Post Preps Insider is your daily source for news, story lines, top games and more information on Colorado high school sports — brought to you by Denver Post preps editor Kyle Newman.
Changes are afoot in School District 27J, with a four-day week coming this fall while the communities within the district — namely Brighton and Thornton — continue to adjust to rapid growth that’s brought rush hours to agricultural towns.
Also coming this fall is the opening of Riverdale Ridge High School at 136th Avenue and Yosemite Street — where the Ravens have already taken huge steps to ensure athletic success.
First, Riverdale Ridge named Harry Waterman its founding athletic director last May, a big-name hire for a school that was only approved for initial CHSAA membership at January’s Legislative Council meeting. Prior to his appointment at Riverdale Ridge, Waterman served as a CHSAA associate commissioner for a decade and as the athletic director at Greeley West for eight years before that.
“This is a really unique opportunity to open a brand new school — and it’s something I’ve never experienced before, to build from the ground up and make something completely our own,” Waterman said. “I think our coaches are seeing the same opportunity I am.”
Since Waterman took the helm, he’s wasted no time in making flashy hires, a number of which were previously 5A coaches. The Ravens will enroll ninth and tenth graders for the 2018-19 school year, starting out as Class 2A in football and 3A in all other sports.
The thought of moving to a lower classification didn’t seem to mind Wayne Voorhees, the former Legacy coach who will oversee Ravens football, or Ray Garza, the current Brighton baseball coach who will head up Riverdale Ridge softball.
Other notable hires include former Brighton assistant Scott Neitenbach for wrestling, former Pomona assistant Seth Mattern for track and Laura Watling for volleyball. Watling won a state championship while coaching in Illinois.
And all of those coaches know it won’t be long before the Ravens are competing against some of the best big schools the state has to offer.
“The district’s expanding so rapidly,” Waterman said, “so I would be surprised if we’re not at least a 4A school by the next cycle in 2020.”
