Today marks the final installment of the three annual honors we hand out here at the Reporter.
Like the Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors, we do not take the Coach of the Year award lightly. First and foremost, it must be understood how much time and effort the local coaches put in each and every season. And while coaches get paid a stipend for their work, it hardly accounts for the countless hours they put in during — and outside — the season.
The coaching business has vastly changed since either of us were in high school nearly two decades ago.
These days, it seems coaches spend as much — if not more — time in the off season breaking down film and planning for the upcoming season. In addition, we can’t overlook the fact that these coaches wear more hats than their title suggests. They serve as mentors, counselors, teachers and, in some instances, parents throughout the course of the school year for their student-athletes.
And let’s not even get started with the paperwork side of the business which can be overwhelming. Then, of course, one has to figure in the juggling of egos, which also can extend to the parents of the athletes, too.
Being a coach is not an easy job. It also can be rather thankless and extend well into the early morning hours during many days.
Kentwood High boys and girls soccer coach Aaron Radford won out this year. He led the girls team to the Class 4A state title and guided the boys team to a third-place trophy at state. Impressive feats on both accounts. Yet, what might impress us more about Radford is the fact that like many coaches, his motor was always running. Seldom did this guy ever get a break nor did he ask for one.
Radford, however, is hardly the only coach we’d like to honor today. Below is a look at all the coaches (in no particular order) who were in the running for our final honor of the year:
1. Steve Roche, Kentwood track: In six years at the helm of the Kentwood program, Roche has guided the Conquerors to a rapid ascension in both the South Puget Sound League North Division and state ranks. With a bounty of talented athletes from which to choose, Roche finally helped the Kentwood girls reach the pinnacle this spring, when they brought home the state title. It was the third title in as many weeks for the Conquerors, who also grabbed first-place finishes at the league and district meets. How far has Roche’s team come? When he took over the program six years ago, only 13 athletes turned out for the girls team. Look out in the year to come, too, as Kentwood returns most of the girls that won the state title this year.
2. Tom Milligan, Tahoma fastpitch: When Milligan took over the fastpitch gig seven years ago, the Bears were a joke among their peers in the SPSL, but four years ago when a talented crop of freshmen showed up on the field something started to change the program. At first, the team played for moral victories, then in 2009 Tahoma finished 8-8 in the SPSL North division and slid into the playoffs before breaking out in 2010. Milligan led that group of freshmen from a one win season in 2008 to a 15-1 SPSL North record, as well as a share of the division title with Kentlake, a year ago, a feat they repeated again when those six girls were seniors this spring. Four of the six will play college ball next year, including two playing D-I (Sammii Jimenez, pitcher, heading to Texas Southern University, and Emily Miller, second baseman, will attend Towson University in Maryland). This year Milligan and the Bears went the 4A state tournament for the first time since 1994, when it was still a slowpitch program, and finished tied for seventh.
3. Jason Johnson, Tahoma boys and girls soccer: Johnson took over both programs three seasons ago. What he got were teams loaded with talent, both young players and veterans, as well as athletes who had plenty of post-season experience. In the fall, the Bears girls team went to the state title match, which it lost to division rival Kentwood. In fact, of the 22 games Tahoma played all season, its only two losses were to Kentwood. This spring the boys made it back to the post-season after a one year absence thanks to a third place finish in the SPSL North — behind power houses Thomas Jefferson and Kentwood — and made it to the state tournament where it lost in the opening round to Todd Beamer. It’s no easy feat to take over for a successful coach and Johnson has done it well, leading both teams to the playoffs (the girls all three seasons and the boys two of the three), thanks in part to a balance of dry humor and serious soccer knowledge.
4. Rex Norris, Kentwood football: Norris has become a staple on this list for many years. And for good reason. The guy can coach. Norris has a way of getting all of his players — and with Kentwood football, that often means more than 100 — going in the same direction and pulling for a common goal. In the fall, Norris led the Conquerors to the SPSL North title with a perfect 8-0 record, and their first state berth since 2008. In addition, Kentwood also ended Auburn’s 27-game North Division winning streak.
5. Greg Kaas, Kentlake fastpitch: There’s a saying on the Kentlake fastpitch diamond that “tradition doesn’t graduate.” Though that tradition began a few years before Kaas arrived at Kentlake in 2002, it hasn’t missed a beat. If anything, the Falcons have continued to push forward since Kaas took over. This spring, the Kaas-led Falcons continued that trend, qualifying for the state tournament for the seventh time in eight years, a berth that was preceded by both league and district titles. Kaas brings a level of energy and enthusiasm to the field that his players clearly have emulated through the years.
6. Sally Eager, Tahoma volleyball: Sports are just a way of life for Eager, a University of Washington and Renton High graduate who was an exceptional athlete herself, who is married to a throwing and wrestling coach in husband Keith, as well as mom to hurling stud Derek Eager, who won a pair of state titles in 2010 as a senior. So, it’s no surprise that the Bears experienced near immediate success when she stepped on Tahoma’s volleyball court in 2009. While Tahoma didn’t make it to state this past fall after making its first appearance in more than 30 years in 2009, Eager led the team to a perfect record in SPSL North play, the first time the squad had won the division since Tahoma joined the league more than a decade ago. While she loses some senior leadership now that outside hitter Morgan Murrey and libero Tayler Schroeder have graduated, she gets back her setter Miranda Grieser, who will be a senior, and Richelle Frets, a powerful outside hitter, who will be a junior in the fall, as well as a solid group of JV players. Eager’s experience — as a mom, player and a coach — have helped steer Tahoma’s volleyball program in the right direction.
7. Brian Davis, Kentwood boys basketball: Talk about pressure. In his first year at the helm of the Kentwood program, Davis took over a team that graduated its two top players (Joshua Smith and Tre Tyler) and won the Class 4A state title a year earlier. Many believed the Conquerors would be on the outside looking in when the postseason began. Davis, confident throughout, would have none of that, and proceeded to guide Kentwood to a state berth by getting something out of everyone on the roster.
8. Chris Paulson, Kentlake football: Kentlake entered the season having missed the playoffs by a single win in each of the past two years. Paulson, who came over from Mount Rainier last summer, quickly helped the Falcons get over the hump as they won their first five games and promptly moved into the state rankings for the first time in years. By season’s end, the Paulson-led Falcons had qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2003. Kentlake might have the deepest senior class of any in the area and likely will challenge for an SPSL North title in the coming year.
9. Bil Caillier, Kentwood volleyball: Caillier’s volleyball program at Kentwood has seemed to mirror the fastpitch team at Kentlake the last several years. That is, the Conquerors just keep winning. This year was no different as Caillier guided Kentwood to its eighth state berth in the last nine years. A classy guy with a tremendous sense of humor, Callier stepped down in April to accept a volunteer coaching position at Seattle University. In nine years at Kentwood, Caillier led the Conquerors to two district titles, four SPSL North crowns and the eight state berths. He wrapped up his prep coaching days with a staggering 217-71 overall record.
10. Jon Aarstad, Kentwood baseball: In every sense of the word, Aarstad is a baseball guy. A former college player himself, Aarstad can break down pitching and swinging mechanics like nobody else. This spring, a year after guiding the Conquerors to a Class 4A state title, Aarstad helped steer Kentwood to its seventh state berth in the last eight years. Impressively, he did it with an almost entirely new roster as the Conquerors graduated 11 players from that championship team. In addition, Kentwood ace Avery Kain suffered a knee injury in March, and was lost for the year. Aarstad made all the necessary moves, and finished the year with a district title along with another state berth.
