Shawn Jansen: Sparks will retire after 2010 season

Mike Sparks vividly remembers his first game as Dos Palos' head football coach.

It began with a long bus ride up the mountain in 1988.

"We were on the bus driving through rain, sleet and snow," Sparks said. "Most of the guys on our bus had never seen snow.

"I don't know if I had ever seen sleet. It was coming down sideways.

"It was so cold that night that Tehachapi lost its advantage. After we won the game, our guys didn't even stay out on the field to celebrate.

"I remember seeing Josh Richards run right off the field and into the locker room at the buzzer.

"At halftime, I couldn't even talk. It took so long to unwrap and I had to wait while my jaws unfroze."

Sparks won his first game -- and has kept on winning.

He's the dean of all area coaches, compiling an impressive 199-66-2 record in his 22 seasons at Dos Palos.

He spent another 12 season as Tom Scheidt's assistant coach before that.

Sparks announced next year will be his last. He will step down after his 35th season.

Sparks definitely does bleed Dos Palos blue.

You won't find a red shirt in his closet. You'll usually find blue and gold flowers in front of the Sparks' house.

"I've spent 43 football seasons as a player and a coach," Sparks said. "That has a lot to do with it.

"That's a lot of time. I'm not sure what other things there are to do. I haven't done anything else, but I hear there are other things to do.

"It's time to step away. It's something that has been gnawing at me the last couple years. It was a relief to announce at our banquet this year that I'll be returning for one more year."

It's been quite a career.

One that's included 17 North Sequoia League championships, six Valley Championships -- including a stretch of five in a row from 1997-2001 -- and two mythical state titles.

"I don't think I've done anything special," Sparks said. "I've just stayed around longer than the rest of them. All the coaches before me were successful."

Sparks will achieve at least one more milestone next year as he sits one win away from career victory No. 200.

Dos Palos is also just eight wins away from the school's 600th win.

Sparks has been flirting with retiring the past couple years.

Part of the reason he stuck around was because he didn't want to hand over a struggling program.

Dos Palos has won just 13 games in the last three years.

"I'm not the kind of guy that is going to jump ship when things are going bad," Sparks said. "Not after I rode the wave for a long time when things were going good.

"I remember when I took over the program, my comment was I wanted the next guy who took over after me to take over a good program."

Dos Palos returns 21 players next year, including running back Kevin Schofield, who rushed for 1,926 yards and 17 touchdowns this season.

"It's an honor to play for a great coach like that," Schofield said. "You want to go out and play hard for him in his last year. Thirty-five years is a long time."

When it's time to step down, Sparks will leave with plenty of good memories.

During the run of five straight section titles, Dos Palos compiled a 61-2 record, including 39 straight wins.

"It's unbelievable when you think of some of the guys we were able to coach in this small school in the middle of nowhere," Sparks said.

Over the years the players changed but the wins kept coming.

"One of the things I take pride in is I never missed a practice in 34 years," he said.

So what will he do with his Friday nights when he hangs up the whistle?

"Watching the Broncos likely," Sparks said. "It just won't be a seven-day-a-week job anymore. I'll be one of those Friday night game guys talking about what they should have done."

Shawn Jansen is a Sun-Star sports reporter. He can be reached at 385-2462 or via e-mail at sjansen@mercedsun-star.com.