Bonanza football puts in sweat equity to build winner Ray Brewer

It was halftime of a closely contested game when Bonanza High football coach Dion Lee asked his players a question: Do we go for the 2-point conversion or kick the extra point? Lee sensed the game with Durango would be decided by one play, and he wanted the players to determine if they’d gamble by going for two points and the immediate win, or settle for an extra point to force overtime.

“The whole team agreed. We are here to win games; we’re going for the win,” Lee recalled.

Lee’s strategy of building a successful program at perennial loser Bonanza is following a similar strategy. While he’s the unquestioned leader, the only way to achieve the lofty goal of becoming competitive requires everyone pulling in the same direction.

This week, that meant long hours in the triple-digit heat staffing a fireworks booth for a fundraiser. The program is halfway to its goal of bringing in $100,000 for much-needed equipment and stadium upgrades, and selling fireworks for the past week at Lake Mead Boulevard and Buffalo Drive netted about $7,500.

More important, it provides sweat equity.

Many of the 100 families in the program battled the excessive conditions to work at least four hours. As for Lee, he barely left the booth.

“It’s pretty cool today. It’s barely 100,” Lee jokingly said Monday morning. “You lead by example. I have been out here 68 of the possible 72 hours. I am the head coach and asking my troops to bow down. I have to be with them. We told the kids to do a few hours, and we (assistant coaches and Lee) will do the rest.”

When Lee was hired last year, many questioned the move. While Lee had coached high school football in California, that was nearly a decade prior, and he wasn’t part of the local prep scene. His most recent experience was as the longtime coach of the Las Vegas Showgirlz, a women’s tackle team.

Lee didn’t care what you thought about him or his program. His mentality has always been giving his players a good high school experience. If that means a few long days in the heat selling sparklers and ground spinners, so be it.

“We were the laughingstock,” Lee said. “One, we haven’t won, and two, who is this women’s football coach they brought in? We had nothing to lose.”

Lee is working to get the last laugh. He inherited a program with about 50