Nik Blume era delayed until spring for Niwot football

Niwot High School head football coach Nikolas Blume had a gut feeling his inaugural season at Niwot would be delayed. Even so, the news was still a punch in the gut.

"To be honest, I was pretty disappointed," Blume said. "My whole staff is pretty disappointed. There was a lot of time that had gone by and you could kind of see what else was happening around us. If that decision ultimately was going to be made, it could have been made a lot sooner."

Blume's discontent stems from the hours of practice his team had put in when the late decision came from the Colorado High School Athletics Association (CHSAA). Niwot had been practicing together for two or three nights a week since early June when the Aug. 4 verdict hit.

"To have our kids do all that work and to be hopeful that we were going to have a season and then have that decision is pretty frustrating," Blume said.

The Cougars wrapped up workouts the last week of July and had a scheduled "dead week" the first week of August. They will now remain on hold until September with SVVSD putting a hold on all non-permitted sports. If permitted, football, along with other delayed sports at Niwot, hope to resume workouts later in the fall according to Athletic Director Joe Brown.

Next on Blume's agenda will be preparing for the now spring season. CHSAA is allowing official practices to commence on Feb. 22 with games beginning on March 4. The lone silver lining according to Blume is the increased preparation time.

"We've been given more time and as a first-year head coach and taking over this program, we're excited about that piece of it," he said. "But at the same time, the rest of it's just disappointing."

A delayed season is obviously not ideal for Niwot and although every team is in the same boat, the first-year head coach said there's an increased challenge to develop the "family aspect" of his chapter of Niwot football.

Blume added that it's in his blood to always be improving his team and with so many hurdles currently, he simply has to wait and focus on the bigger picture.

"It's given me an opportunity to take pause and continue to focus on what really matters, and that's trying to keep my kids healthy mentally and emotionally through all of this," he said. "(And) with not being able to be in school in-person, (that) doesn't soften the blow either. The online instruction isn't helping necessarily our situation because they can't even be together in the school building, let alone have practice together. It's been a lot. I think I'm more focused on what it's been like for them more so than what its been like for myself.