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Coach Taught Athletes to Enjoy Sports
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
May 16, 2018
There are to be no ties worn Saturday at the memorial service for George Richardson. He didn't like funerals, so Algonac Muskrats and Michigan State Spartans gear is encouraged.
And while some sadness is inevitable, people should be having fun telling stories of the longtime Algonac coach, who made it his mission to make sure all his athletes – whether in middle school or high school, in cross country, track, basketball or football – enjoyed themselves while under his tutelage.
“He enjoyed life, and he lived it to the fullest,” said Algonac cross country and girls track & field coach Dan Shafer, a longtime friend of Richardson’s. “George would want it to be a happy time, not a sad time. We won’t ever really be able to measure the impact he had, just because it’s so vast and over so many decades. He had a great impact on our community. To say that Algonac will miss him, that’s an understatement.”
Richardson, who was battling cancer, died on April 26. He was 76 years old and is survived by his wife of 50 years, Diane, his two children, Anthony and Lynn, his mother Martha, and his sister, Mother Maria of Jesus. The memorial service will be from 7-9 p.m. at Algonac High School, and the family has asked any expressions of sympathy take form of contributions to the Algonac athletic department.
It’s fitting that even in death Richardson is giving to Algonac athletics, as he gave more than any amount of money could cover during his life.
Richardson, a Detroit native, graduated from Michigan State University in 1963 and spent his first two years out of college teaching in Battle Creek. In 1964, he took a job as a physical education teacher at Algonquin Middle School in Algonac, and he remained in that position until retiring in 1999. He also began coaching in 1964, and his final season as a coach was the spring of 2017 when he coached the middle school boys track & field team at Algonquin.
His coaching duties included football, basketball, cross country and track at various levels.
“He was a guy, and I’ve heard several people say this, he never had a bad thing to say about any kid he taught or coached,” said Shafer, who began coaching at Algonac in 1977. “He loved kids and loved working with kids, and the kids loved him back.”
One of the main reasons the athletes loved Richardson was his way of making practices fun while still preparing them to succeed in their sport.
“He’s very motivating, but he makes sure not to push the young kids too far,” said 2016 Algonac graduate Morgan Beadlescomb, a four-time MHSAA Finals champion in cross country and track. “He really focuses on teaching his athletes to enjoy running rather than being serious competitors at 11 years old, making sure they don’t burn out. He was very, very good at making all of us enjoy running. All the cross country kids loved running. We’d end practice sometimes and play two-hand touch football. We were doing little things you wouldn’t expect, and we all enjoyed it and didn’t really know we were working out.”
His approach helped feed athletes into the high school programs who were ready and excited to compete.
“We had a lot of success in track and cross country, and that’s something he should get a lot of credit for,” Shafer said. “He got them enthused about the sport, but didn’t run them to death to the point they were hating it. He really pushed that enthusiasm for the sport. Winning is great, but improving and having fun, that’s the key. Those kids would come out because they liked cross country in middle school, and because they liked track in middle school. He knew his stuff, too. He could coach all the events.”
Without Richardson, Algonac’s middle school cross country program may not have continued to exist. Shafer said that when the funding for the coaching position was cut in the 1990s, Richardson continued doing it for free to keep the program alive.
“He was a very giving person,” Shafer said. “I haven’t heard anybody say a negative word about him.”
Beadlescomb, who won the MHSAA Division 2 cross country titles in 2014 and 2015, and the MHSAA Division 2 1,600 meter titles in 2015 and 2016, now runs at Michigan State. Shafer said Richardson was always very proud of Beadlescomb, and that he had alerted him to the future star when Beadlescomb was just a sixth grader.
“George called me the first day of middle school practice; he said right from the get go, ‘I think he said he’s going to be your best runner ever,’” Shafer said.
Richardson and Beadlescomb have kept in touch, and Beadlescomb said they last talked a little more than a month ago.
“He stayed in touch, even when I was in college, and that was also something special,” Beadlescomb said. “He was always very supportive. I feel like he had some influence on everybody. He was their coach in one way or another.”
