Cascade High School’s Homecoming, the annual, week-long CHS community celebration of the new school year with a Friday night home football game – and its signature halftime fireworks along the banks of the Wenatchee River - held a bit more significance this year. September 10th through the 17th was also a homecoming of sorts for the football team’s new head coach, Carl “Hab" Haberberger, and the athletic department’s new Director, Tim Barnes. Both are CHS alumni.
Barnes, a 1992 graduate, holds a degree in education from Eastern Washington University and has worked in the Cascade School District since 1998 in roles as varied as substitute teacher, registrar, secretary, sports announcer, and coach. Those latter two roles are part of the connecting thread through his time at CSD, which is essentially the whole of his life. From his first memories, Barnes has been involved with local sports as a participant or coach. He brings to the director’s position well over 60 seasons of coaching boys and girls in basketball, football, wrestling, track and field, and baseball from little league to Icicle River Middle School to CHS.
When the Athletic Director position became available last spring, it seemed like a natural progression to Barnes, who plans to bring his passion for athletics and its positive effects on kids to the job. “From the time I was in high school at Cascade and played football, wrestled, and was on the track team, I knew I wanted to help extend my love and experience of CHS sports. So, that was my motivation to taking on this role.”
The philosophy Barnes brings for success to the director’s chair is based mainly on community. “I think it’s a big family picture for me. Everyone has to be involved with our kids from their earliest days as they work their way up. The fundamentals of sports and sportsmanship are crucial to later success on and off the field. I believe we have a community that is on board with that [as are] the coaches in our District.”
Barnes has said that he will bring a similar conviction to continuing the development of not just athletes, but student-athletes who need to manage their time effectively. “As a team or as an athlete, you’re only as good as your weakest link, whether that’s athletically or academically. There have been some issues with grade checks in the past. I’m committed to being on top of that consistently now and to helping our kids in the classroom wherever necessary. Open and frequent communication and a commitment to improvement is the key.”
Commitment to improvement is at the heart of what Barnes is asking of his teams.
He wants to take CHS sports in a new direction, rooted in the past and based on “continuous improvement,” which aligns squarely with the CSD’s mission. “When I was in school, our teams were really strong. In the last years, they have not been doing so well. I believe that if we as a school community commit to continuous improvement, we’ll see a turnaround. [The football team is] in a building year and I don’t necessarily expect us to win every game, but I do believe we have the potential to do so down the road with our kids and new coaches.”
While the wins, unfortunately, have yet to begin this season, the 0-3 CHS Kodiaks did play with heart and improved their game, despite the homecoming game loss to 1-2, non-conference, Brewster.
The gridiron matchup at the Peshastin-Dryden field on September 15th saw the Bears take the lead on a first quarter field goal and, after a couple of Cascade turnovers, jump out to a 9-0 advantage. However, the Kodiaks remained steady and focused as they turned a senior Peyton Adams’ interception into a 20-yard touchdown combination from junior quarterback Artie Northrup to Sophomore Ezra Week, resulting in a tight 9-7 match at the interlude.
The second half started promisingly as Northrup connected with junior William Biebesheimer for a 30-yard scoring strike and a 13-9 edge. The subsequent missed extra point portended the remainder of the game though, as a series of miscues and missed tackles allowed the Bears to run away with the half to a final score of 31-13.
“All the lessons learned through football, even those found in losses, translate to success later in life,” reflected Coach Hab. “Beyond the wins and losses, through all the years I’ve been on a team or coached a team, it’s the same work ethic, commitment to leadership, and dedication to teammates that so easily become part of who you are as a person in life.”
“Beyond the wins and losses, through all the years I’ve been on a team or coached a team, it’s the same work ethic, commitment to leadership, and dedication to teammates that so easily become part of who you are as a person in life.” -Carl Hab, Head Football Coach
Like his boss in the Athletic Director’s office, Coach Hab is in his rookie year as CHS’s Head Football Coach. Yet, also like Barnes, Hab is not new to CHS and Upper Valley athletics. A member of the Kodiak class of 1997, Haberberger played football, ran track, and was a Nordic skier for Leavenworth Winter Sports Club. He went on to Lindfield University in Oregon where he was an assistant football coach for eight years after his playing days with the Wildcats ended.
In 2008, Hab “moved back to the Valley” to teach and coach in Wenatchee at the high school and middle school levels until three years ago when he joined his wife, IRMS 7th grade teacher, Anastasia “Mrs. Hab” Haberberger and their two now middle school-aged children in the CSD. In addition to heading the football team’s coaching staff, Mr. Hab is a teacher of Consumer and Family Science courses at CHS and an assistant track and ski coach (for LWSC).
“Coming home to teach and coach at Cascade High School is the fulfillment of a dream,” Hab revealed. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I love our community and I sure do like our kids. They all want to win and work hard. They’re good people to be around.”
Echoing the District’s mission, and in step with Barnes’ goals, Haberberger sees “continuous improvement” as his main goal for the team. Hab asks the team everyday: “Are we better players today than we were yesterday?” He avers that what’s most important for him is that the “kids play like a team no matter the result. That said, I’m definitely a competitor looking for wins - and we will start to get them. Maybe some of these boys don’t know it yet, but we will. This season, you know, we may not have won yet, but we can still take the league championship and make the playoffs. That’s still in front of us and I’m not ruling it out.”
Haberberger and Barnes belong to the coterie of CHS graduates who have returned to teach and coach at the school. Both men believe that as such success on the field of play has a good chance of returning under their guidance for the reason, as Barnes put it: “because we are Cascade grads, we care deeply about making sure that our kids have the best experiences and potential to do well in our programs as players and fans. That’s the Kodiak way.”
You can catch Kodiak football at home with Haberberger on the sidelines and Barnes in the announcer's booth two more times this season against two of its biggest rivals: Cashmere on October 6th and Chelan on October 27th.