IRRIGON — The new director of youth and adult sports at Irrigon Community Park & Recreation District is the Irrigon High School wrestling coach.

Ken Thompson was a triple threat at Irrigon High School until a couple years ago when he retired from coaching football and track and field.

Thompson knows whom to thank for getting his sports career underway and learning the enjoyment of working with youth.

“Really more than anything I give that to a guy who gave a lot to me,” Thompson said. “I grew up in Pendleton where Rollin Schimmel was my high school wrestling coach.”

Thompson also acknowledged David Boor at Riverside Junior/Senior High School in Boardman. Boor also wrestled under Schimmel at PHS.

“Those guys were the example for guys like me,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s paying job is as a behavior technician at A.C. Houghton Elementary School in Irrigon.

“I’m responsible for the safety and welfare of our kids who have special needs,” Thompson said. I work with a lot of autistic kids and other kids with emotional needs.”

Thompson took on the additional position at the district around the start of February.

“I was really excited when this parks and rec position came open,” he said, “because I feel I can have a lot of influence on our community where our youth sports go.”

He explained the board’s direction was to build up youth sports and try to develop the community’s young people with leadership skills and have a competitive edge.

“I’m pretty experienced at running different levels of a program at the same time and I feel I’ll be doing some of those same things here,” Thompson said.

He said the new job will differ from his educational experience as he also will be programming sports for adults.

“There will be more pickleball, indoor volleyball and that type of stuff,” Thompson said, and a marina provides opportunity for water sports, such as swimming and diving.

Also, the marina’s partnership with Boardman Parks and Recreation means youth can go there for swim lessons.

He said youth sports will include volleyball, wrestling, flag football and probably soccer. He said he would support Little League as “a satellite-type entity,” because the local youth baseball program “has a board that’s pretty strong.”

Sometimes it’s new responsibilities that generate more interest, and Thompson said he is most excited about offering adult sports programming.

“We have a strong pickleball contingent here in our community,” he said, “and we have recently started construction of pickleball courts in the marina area.”

He said he hopes to also have pickleball courts at A.C. Houghton.

“One of my goals before the summer is out is to host a big pickleball tournament where we can bring in people from the outside and highlight what we have going on here in Irrigon with our marina,” Thompson said. “They can see our restaurants and what a nice place this is to hang out for the weekend.”

Thompson noted that pickleball has caught on with adults, “especially with those over 40. It’s a vital way for that older generation to maintain contact and have a social network.”

The game is played with a paddle and a wiffle ball, and Thompson said it is easier to learn than it is to master.

“From there they just enjoy the physical nature of the sport and the camaraderie they have with their friends,” he said.

Thompson has been coaching in schools for about 30 years, so a lot of those students are now adults.

“I’ve had everything from a commandant at a naval base to Navy SEALs, and one is now wrestling coach at Southern Oregon University,” Thompson said. “I’m in contact with dozens of (past students) who are now adults. I’ve been very blessed to have had kids with a lot of success. They like to attribute that to me, but I feel they had great foundations before they came to me, and I just kind of put the icing on the cake.”