When I was Tonganoxie years ago, my assistant high school coach Dean Moss and myself started up the junior high program that exists today. There was no money for uniforms, equipment and certainly not a coach including ourselves. We just pillaged the high school for equipment and worked pro gratis.
A system that worked well was once the high school season started, we shortened the junior high practice to one hour and had the high school kids lift weights and run during this time period. The high school then practiced after the junior high and we encouraged those kids to stick around afterwords to watch practice as long as they could. This may not work in every community and may involve some busing of kids, but when your coaching staff is thin, this could be an avenue to pursue.
This past season I was the new junior high assistant wrestling coach and drew an additional salary for that gig....very cool.
