The Pirate Process

Phoenix High School Assistant Principal, Athletic Director and Activities Director (PHSAPADAD for short) Dave Ehrhardt shares his thoughts, hopes and dreams for the Pirates on an as-needed basis. Pirate Marching Band, Color Guard and Cheerleading collaborated on a game-night presentation at football last week, rockin' the house in the process!!!

September 18, 2023

* Absolutely love how Pirates are supporting Pirates at our events. All of our home contests have included sizable student sections, making our game nights a ton of fun. Our growing Cheer program is connecting with the crowd and band/color guard are loud and proud. Plus, those three groups worked together on a "mash-up" show after Band/Guard debuted the first two movements of its fall show on Friday night. Now if we can only get that football scoreboard to work!!!

* Buying gun powder wasn't on the job description when I took this job almost seven years ago! But it's a big part of a Pirate football night. Thanks to Ian and CW Tringolo for being our Cannon Guys, delighting the crowd in the process with a cannon blast after every Pirate score;

* Film sessions are starting to become common place for our sports teams. Student-athletes have access to game film and coaches are carving out time to study opponents with their teams. Remember...success depends upon prevous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure. - Confucius

* Confucious also says that our teams need to get stronger. Folks, we need more of you in the weight room. It's pretty apparent that our opponents are usually bigger, faster and stronger than we are. This is something totally within our control (along with attitude and effort). And there's still room in Zero Period, which was originally designed at PHS with student-athletes in mind!

September 12, 2023

Rockin' the house last week with a bunch for the "good stuff" mailbox on the Pirate Ship...

* Boys' Soccer has a memorable visit to Portland last weekend. Two games for both varsity and JV in about 18 hours plus a trip for the varsity to the Timbers vs. LAFC soccer match on Saturday night. Summer fundraising covered the tickets, which included some pretty cool on-field VIP access for the fellas. And after the match, LAFC part-owner Will Ferrell strolled right past the team. We'll see if any of the Pirates get tagged for a cameo in Elf 2!!!

* Ton of energy at 1 Pirate Plaza last week, including a pretty sweet pep rally on Friday to set the stage for our home football opener. We're making some serious progress on the field.

* Huge shoutout to Figaro's Pizza of Phoenix. Mikah, Amanda and the Figaro's Crew have been super supportive of PHS Athletics and Activities. Figaro's donated pizza for all fall sports teams over the past few weeks and is always there to support our school and students. Thank you Figaro's!

* Hoping the OSAA and National Federation of High Schools start taking a look at soccer ejections. No other sport removes players from a game as swiftly as soccer. Yellow cards are fine and provide a warning...do it again and you're done. But when it goes right to red that's not always fair...especially when the offending player is disqualified for the next match.

* Lots of PHS sports in-person and online this week. The new NHFS cameras are working great. Check out a broadcast if you can't make it to a game.

September 2, 2023

Busy first week of PHS fall sports games and meets is in the books. Here we go…

• Props to our friends at North Bend High School for hosting our marching band and color guard program Aug. 29-31. The Pirates got some great work done in a smoke-free setting as they continue prep for the fall competition season. We’ll look forward to their debut Friday night at our home football opener;
• Speaking of color guard, they're again working with our growing cheer program for a “mash-up” show during the fall season;
• Cheer growth has been impressive, up to 14 on the roster. Coach M and the gang are making incredible progress. Cool to see a lot of them at volleyball on Tuesday night;
• Pirate cross country got a little muddy on Friday morning. And they loved it during the Bill Springhorn Classic in Redding. Mr. Cornet has a whole bunch of photos from the fun on the team XC page on Facebook;
• Impressed with this incoming freshmen class. The Class of 2027 is having a big impact on our fall sports programs;
• The long-awaited debut of our boys’ soccer team is set for Tuesday night at Eagle Point. And then a roadie to the other P-Town for a couple of high-profile friendlies next weekend. And then a Timbers’ game;
• Our new Pixellot cams are working great in the main gym and stadium. All home events in those locations this fall are being streamed on the NFHS Network. We shared four home contests this week and had three of our road events broadcast. Pretty good/affordable deal to see the Pirates in action if you can’t make it to the games. Details here;
• In case you’ve been under a rock, the school year starts on Tuesday for all freshies and new students. On Wednesday for everyone else. 8:15 start time EVERY DAY at PHS this year, with early release on Wednesdays. Here's the skinny;
• Thanks to everyone who helped get rid of the smoke. Nice work:
• Athletics and Activities contain a lot of teachable moments. Pirate varsity football got more than a few lessons on Friday night against the best team in our conference. And they were back on the field and in the classroom on Saturday morning, about 11 hours after getting off the bus. As hard and cliché as it might be…trust in the process folks. It’s gonna pay off;