For four decades I coached basketball in Logansport. It started when I was a senior in high school in 1961 when Larry Frey asked me to coach the seventh grade Saints team.
I coached seventh and eighth grade Saints for 15 years before moving into the CYO program at St. Joseph. CYO may have been the best move I ever made.
The players were there because they wanted to be there. They had fun and so did I. We were very successful through the many years in CYO. They included many diocese championships, and a lot of great players. Many times people would tell me that they thought the CYO teams could whip the high school team. I really don't think so, but it ws nice that people had that much confidence in us.
I was sitting at my desk one morning when Bob Burns called me and asked if I'd be interested in coaching Columbia's seventh grade team. I thought it over for awhile and decided it would be an interesting challenge. For three years I coached seventh grade at Columbia and also had a couple of years with the girls program. That was a very rewarding experience, and the people at Columbia were great.
Phil Hershberger was looking for a freshman basketball coach and he called me and asked if I'd be interested. Initially I told him no, but he kept asking, and so finally I decided to do it.
It was 12 years later when I finally hung up the basketball coaching shoes. The 40 years in coaching basketball were well worth it.
The freshman level was probably the most challenging. Freshman players still hope they have a chance to play varsity, Freshmen players are at a very difficult stage in their lives -- put that all together for a challenging experience.
But, it was still a lot of fun, and I hope that I added something positive to their lives.
Through all of the coaching that I have done, I will mostly remember the fun, the challenges and the players. I can remember all of them.
If I had to do it all over again, I don't know what I'd change. All levels that I coached were tremendously exciting and rewarding in their own way.
