I love athletics but have always wished that high school coaches received the plaudits on a national level they deserve. The majority of high school athletes do not go on to play at the collegiate level, thus their last chance to be mentored in a team environment is the high school level. Therefore it is on the shoulders of high school coaches across the country to affect as many student athletes as possible before they move on.
How do these numbers strike you for a basketball coach’s career? 611-354, 5 Elite 8s and an induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001 and a 2009 Regional High School Boys Basketball Coach of the Year. Wonder who it is and why you missed his final home game as he concludes his 38 year career. He is Tom Wierzba head coach at Farmington HS in Illinois. (Can’t forget the 2 State Titles he won as a softball coach either).
Somehow big sports outlets managed to miss the final home game coached by Wierzba as Farmington won on Saturday night. Nearly 100 former players and coaches attended the game but perhaps none more important than his two sons, Ben and Rhett. Both are former DI players, now deeply immersed in their own coaching careers at the college level. Rhett is the Director of Basketball Operations for the U of Maryland Women and Ben is an Assistant Coach for the men at The University of Evansville. Rhett changed his ticket two times to make the game and Ben thought he couldn’t possibly make the game when ESPN assigned them a tip-off time of 2:00pm for their bracket buster game. When you need to show your love and gratitude to the man who has given so much to you, your family and the game of basketball it leaves you with no choice but to charter a plane to get home in time for the game! (Who cares if Ben will be eating Ramen noodles for the next 30 years)?
The players, coaches and fans that showed up to support and express their thanks to Coach Wierzba are the one that truly understand the value of high school athletics. My hope is that all high school coaches can have as profound an impact as Coach Wierzba has made on his student athletes.
FOR NOW I am keeping my fingers crossed that Coach Wierzba is awarded the 2009 National High School Boys Basketball Coach of the Year for which he is one of 6 finalists.
