The Best Coach Ever
February 5, 2013
In the fall of 2004, another of the inductees with my father to the first-ever Hall of Fame Class of Stevens Point (WI) Area Senior High School was Rick Reichardt, arguably the best male athlete the community ever produced. Rick played four sports in high school, both football and baseball at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and on two Major League Baseball teams.
In his own acceptance speech that evening in 2004, Rick said that my dad was the best coach he ever had. Well, Dad was merely Rick’s Little League baseball coach.
That’s remarkable in and of itself. What’s more remarkable is that Dad never played organized baseball. He never developed the skills of the game. Yet Rick said Dad was his best coach ever.
Eventually, I’ve figured out Dad’s “secret of success.” Dad didn’t coach a sport. He coached people.
Our just-published winter issue of benchmarks is devoted to coaches like this and to the coaching profession. Read it here.
Driving Force that Needs to be Re-Routed
November 30, 2015
The MHSAA's Fall issue of benchmarks examined the transfer regulation, including the reasoning behind recent changes. This is the first of four installments that will appear on Second Half this week.
By John E. “Jack” Roberts
MHSAA Executive Director
During the 2014-15 school year, over the course of 12 meetings, the MHSAA Executive Committee considered 467 requests of member schools to waive Handbook rules. Of those, 300 requests were to waive some aspect of the Transfer Regulation.
So an issue of benchmarks which examines the MHSAA transfer rule is well justified. Perhaps overdue.
Over the years, families have moved about and split apart with increasing frequency. Public policymakers have adopted laws that encourage students to move, and to keep moving, until they find a school more to their liking or they graduate, whichever occurs first.
Meanwhile, the profile of competitive sports has blossomed to the point of becoming overblown, the influence of non-school sports has spread and the delusion of college athletic scholarships has infected the brains of more students and parents. All of which increase the likelihood that students will move as much or more often for athletics as for academics and all other factors combined.
Add to this that the United States, and Michigan in particular, has become the favored landing zone for foreign exchange students, and the result is the need for a transfer rule that is like a great outside linebacker – tough, quick and nimble. We need a rule that is tough, acts fast and can keep changing to keep up with the times.