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Roaring Fork’s scorekeeper has been at it 32 years

Mike VidakovichGlenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Post Independent/Kara K. Pearson Clint Gilfry, who has been the bookkeeper for Roaring Fork High School basketball games for the past 32 years, compiles stats after the Roaring Fork-Basalt girls basketball game on Saturday. Gilfry started when he was a junior at RFHS.
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CARBONDALE – His daytime job is managing the Crystal River Ranch in Carbondale, but if it’s a Friday or Saturday night and the Roaring Fork basketball teams are in action, Clint Gilfry can be found seated at the scorer’s table keeping the scorebook for the Rams – a place he has been for the past 32 years.”For the past 30 years there has been one constant for the Roaring Fork boys’ basketball program and that has been Clint,” said Larry Williams, the former girls basketball coach and athletic director at RFHS.Gilfry has been much more than a constant to many people who have been associated with Roaring Fork High School athletics through the years. He has been a cornerstone and an inspiration for generations of Ram athletes.”He’s just a great guy,” said current Roaring Fork basketball player Tyler Hunt. “Clint keeps the mood upbeat and always has good things to say to us, and he does it all out of love and dedication. He’s the number-one Ram fan in my book.”Gilfry’s tenure as statistician for the Roaring Fork basketball program started back during the 1975-76 season when he was a junior in high school. The Ram basketball program was guided at that time by the always successful Sonny Darien, who now resides in St. George, Utah. Even with the passage of so many years, the coach still remembers Gilfry as being very thorough with what he charted for the Ram basketball team.”The kids on the team used to sit around the gym on Monday mornings and wait for Clint to come in with the stats from our weekend games,” said Darien. “Everything he did was so meticulous. He was really dedicated to our team.”

Darien also recalls a time at the state basketball tournament in the late 1970s where the Denver papers had recorded some incorrect statistics from the previous night’s game, but Gilfry’s were right on the money.”He had everything correct in our scorebook, as usual,” said the former Ram mentor.The appreciation for everything Gilfry has done for Roaring Fork athletics is not only apparent in the words of current Ram athletic director Larry Black, but evident in his tone of voice as well.”Clint has been tremendous in how many hours of volunteer work he has done for us,” said Black. “He goes on the road with the teams. He comes to the ‘C’ team games and helps out some of the high school students who are learning to keep the book, and he never asks anything in return. Clint just wants to be there for the kids.”The athletic director went on to state something many Ram followers may not be aware of. “Clint is probably among the top 10 in the entire state as far as volunteer hours contributed to one school,” said Black.As for Gilfry, he doesn’t really know what all the fuss is about. He says he’s lucky to be doing something he loves so much.

“I enjoy the contact with the people,” he said. “I know most all of the coaches and the officials. I’ve made many friends over the years doing this.”And one more thing. “I especially enjoy being around the kids,” said Gilfry.When pressed for some most memorable basketball moments and players that he has witnessed at Roaring Fork through the years, Gilfry hesitated, seemingly not wanting to offend any teams or players who may be left out.But after some brief pondering, Gilfry began to recall some favorites of his from the distant and not-too-distant past.”The boys basketball team winning the regional playoffs here at home in 2004 sticks out in my mind,” he said. “We beat a very good Denver Christian team, and with (current head coach) Roger Walters, we knew we had arrived,” said Gilfry.



As for a top player, he mentioned several great ones – names longtime Roaring Fork basketball fans should be familiar with: Jay Darien, Chris Fahrenkrug, Dan Markoya, Tricia Bader and Aaron Markham, to name a few.But the name Gilfry mentioned first was Mike Sutherland, an all-around hustler who played forward for the Rams during the mid-’70s. “Mike always gave everything he had. He was fun to watch,” Gilfry said.So, if you take in a Roaring Fork basketball game in the near future, keep an eye out for Clint Gilfry, seated in his usual spot at the scorer’s table. He may be talking to the kids or some of the fans during the course of the game, but – rest assured – he won’t miss any of the game’s details.If you get a chance, go by the scorer’s table during a break in the action and maybe say hello and thank Clint for all he has done for kids through the years. And you can rest easy, Ram fans, he’s not planning on leaving his position anytime soon. “I enjoy this too much,” said Gilfry. “I’m not planning on retirement.”


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