for the team, it has also had some meaning to Willford. Not only is he the head coach as Encampment works to get their football program started, he's taking a role that was once held by his late father, Burt Willford.

"It's really special. We lost him about five years ago to cancer and a lot of things you try to do to keep in his memory. I knew he had coached at the end, but until we really looked into it I wasn't sure or we didn't know he was the last person to coach Encampment football," said Willford. "It's really good to be able to try and continue that. It's been really, really special to take that."

As the Encampment Tigers continue to work to move forward with their program, part of that is showing support for the junior high players. It not only keeps the younger players motivated, it extends the feeling of brotherhood in football that the Tigers have found this year.

"I don't think we can stress how thankful we are to start this new brotherhood. We had a brotherhood with basketball, we're starting to grow it, but now with football and the junior high that's just even more strengthening," said Peterson.

"The junior high kids; they're the next generation, so we need to support them. They're really what is going to keep this team alive," Gilbert added.