With the start of the MVHS wrestling season, new head coach Joevon Barnes has to juggle the responsibilities of coaching both the MVHS and Homestead HS wrestling program. With their wrestling program about to shut down, HHS reached out to Barnes  this year in an effort to save the program. Barnes accepted and agreed to coach both teams at the same time.

EE: What particular challenges do you face by coaching two teams at the same time?

JB: None really, because we all come together and travel together, practice together and it’s almost as if we are one team just with different uniforms. The only issue that sometimes comes up are the parents. Parents always want their own coach, and sometimes they think that I’m favoring one school over the other, until I invite them to a tournament or a practice where they see that both schools are getting the exact same treatment.

EE: What has your experience been like in your first few months coaching at MVHS?

JB: It’s been fun so far. I’ve got kids with some talent, and kids with a little talent on the team and developing them has been fun. We just went to a tournament where our team [MVHS] came in eighth. [There were] about 30 to 40 teams there, so just watching them grow as wrestlers is my favorite part of this job.

EE: What are your goals for the team this year and beyond?

JB: This year, I want all eight varsity players to place at leagues, then have them go to CCS and get at least half of them to state qualifiers. In the future, I would like to stay here for a while and build the team because right now we don’t have many players; we only have 11 to 12 players. Also, I would want to build a larger JV team and a girls team and a have a full varsity team.

EE: Is this your first time you have coached two teams at the same times?

JB: No, I’ve done this before. I have been coaching for seven years up and down the peninsula and one time with another school they only had a few players and to keep the program going I coached them with another team. But often times, if the school can’t find a coach, they choose to combine programs. A lot of the older coaches are retiring and many of the younger coaches are taking on multiple schools to keep wrestling programs alive.