By Mel Dow - Athletic Director @ Stoughton High School
The Stoughton Press - Holiday / Winter 2010 Edition  www.stoughtonpress.com


Mel Dow is the new Athletic/Activities Director for the Stoughton Vikings. He came from Prairie du Chien, where he was a Physical Education teacher and head wrestling coach. He also spent time as an assistant in both football and track. He started his teaching career in Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado working with USA Wrestling. He continues coordinating the USA Wrestling developmental camp at the Olympic Training Center each summer. Mel is excited about the Stoughton athletic and activity programs and is enjoying the community.  The Dow family includes Kristen and their son, Tyler(10)and twins, Trenton and Trista(6).

Stoughton High School Athletics 2010-2011-Bringing it all Together  

Bringing it all together is the charge that is in front off all those associated with Stoughton Athletics.

As Stoughton Athletics looks to move forward in this new decade, the program will pull in all ranks, at all levels to have a united effort to not only make Stoughton a power in the Badger Conference but the state as a whole.

This unification comes from a simple concept; we are stronger together than we are apart.  As one team or a program has success, this success will be shared with the all the others.  Each coach will bring to the table their individual skills and pass those ideas onto other coaches and programs to benefit.  

Stoughton is one community, supporting one school, which has one athletic program.  The programs at Stoughton will encourage athletes and coaches to support each other and raise the level of expectation within each program.  With this united approach, the athletes will have consistency in both on and off-season training, which will allow for continuous improvement.

Beyond the high school teams, this unification will also be directed towards youth programs as well.  Varsity level coaches as the leaders of their respective programs will be challenged to be actively involved in the developmental stages of those sports.  This will give clear understanding to parents, future athletes and age level coaches of the expectation and vision of the program as they go through the developmental years.  As a result, each year our programs will be able to build onto a skill and mindset that was established from the previous year.

Multi sport athletes will be a key component to the success of Stoughton Athletics and bringing things together.  Stoughton both values and honors those Tri Sport athletes who contribute to all fields of play.  An athlete who has success on the field can carry that onto the court and beyond.  Multi sport athletes can bring leadership and past success to benefit other programs, while continuing the cohesiveness with their teammates.  

These multi sport athletes can develop skills on many levels, as well as prevent burnout when training for a single sport.  Additionally, a recent study at the Olympic level finds that the average career for a single sport athlete is only 10 years.  This validates why we see a steady decrease in participation as student athletes reach high school.  Stoughton will continue to promote multi sport athletes.

The community has a great opportunity to be part of the bringing things together for Stoughton Athletics.  “We” is a major part of bringing a program together.  The community has to buy in, believe in the direction and give full support to the athletes, coaches, and boosters to provide an atmosphere of excellence, this includes infusing the “We can do it” attitude.  

When the term “we” is used, it means that we all have an invested interest in the group.  This investment can happen by being part of the Stoughton Athletic Booster Club, attending events or volunteering services, time or products to empower in the success of the program.

Working to accomplish a common goal, together we can bring great things to an already great community.  We are Stoughton.