Remembering Coach Duane Schopp

I remember being a skinny little 15-year-old high school sophomore the first time I met Duane Schopp.  He had just started as the new athletic director at Central High School in Cheyenne as I was just starting my first season of cross country.  I have always maintained that I have had the unbelievably good fortune to have the right people enter my life at the right times, and Duane Schopp was certainly no exception.  The right ingredients were in place at Central in the late 1990s, with Coach Rick Bishop, my best friend Kevin Salverson, and an amazing man in Coach Schopp guiding us all down the right path.


When I started high school at Central, we had nothing.  The school itself was out on the northwest side of town, but our basketball teams still played downtown at the old Storey Gym, our football team played at Okie Blanchard Stadium, which was the home field of our crosstown rival East High, and our track teams, well, we didn't have a track.  When I came onto the scene, Central was a two-time defending state track champion without a home track facility.  The first thing Duane Schopp did on the job was to champion first-rate facilities and resources for Central High student-athletes.  During his tenure at Central, Schopp helped raise funds for Riske Field, a home field and stadium for the Central football and soccer teams surrounded by a great track complete with runways and shot put sector.  He also oversaw the refurbishing of the field house, complete with a wonderful hardwood basketball court, spectator stands, and indoor track.  There are new boys and girls locker rooms, a new training room, a renovated weight room, and a resurfaced indoor swimming pool.  None of that existed before Duane Schopp.


More importantly, however, was his mentoring, guidance, and dedication to the student-athletes in his care.  I remember his attendance at nearly every Central High athletics event.  I recall his tireless work to make sure we were all on the straight-and-narrow and achieving our best in the classroom and in our respective sports.  He offered me concise, honest, and beneficial help when it came to deciding where to go to college.  He called colleges and universities to praise us and help us earn athletic scholarships.  He made sure we all had everything in order to graduate successfully and enter college successfully.  I am certain that the success a lot of us had as collegiate student-athletes and in our post-collegiate pursuits is directly attributable to the standard of excellence set forth by Coach Schopp.


Before his tenure at Central, Schopp was the head track coach at the University of Wyoming from 1984-1997.  He and Coach Sanchez helped develop some incredible athletes and human beings.  The red and black from Central High and the Brown & Gold of Wyoming run deep.  We were so fortunate to have a man like Duane Schopp in our lives.  Wyoming athletics on every level has lost a true giant.  His guidance and passion will be sorely missed, but if we can continue to teach his lessons to future generations, then I am confident everything will work out.  


Rest in peace, Coach.  I'll be down here running and thinking about you.  And thanks so much for all you did.  I'll never forget it and never stop appreciating and respecting it.


A memorial service will be held at Storey Gym in Cheyenne at 10am Saturday April 14, with a reception to follow at Central High School.