Ever since the school’s first year back when this millennium began, Bartram Trail High School in northwestern St. Johns County has been one of the most competitive schools in a number of athletic events. Football draws the crowds, and while that program has had its successes, multiple sports at Bartram in its first 16 years of existence have competed for and won state titles.
The hard part though is maintaining that success by keeping your staff at full force and keeping the facilities in pristine shape. Barry Craig was the Athletic Director for the school’s first 14 years. He was in charge of not only starting a program from the ground up, but also trying to incorporate the community into a full-fledged support system. The on-field product certainly helped, but the establishment of the booster club made this athletic program stick out from the crowd in St. Johns County.
Many people don’t know this, but the booster club isn’t funded by the school system; it’s funded by the community. This certainly makes it easier for current Athletic Director and former girls basketball head coach Ben Windle.
“Without the booster club and without Barry Craig’s model for success, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are today,” Windle said.
Windle referred to the model the Craig put in place, a model that starts with the hiring of coaches, the head football coach being one of utmost importance.
“The hiring of the head football coach is the most important hire at the whole school,” Windle said. “The attitude they bring makes your school feel that positive vibe.”
But it’s not just football. It’s every single sport. You have to have the right culture to succeed, according to Windle, and he found his “Bartram People,” coaches in particular, who are committed to keeping Bartram Trail at the standard they’ve already set for themselves.
Next on that model is the aforementioned booster club. Without the booster club, the recent rebranding effort wouldn’t have been as extensive as it was. The booster club also sells memberships to parents and fans as fundraising for the athletic programs. Keeping the community and parents involved is something the schools finds incredibly important. Angelo Vespi, head of the booster club at Bartram Trail, thinks it’s the people that make it special at Bartram Trail.
“When you walk in here, you always see the same people,” Vespi said.
Rebranding was an exciting process for Windle and the booster club. It was an opportunity to create a new look for a school that hadn’t changed logos since its start. They designed new uniforms, new logos, and even a new basketball court, pinpointing it down to the exact shade of blue the school would use. Now, Bartram Trail is a Nike-preferred school. All of their uniforms are Nike, and their spirit wear is made through Nike. Known as one of the highest quality sporting brands in the world, it was a fit for one of the more successful and forward-thinking athletic programs in the area.
Forward thinking goes down to the equipment that the athletic programs have, including the digital down markers for the football game day staff, the new basketball court and scoreboard, and even updates to the already state-of-the-art football field. If you didn’t know, Bartram Trail’s football field is the only NFL-approved high school field in the state. The reason? Back in 2005, the New England Patriots practiced at Bartram Trail High School when the Super Bowl was held in Jacksonville. The NFL redid the field, and the rest is history.
But what makes this the perfect trail is just how special of a place Bartram Trail is. Any one of the coaches, parents, ex-players, or student-athletes could tell you. Windle knew it from day one.
“When I walked in here for the first time, I knew this place was special,” Windle said. “The people, the atmosphere, the culture. You almost just can’t describe it. I think that’s why coaches stay; I think that’s why people love being here.”
It just goes to show that everyone buying into a system and playing their part to make something successful doesn’t only happen at the professional level. That model follows suit down to the high school level. It’s clear that Bartram Trail has a successful model in place to be competitive for years to come.
The Perfect Trail
Written by: Ryan Hutchins
