By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Mason Haxton's father, Kyle Haxton, has been a long-time coach in Hoisington. So growing up, it seemed natural that he and his siblings would play sports at home. Maybe not so usual, Mason would often want to bring a whiteboard with him to draw up plays and strategize.
“He always wanted to follow a game plan, and know why we ran the plays we did,” said Kyle. “It made me think Mason would someday be an engineer, not a coach. He had that mindset all the time on how he could improve this.”
Mason always wanted to look at his father’s playbooks. It was not just about playing the game. It was about understanding the game.
“He would harp on me that we’re here just to play, there’s no reason to get a whiteboard out,” joked Mason. “There’s no reason you need to start coaching us. I do remember those days.”
Now both father and son can take a whiteboard to the same games. Last week, the USD 431 Board of Education approved the appointment of Mason to become an assistant coach with the Hoisington High School football team. Kyle has been a part of the Cardinal football team the past 11 years.
“Coaching anywhere would have been fine, but Hoisington is a special place,” said Mason. “Everyone there just has a competitive edge. They want to see people be successful. I love the tradition that Hoisington has.”
Mason graduated from Hoisington High School in 2021. He was a four-year starter at quarterback that helped lead the Cardinals to the school’s first state championship game appearance his senior year.
“I had a good feeling he would get into coaching at some point,” said Kyle. “When there became an opening and head coach Zach Baird asked me if Mason would be interested, I said yeah he would be very interested. When coach Baird reached out, it became kind of surreal that this might happen.”
Mason will graduate from Fort Hays State University this spring with a degree in Human Health Performance. His plan is to begin a transfer-to-teaching program to get his license and master’s in teaching while he coaches for Hoisington this fall.
“As a kid, I saw the fun my dad had coaching us and the enjoyment it brought him,” said Mason. “At that point, it sparked me as something I would want to do whenever I couldn’t play the game anymore that I love. When I was done playing basketball at Tabor College, I decided I wanted to get back into the sport. The way to do that is to coach. I think that is the best way to help the kids for the future.”
Mason went 39-9 on the football field in his four years playing for the Cardinals and the team made it to three straight state semifinal games in his career.
Kyle has been the head boys basketball coach at Hoisington since 2008 and always enjoyed the chance to coach his kids as they grew up.
“I spent a lot of years with my kids just following me around at practice,” said Kyle. “My kids were always around the game well before I even got to coach them. When you’re a coach, it’s not just at practice…it’s at home too. The kids are watching me breaking down film. You invest a lot of time into it beyond just the practice field.”
Mason joins his father, head coach Zach Baird, and assistants Matt Koelsch and Eric Steiner on the Hoisington coaching staff…a staff Mason knows invests a lot of time to make Cardinal football successful.
“They’re watching film almost immediately after the game and staying up late figuring out what happened and what they did wrong,” said Mason. “It takes a lot of time to be a successful program. They realize that and they have done that.”
All of the preparation and invested time are worth it for the Friday night game experience, an experience that will be extra special for the father / son duo this upcoming fall.
“All I can see are positives with Mason for what he’s going to bring to the table for these young kids,” said Kyle. “He’s a guy with a ton of energy and a ton of knowledge. I know what his work ethic is as a former player.”
“I’m super excited to be on the field together,” said Mason. “It’s going to be fun time.”