Local Comment: Coach

By Jim Heilsberg

They call them coaches, but they often are much more than a coach. Coaches are loved or hated but often in High School sports they are loved way more than hated.

The region is blessed with many individuals that give countless hours to a sport they love. There are too many to list but our region has many individuals that have given of their lives to help others and their community by coaching children into young adults.

We can focus on sports but there are countless others that are coaches in arts, music, science and other passions that deserve our gratitude. For this article please see coach as a teacher, sport coach, team leader, youth leader or others that impact our youth on a daily basis.

Being from Colfax I am easily focused on the town’s sports and activities and see countless individuals at the High School level that have had significant influence over decades. These coaches and their assistants have molded individuals into great teams. The recent list would include Sue Doering, Mike Morgan(Band and Football), Cory Baerlocher, Reece Jenkin, Mike Parrish, Terry Eng, Cary Cammack, Dennis Gransbery and others I may have not listed.

Currently we have others that are starting, or early in their career, and on the cusp of achievement with the likes of Jamie Kinley and her Cross Country teams going to state for the first time in a long time.

We all know that it is not just at the High School level where the works is done. Nor is it just the head coach. There are many more assistants and others behind the scenes that support the programs. Assistant coaches, athletic directors, administrators and others top the list of those that work hard to achieve program success.

While achievement is worthy of recognition, what is more worthy and notable about each of the individuals above is their positive impact on students and parents. Students that play/perform for these coaches speak not only of team/individual success but also of the positive impact the coach had on them personally. Coaches are key in a child’s development and assist the parents in helping children become better adults.

Coaches have the privilege of being with children from the community for many hours. Parents often find they see their children less than the coaches do at times. The coach’s influence on the development of our youth is significant. How a coach conducts themselves, shows children models for behavior emulation in the future. Coaches having an even temper or a careless word show children an example worthy of following or abandoning. Parents reap the result of their own efforts that are undermined or enhanced by what coaches do.

I am thankful for the work that so many have done as coaches that have by and large enhanced the efforts of parents and helped make better adults to live and work in our communities.

One final note is to thank one individual that has been thanked many times for his impact for so many in the 1970’s. Bob Bafus and his assistants had a significant impact on many over several decades.

Many individuals point to Bob’s leadership on and off the court as a key to their development as an athlete and as an individual. Some point to an avoided path of destruction that was avoided because of his encouraging word in a time of need. His unique way of making you feel you could do more than you thought, combined with a needed word of critique coated with a little bit of honey, allowed many individuals to achieve more than was thought possible. This public thank you could be said of many over the years, and for me would include coaches and teachers such as Chuck Carol, Ron Braun, Steve Feider, Dave Coe and Doug Curtis who were the ones that impacted me personally with their leadership and mentoring. If someone else had written this article, there would no doubt be countless other names to add to the list

We like to think that the achievement of state championships or awards defines a coach, but in my mind the greatest achievement of any coach is what type of people come out of the program and whether they can look back and see that they were better individuals because of being coached.

On behalf of myself and many others, thank you to Bob and to all the current and past coaches for all you have done and do for so many. Thank you for making our children better individuals and for all your hard work. Best wishes to all those that are moving on to another level of competition at district, regionals or state in the coming weeks. Regardless of the outcome thank a coach/teacher for all they have done that you know about and don’t see.

Jim Heilsberg is a member of the 1980 class at Colfax and a member of the Bulldog basketball team which won the State A title in 1979.