Even when he wasn’t coaching, Richardson was a constant presence at Algonac athletic events, whether it be standing along the fence during football games or volunteering his time at a track or cross country meet.
He was always there for Algonac, and while Shafer said he doesn’t know how many people will show up for the memorial service, he expects it will be a special night.
One person who will be there is Beadlescomb, who said he wouldn’t miss it despite being in the most crucial part of his track season at MSU.
“He’s the reason that I’m at Michigan State,” Beadlescomb said. “He’s the reason that I’m running competitively, essentially. I owe it all to him. He’s the reason that I’m able to run and still like to run. It’s important to me. I definitely need to be there.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTO: Coach George Richardson, far right and back row, takes a photo with his 2016 Algonquin Middle School boys track & field team. (Photo courtesy of the Algonac athletic department.)
![Samantha Koehler, middle, is taking over the Rochester High competitive cheer program this season.](/sites/default/files/2022-12/221208_Rochester_2H.jpg)
Koehler Gives State Power Rochester Another Championship-Caliber Leader
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
December 8, 2022
ROCHESTER HILLS – Understandably, Rochester competitive cheer head coach Samantha Koehler might not know exactly the emotions she will feel Friday.
After all, the occasion will mark a first in more than four decades with a Rochester program that’s historically been considered the gold standard in the state.
When the Falcons compete at their first competition of the season at Troy, it will be the first time since 1981 that somebody other than the legendary Susan Wood will be at the helm of the program.
“Even with a change in leadership, we’re eager to show the world that Rochester cheer is back and better than ever,” Koehler said.
While there will probably be some nervousness, it also might be a relief to actually get into competition mode after an offseason of transition.
Following Rochester’s fifth-place finish in March at the Division 1 Final, Wood announced her retirement after 41 years as head coach.
All Wood (formerly Susan McVeigh) did during her tenure was lead Rochester to 14 MHSAA Finals championships and three runner-up finishes between 1994 and 2017.
She also led Rochester to five Michigan Cheerleading Coaches Association state titles and three runner-up finishes before competitive cheerleading became an MHSAA-sponsored sport in 1994.
In 36 out of 41 years with Wood in charge, Rochester competed in Finals of either MHSAA or MCCA state tournaments.
But rather than look at this as having to replace an irreplaceable legend, Koehler is looking at it as a chance to continue Rochester’s rich tradition – and such an opportunity was simply too good to pass up.
“Yes, this position comes with a lot of high expectations and pressure,” Koehler admitted, while also praising the parents and team members who have helped make the transition easier. “But like George S. Patton, Jr. once said, pressure makes diamonds.”
Koehler has had plenty of success as well, having spent the last seven years as head coach at Plymouth High School, where she was named Michigan cheer Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading Plymouth to a runner-up finish in Division 1.
She also has served as the head cheerleading coach at Wayne State University and on the board for the state coaches association.
“We wanted somebody with experience that coached at a high level and had success at a high level, because that’s where we are,” Rochester athletic director Dean Allen said. “The bar is high, and keep it there. Just keep Rochester cheer as the preeminent program in the state of Michigan. That was our goal.”
Allen said the biggest challenge has been for Koehler to balance out bringing in her own ideas, but also maintaining traditions that have made the program what it is.
So far, so good.
“She’s been able to do that,” Allen said.
While the last few months have been all about getting to know her new team and community, the coming winter will be about trying to get Rochester back on top at the Finals in March.
The Falcons haven’t won Division 1 since 2017, and have seen city rivals Stoney Creek (in 2019) and Rochester Adams (2020 and 2021) claim the last three championships between them.
“We are fortunate enough to compete against two of the best teams in the state frequently throughout the season,” Koehler said. “Competing against Adams and Stoney betters our program by motivating athletes and coaches to be the best we can be each and every day. With such a talented and dedicated group of athletes, we are excited and eager to challenge our city rivals for that state championship.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Samantha Koehler, middle, is taking over the Rochester High competitive cheer program this season. (Middle) Koehler, with her Plymouth assistants, coach their team during the 2020 Division 1 Final. (Top photo courtesy of Dean Allen/Rochester Athletics. Middle photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)