OHS is filled with student-athletes who are always going from one thing to another. With a full day at school and then practice after school, it leaves little time for other activities.
Most people forget that tons of teachers do the exact same thing, being both an athletic coach as well as a teacher. While some teacher coaches may have time for other activities, most end up having most of their attention focused on sports and educating students.
“There’s a lot more to coaching than just showing up to practice and coaching the games,” said Lance Gephart, Art 1-2 teacher and tennis coach.
Even though doing it all may be a lot of work, many of these teachers believe it is worth it for the lessons the kids learn.
“With the coaching part, we get to use sports to help kids work through adversity, which you’re going to deal with your whole life…” said Eric Bolus, US history teacher and head track coach. “To help them learn how to deal with adversity and come out on top of it; that’s a lot of fun.”
The lessons that student athletes learn are largely influenced by the coaches’ personal experience.
“I played tennis in college, and so I thought I’d give back to the school and what I learned, and that’s when I started coaching,” Gephart said.
Out of the many different paths these people could have taken, they chose to selflessly help out others by both teaching a new generation of kids and coaching those kids to success.
“Coaching got me into teaching. I started coaching first … I really loved it, so then it got me back into school, got my degree, and then started teaching. So, if it wasn’t for coaching, I probably wouldn’t be a teacher,” Bolus said.
Each teacher’s story is different, and so are all their reasons for dedicating so much of their time to kids.
“I was really inspired by a teacher in junior high that also helped develop relationships, and she’s the one that showed that it doesn’t matter what kind of challenges you face. As long as you are willing to push through that [discomfort], you’ll reach your goals,” said Jamey Spartz, Team Sports teacher and boys and girls beach volleyball coach.
Instilling lifelong lessons is important for teacher coaches to do as well as making great connections and relationships with their students and athletes.
“The relationship is a little bit different with the kids that I coach because, one, the kids in my class, they have to be here. The kids that I coach choose to be there, plus I spend more time with them, so I get to know them a lot more. Now, I do create relationships with my kids in my classroom, but certainly I spend more time with the kids that I coach,” Bolus said.
Teachers strive to make sure that they connect with both students and players, understanding the importance of getting to know both.
“I think it’s important to have that full-rounded relationship, and to me, when you come to school and see the smiles from those kids, it’s really nice to have,” Spartz said.
Connections with athletes and students can make impacts in both the short and long term.
“My favorite part is when you build that relationship and you come to school and you can see they’re excited to see you and vice versa, I’m excited to see my student athletes as well as my students,” Spartz said.
