UPPER LAKE — Coaching is a challenge all by itself. Throw in a pandemic and you’ve really got your work cut out. Miles Hayes won’t be deterred.
The 51-year-old Ukiah resident who is well known in Lake County and especially Upper Lake circles is stepping into the high school coaching ranks as the new varsity boys basketball head coach at Upper Lake High School. He replaces Tony Arroyo, who stepped down after leading the Cougars to a successful season in 2019-20 (14-9 overall with a trip to the sectional playoffs).
For Hayes, the timing to step back into high school coaching was perfect. He was content to be a parental spectator the last few seasons as son Quincy played at Ukiah High School. Quincy graduated last month, freeing up Hayes to coach again if he wanted to.
“Mike (Smith) asked me,” Hayes said of the Upper Lake coach and athletic adviser. “I thought, ‘Why not?’ It’s about giving back (to the community), not money.”
Hayes began coaching in recreational leagues many years ago. He moved on to Pomolita Middle School in Ukiah where he coached for a decade and spent three years as a JV boys and freshman girls coach at Ukiah High School before moving on to Mendocino College where he was the assistant men’s basketball coach for three seasons.. He’s also coached AAU teams that have featured a who’s who list of Lake County athletes.
Smith actually coached against Hayes back during his Pomolita Middle School days.
“I’ve known him a lot of years,” Hayes said of Smith, who is in his second stint as the head coach of Upper Lake’s varsity girls basketball team. “I’ve coached half the kids he has now.”
Smith said there is everything to like about Hayes joining the school’s coaching staff.
“He’s about creating young men,” Smith said. “Coach (Justin) Dutcher brought the team back to a competitive level and coach Arroyo kept us there last season. Miles brings his own strengths to the program.”
Coaching in the COVID-19 era won’t be any more of a disadvantage for Hayes than it will be for other coaches in the county and elsewhere.
“It’s brand new for everybody, we’re all in the same place,” Hayes said. “Right now there’s only so much you can do in zoom meetings. There are things you have to be there for (in person). It’s a challenge for the team. One thing is for sure … it’s going to help us be much better at communication.”
Hayes said his primary objective is pretty simple. “Help them find love for the game,” he said of his players.
What form the 2020-21 season will take is still up in the air. The California Interscholastic Federation is set to rule Monday on the upcoming 2020-21 season and if or when sports can begin their seasons. Several options are on the table, including delaying the start of fall and winter sports.
“It’s anybody’s guess,” Smith said. “Miles and I are both waiting on that.”
A late start is better than no season at all, according to Hayes.
“I think for health reasons it’s a good idea. If we start now everybody is going to be sick and they’re going to cancel the whole season. A shorter season is better than nothing.”
In the event sports seasons overlap – football and basketball, soccer and basketball, etc. – Smith and Hayes said they’ll deal with that situation as best as they can though it will leave athletes with some hard decisions.
“It’s tough for small schools,” Smith said. “Our (boys) basketball team is our baseball team.”
“I’m gonna work with whoever comes into the gym when the season opens,” Hayes said. “That’s all I can do. It’s out of my control. You could drive yourself crazy thinking about it. There are always ways around things when it comes to (different sports) sharing athletes.”
“We’re just waiting for the CIF decision,” Smith said.
Whatever the CIF rules, Upper Lake High School principal Annie Pivniska Petrie said she is happy to have Hayes on the Cougars’ coaching roster.
“Our athletic department is student-centered, collaborative and very supportive of one another,” Pivniska Petrie said. “We believe coach Hayes will be a positive contributor to our team. Coach Hayes believes in our athletic department’s mission to be an educational-based competitive athletic program that builds character and upholds our school’s core values at all times.”
