The first time I met Jain Tuey, she was starting her freshman year at Fortuna High School, where I was teaching. After work, I ran into her dad Skip at Safeway and we chatted. The whole time, Jain was holding a basketball against her hip, impatient and glaring at me in her T-shirt and sweatpants. […]
coaching
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Thoughts on Winning
Watching the NCAA Track Championships last weekend, I witnessed an athlete win a title and position herself for an Olympic team berth. I’d coached an athlete who competed evenly against her. Many people have asked me why the young woman I coached did not take an athletic scholarship to compete beyond high school. She was […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Coach Leonard Casanova’s Lucky Roll
My old man grew up a couple years behind the Casanova brothers on the outskirts of Ferndale in the early 1900s. All through my growing up my dad admired them both, even though Johnny Casanova was no longer alive. When he talked about Johnny, my dad would tear up and get shaky. Leonard Casanova was […]