BETWEEN THE LINES: A toast, not a roast
There is no question I am a basketball junkie, having played, coached and officiated the game for the past dozen years. Although born in Kansas, I spent my formative years living in the Northeast where basketball, not football, was king.
My freshman team in Somerville, N.J., consisted of two players who would ultimately be Division I athletes, with one going to Villanova, the other to St. Johns. I was a bench player who just enjoyed being part of the team. When my parents moved to Houston in 1962, I quickly learned basketball was a second-rate sport.
When I began my teaching career, I learned after the fact that I did not have to be a physical education major to be a coach. That was great news. I spent my first year at Brazoswood High School traveling with the boys basketball team with the support of head coach Dave Middleton. The following year, I moved on to Sweeny and immediately sought out the basketball coaches to tell them I was interested in coaching.
To my relief, the girls basketball coach at Sweeny took a liking to me, and a year later, offered me a position on his staff as junior varsity coach. After coaching under Dean Foshee for a number of years, I was fortunate enough to work my final year at Sweeny under Jerry English before moving on to become head coach at Round Rock. I knew little about him other than he was successful at Pflugerville High School.
Immediately, I was impressed with English’s organizational skills. The basketball drills he used to emphasize the fundamentals of the game were amazing, and his rapport with the players was outstanding.
Today he is the girls basketball coach at Faith Academy of Marble Falls.
And so it was with great pleasure, my wife and I attended the tribute to English for his 1,000th coaching win, which was quite an honor. He is truly in rarified air. The celebration was held at First United Methodist Church in Marble Falls on April 3.
It was an emotional afternoon; the players from the four schools where he coached attended. His first stop was at Pflugerville High beginning in 1969. English did not start out as an aspiring basketball coach. Quite the contrary. He was a freshman football coach.
At the conclusion of the season, the athletic director casually mentioned English was going to be the girls basketball coach.English, however, suggested to his boss the girls deserved a dedicated, full-time coach. But the A.D. offered him the job, and the rest, as they say, is history.
His stop at Sweeny was followed by 13 years at Dripping Springs. Then he retired to his home on Lake LBJ in Kingsland. I remained in contact with him and saw each of his multiple state championship games at the state tournament in Austin.
A few years ago, when Dale and Suzanne Brown and DeAnna Piatek approached me about the possibility of English coaching the newly formed team at Faith Academy, I readily volunteered to contact him. I knew many of the parents involved with Faith, and related to English they were wonderful people. The hall of fame coach found it difficult to turn down the job. Alas, so much for retirement.
As I sat in the audience listening to his former players and coaches speak about their experiences, tears welled in my eyes. It was not the 1,000 wins that were celebrated, it was the mutual respect between the coach and his players and the impact he had on their lives.
No one left the occasion without knowing influence of his wife Barbara. There is much truth to the adage that behind every successful man is a great woman, and his lifelong soul mate is no exception.
One speaker after another gave a passionate talk about the effect English had on their lives, not only as players, but as a parents, employees, coaches and spouses.
Congratulations, Jerry and Barbara. You continue to inspire your hundreds of basketball "children" throughout this great state.
Laughlin is a Christian Libertarian. He is an economist, teacher, father, husband and most recently a grandfather. He has written a weekly column for The Tribune for 12 years. He and his wife Gina reside in Meadowlakes. To contact him, e-mail ablaughlin@nctv.com. He is an independent columnist, not a staff member, and his views do not necessarily reflect those of The Tribune or its parent company.