It is Travis Schafer’s first year of teaching. He is 24 years old, and he just received his bachelor’s degree in elementary education and special education from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan.

He is teaching two classes, a combined group of second and third grade students in the Western Plains Elementary School North in Ransom.

His plate probably looks full enough to outsiders, but he is fitting more on and loving every minute of it.

He is the new Western Plains High School Bobcats girl’s basketball coach.

“It’s been rocky at times, but I feel being committed to teaching and to building the girls’ basketball team up will be worth every second,” he said.

Born in Erie, Colo., and moving to Galva, Kan., at 6, Schafer graduated from Canton-Galva High School in 2004. Canton-Galva is a small, consolidated school district similar to Western Plains, so Schafer was excited to head west and start his career.

“I came to Ransom for opportunities,” he said. “I saw a small school that needed some rebuilding, and I thought I could be of some assistance.”

Of course, he didn’t know he was going to be a head coach right away. He just planned on perhaps grabbing an assistant position. Then a last-minute coaching change took place a few weeks before the season started, and Schafer was quickly ushered into the top coaching spot for the Lady Bobcats.

“I was excited to get the opportunity,” Schafer said. “I was ready to get going.”

So far, Schafer said, the first three weeks of practice have gone OK.

“It’s been fun,” he said. “The girls work hard. That’s all I ask.”

Schafer has been pushing the Lady Cats to their limits during their practices in an attempt to get them ready to have a better year than last year, which saw the girls earning only two wins.

“There aren’t a lot of expectations, but we want to change that fact,” he said. “We want people to expect us to compete. If the girls are ready to step up to the challenge, then we could be a tough team.”

Schafer’s first priority upon taking the reigns was making sure his team was in game-ready shape. To work towards that, he held two-a-day practices for the first week, which was an uncommon idea for Western Plains High School basketball.

Schafer said everyone was accepting of his conditioning tactic.

“The girls were ready to get after it,” he said. “People outside of the gym seemed to be pretty supportive of it too.”

It’s that support, Schafer said, that is very important to the team because it lets the girls know people are behind them.

Schafer said his assistant coach, WPHS social studies teacher Debbie Hagans, is nothing but positive toward the girls, which he said is incredibly helpful and helps counterbalance when he has to come down on them a bit to help show them their errors and help them improve.

Hard work is just the nature of Schafer’s strategy, and he said the girls have been accepting of the new mentality he is brining to the team.

“They’re excited,” he said. “It’s a brand-new season. They’re ready to get after it.”

Schafer admits it won’t be an easy row to hoe, but he doesn’t think it should be.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work and dedication to earn the respect they deserve,” he said. “Respect is something you have to earn from how you represent yourself on and off the court.

“On the court, they have to have confidence in themselves and in their teammates. Off the court, it’s the same thing. They need to work hard in the classroom and do things for their communities.”

If the girls can conquer the attitude mountain, Schafer said he likes how the season could unfold.

“I think the ability is there,” he said. “They just need to get the mindset and confidence. I’ve been pushing them to the max. We have a positive outlook.”

Having a positive attitude will help the team deal with the natural ups and downs of the season, so the theme of the team, Schafer said, is to have confidence.

“Our main goal is to go out and compete every night, and then the wins will come,” he said.

Schafer declined to speculate on how the season was going to turn out in regards to wins and losses, but he said he knew his girls could do well if they just decided made up their minds that they were good.

“I want the girls to see what they’re capable of,” he said. “Win or lose, we’re going to compete.”

While at Tabor, Schafer played baseball for the Blue Jays, but he said he hasn’t had any issue switching gears from collegiate baseball to high school basketball.

“In any sport you play, you have to keep two things in mind – play hard and compete,” he said.

Schafer played basketball in high school, and he would have played basketball in college too; however, he opted to chase a life-long goal instead.

“It was always a dream of mine to play college baseball,” he said.

Basketball is near and dear to his heart too, though.

“That’s my best memory of high school,” he said. “The crowds and attention you got made you excited. You wanted to go out and win for them and your towns.”

Schafer said he hopes to instill that same drive for success in his team, and he said he hopes the communities of Western Plains reciprocate by attending the games to cheer on the Cats.