A PLAN BASED ON EXPERIENCE

Youth sports have been a major part of my life.  I was blessed to participate in youth sports in the roles of a player, parent, educator/administrator, as well as coach.  I consider myself one of the rare people who  coached  high school sports for forty-four years during which I coached 116 seasons of high school sports. I also played sports from grade school through college. I coached my own kids in youth soccer, baseball, softball, and basketball. If I add my experiences as a fan watching my children and grandchildren I can  count myself as one of the blessed  few who has extensive experience in each group of the peace process.

My coaching and teaching experiences include eight years at Tipton High School in Tipton, KS, and thirty-four years at Hays High School in Hays, KS. After retirement from Hays High School, I helped coach basketball at La Crosse High School in La Crosse, KS, for two seasons and recently was blessed to accept a head basketball coaching position at Victoria High School in Victoria Kansas. I love coaching and cannot imagine not coaching at some level until I get “old”.!  I am someone who views coaching as a way to help others  and plan  to serve  as long as possible. I was  honored to coach high school   basketball for 44 years, football for sixteen years, cross country for twelve years, and  track for forty-two years. On the administration side, I served as a principal and athletic director at Tipton High School for eight years. My teaching career included classroom experience with physiology, biology, health, physical education, and weight training, along with Project Adventure (a team-building course that included high and low element ropes courses). To date I  have educated and coached over 8,000 young people over the years, logging some 5,500 hours and 350,000 miles riding on school buses. (Special thanks to Hays High School math teacher and coach Jerold Harris for researching these numbers for me.) Anyone who has practiced a trade or profession for over forty years has no doubt gained valuable experience and should utilize their voice to help others whenever possible. After all, as coaching is a “service” profession  I want to help others enjoy youth sports as much as I  have.