Northern Arizona high school renames sports dome to honor legendary former coach

EAGAR, AZ (AZFamily) — It was a special night on the field at Round Valley High School, as the Elks football team beat rival St. Johns 36-0.

That included a special halftime ceremony, where the school’s dome was renamed the ‘Tot Workman Dome’ in honor of the legendary former Elks head coach.

“He was a kid at heart,” son Ty Workman said. “He died at 82, but he acted like he was 15 most of the time.”

Tot may have acted like a teenager, but make no mistake; as a coach, he was all about toughness, especially towards his sons, Tod and Ty.

“For us Workmans to play, it took until our senior years,” Ty said. “He wasn’t going to play us. There wasn’t going to be any ‘Hey coach’s kids are playing.’”

What Tot did was win. 100 victories in his first 10 years at Round Valley. That included a 34-game win streak. He won three state championships with the Elks and didn’t lose a game at home until his fifth year in Eagar.

“We went into every game expecting to win,” former Elk football player Chris Matthews said. “Tot was a great motivator. He also did a great job teaching kids life lessons. Things like discipline, perseverance, hard work.”

One of Tot’s biggest goals while he was Round Valley’s coach was to build this dome so that all of Eastern Arizona could use it. Over the years, it’s hosted countless state tournaments in wrestling and volleyball. It even has an indoor track with space for the 110-meter hurdles.

Knowing that it will forever be named in Tot’s honor means a lot to everyone in this tight-knit community.

“It’s real special to the Workman family,” Ty said. “And we want to thank everyone in the Round Valley area. All the great coaches and athletes that my dad was blessed to have a part of him.”

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