Friday Night Highlight: Short goes long ways for Stockton football

Oct. 7—STOCKTON, Mo. — Josh Short doesn't fall short in the work he puts into his job.

At least not to his colleagues.

"He might be the hardest working person in Southwest Missouri," Stockton head coach Luke Rader said.

"Anything that needs to be taken care of he jumps on and gets it taken care of. He's just a very hard worker and willing to do anything he's asked to do."

Short is employed by the Sheldon school system but works with Stockton very closely. He operates as a chauffeur — so to speak — for the kids who want to play football from Sheldon.

The 31-year-old coach drives four boys 35 minutes to Stockton each day for football practice. Short also helps coach the Stockton football team as a linebacker/tight end's coach. Then, after practice he takes part in a short coaches meeting before driving the four boys back home to Sheldon.

Throughout the day, Short is a physical education teacher at Sheldon R-VIII schools. He teaches all grades Pre-K through 12th. Short begins work before school even starts for the day. He gets to the school a little before 6 a.m. to open up the weight room for any athletes who need to use it.

Short mentioned waking up around 4:30 in the morning to ensure he's able to be at the school on time each day. Then, his day doesn't end until he gets the boys back to Sheldon and drives home about 12 minutes away. Which ends up being about 8 most evenings before he walks through the door of his house.

"His work ethic is something that is getting harder and harder to find in the world," Rader said. "Any time you've got somebody willing to do all those things, it's a huge asset and something that is great for kids to be around."

Short has even longer days on the night of a game and not just on Friday nights. He is also a coach for the junior varsity team so on Monday nights he's coaching a game before he gets to go home for the day.

"Depending on where we go, it could be midnight or one in the morning," Short said. "You just never know when we get back."

Stockton's furthest road trip so far was about an hour-and-a-half drive to Fair Grove, Missouri. Short recalls not getting back home until 1 a.m. for that trip.

"It really just depends on my energy level and how much sleep I got that night before," Short said about the difficulty of his work day. "Because even though I get home, I still have to get something to eat and get things cleaned up.

"So, some days I'm kind of dragging and I just have to keep going and get that energy level up. Normally, I try to have fun with the kids and interact with them to keep myself awake and going and try to make sure they're enjoying class."

He added that he makes sure to take advantage of having an opportunity to sleep in each weekend. The weekend also gives him the opportunity to "decompress" and really relax as the stress goes away for a couple of days.

To add to his work slate, Short coaches middle school and high school track and field at Sheldon in the spring.

Despite the long days mixed with early mornings and late nights, Short took his position helping the Stockton football team with open arms knowing it was something he would love.

"90% of it is enjoyable. That 10% is stuff you have to deal with that maybe you don't want to," Short said. "Kids can have rough mornings so you have to be able to deal with that. But, overall I love my job. I love everything about it.

"When they interviewed me for this job and said football was an option they asked if I wanted it, I said 'Oh yes, give me football. I love football.'"

He's been driving the athletes back and forth ever since he took the job in 2018 when the co-op with Stockton began. He sees the opportunity to keep these kids involved in sports as something that must continue.

"I love to see the kids get the experience to do something that they would not normally get to do at a small school," Short said. "Not only do I get to be back around football but I get to see them enjoy it. ... If it wasn't for Stockton taking us, these kids would never experience playing football."

Short added that the kids do get to play at the mighty mite level, but after that it would be over for them without Stockton.

As coach Rader sees it, he's a big part of why the whole thing can work.

"He is a major, major part of the co-op working," Rader said. "When you're co-oping with another school there's just a lot of logistics and communication that has to go on and he takes care of a lot of that."

Rader wanted to note that the cooperation of the school and community in Sheldon have been very beneficial in making this process work.

"The school and community have been really, really good working with us," Rader said. "If they (players) need out of school early for something it's never an issue. They've done everything they've needed to make sure it works."

Short may only bring four players over from Sheldon, but coach Rader sees it as boost to his 36-player roster.

"It gives us some depth in junior varsity games," Rader said. "As injuries start happening, a lot of times that's the difference in being able to play and not."

Rader mentioned injuries being something the Tigers have already dealt with this year. So, knowing he can have that added depth is key.

Short's work goes beyond what can be seen in the classroom or on the gridiron. It even goes further than the boys he's bringing from Sheldon. Coach Rader finds a positive in being from a small area and the ability it gives Short to reach more kids.

"That's one of the benefits of being a small school," Rader said. "I think every kid on our team is probably impacted by him and connects with him. Those kids, he's spending a lot of time in the vehicle with them, but even our kids that go to school over here (Stockton), I think he's having an impact on their life."

Short said the kids are the one thing that really keeps him going throughout a difficult schedule. Having past students tell him that what he through pushing the student to be the best he can be and helping him in many ways is something he'll always appreciate about his job.

"It makes me feel great inside knowing that I get a chance to help these kids," Short said.

Five years into working as a key part of this co-op, Short knows the kids have been helping him, too. They can keep him awake after a long day driving back home. They can make a stressful situation easier just by being kids and cracking jokes.

Laughing as he discussed his van rides to and from Stockton, Short mentioned having to hear random ideas "from out in left field" to having to explain a feminine product that was found by one of the boys on the van and even letting the boys dump any problems they have out to have "a little therapy session" during their trips.

ABOUT THE GAME

Stockton meets the Diamond Wildcats on Friday night.

Both teams enter play at 1-5. Both teams have also defeated Miller this year. While the Wildcats and Tigers were both handed losses by Ash Grove and Marionville earlier in the season.

Stockton and Diamond both compete in the Southwest Conference.

The Tigers topped the Wildcats 27-14 last season.