Zephyrhills coach resigns

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 26, 2000

ZEPHYRHILLS -- Robin Wilks, who has coached the Zephyrhills girls cross country team for three years and the track team for two years, resigned last week.

Wilks, who spent four years as an assistant and head coach at the school, is coming off of a solid track season, seeing senior Pam Moses take second in the 800 and third in the high jump at the Class 2A state meet.

But Wilks said dwindling interest in the off-season cross country workouts were frustrating her. The numbers have been shrinking for the past few seasons, and no one showed up for a recent informational meeting.

Mainly, though, Wilks said she's leaving to devote her free time in pursuit of another vocation: a part-time exercise specialist at the East Pasco Wellness Center.

"To be honest, it's something I've been thinking about for a while," she said. "For now, that's probably better for me, which isn't to say I won't return to coaching someday."

When she graduated from Zephyrhills in 1989, Wilks said she remembers how successful the cross country team was. But she could not attract the numbers needed to emulate that success.

"I've done everything I know how to do to rebuild the program," she said. "Maybe somebody else can do it.

"It's very stressful for me because I do want it to be very successful. When I ran, we went to state almost every year. We had a full varsity and full JV. That's what I wanted to build it up to; what it used to be. It just doesn't seem to have happened." Athletic director Craig Milburn said it's the same-old story at Zephyrhills.

"It's some of the same problems that I have talked about all year long," he said. "In these programs, the numbers are very, very low, and it's discouraging to coaches that are trying to build a program and are getting no response."

Wilks said she'll miss the athletes -- those who dedicated themselves -- the most.

"It's kind of sad," she said. "I miss them already."

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