Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series which offers a glimpse into the lives of high school teachers who coach, a look into their classrooms and their practices, as well as some of the time in between. The first part ran Oct. 4.

By Kris Hill and Katherine Smith

During the past decade athletic directors in both the Kent and Tahoma school districts have worked to hire coaches who can or already do teach in their buildings — though in Tahoma there are at least two exceptions. Given that many high schools start the day by 7:30 a.m. and practices run from 3-5 p.m. with planning for games, matches or meets taking up additional time not to mention lesson planning, being a high school coach and teacher means long days.

Yet, the coaches the Reporter shadowed during the past five weeks put in that time because they believe they make a difference in the lives of the students and athletes they work with, which is what keeps them going.

AN ATHLETIC DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Though Bruce Rick, the athletic director at Kentlake, no longer coaches he understands what it means to spend the day in the classroom then afternoons and evenings on the sidelines. He coached football from 1979-1998 at both the junior college and high school level including more than a decade at Kent-Meridian. He arrived at Kentlake in the fall of 2003. In addition to his duties as athletic director he is an assistant principal.

Rick wrote in an email interview what drew him to coaching.

“My coaches instilled so many values in me that help lead to success in life, I wanted to do the same for others,” Rick wrote. “(He wanted) players to learn the importance of how working with others as one unit is essential when trying to accomplish common goals, for them to develop a never quit attitude no matter what the outcome, to understand the importance of commitment and loyalty to a cause. All of these are life lessons outside of football.”

He also has a keen understanding of the misconceptions coaches face. Rick wrote that there are some in the community who think coaching is all fun.

“They have no idea the time, effort and work that goes into creating a successful environment for student-athletes,” Rick wrote. “It’s a year-round job.”

Coaches also don’t take anything out on student-athletes, Rick wrote, just because parents may be upset with the coach.

“I’ve heard it all too often,” Rick wrote. “A parent voicing their concern about a coach or his (or) her program, concluding by requesting I don’t tell the coach because of the concern the coach will take it out on his (or) her child. So untrue!”

His experiences as a coach at several different schools and levels of football have helped Rick form a philosophy he hopes helped shape the athletic program at Kentlake.

“By believing that your team should stand for something and what that something is should be visible by the way the team carries itself on and off the field,” Rick wrote. “I worked with our coaches to develop core values that we feel should define Kentlake athletics and our athletes.”

To that end, student-athletes and coaches were given a set of values this year defined by an acronym FALCONS, which plays off the school’s mascot. The acronym and what it represents was printed on business size cards for student-athletes, who were expected to agree to those values as part of their participation this year.

Rick’s experience also means he is prepared and willing to offer advice to his coaches.

He tells them not to ever accept mediocrity. Rick insists coaching requires a total effort to make the program the best it can be and 100 percent commitment to

the responsibilities which come with the position.

“Also, one of the responsibilities as a head coach is to be a good communicator with parents,” Rick wrote. “Parents will always be in the background so you cannot pretend they are not there. Parents’ No. 1 priority is what’s best for their child, while on the other hand, the coach’s No. 1 priority must be what’s in the best interest of the program. The two don’t always align and that sometimes means difficult conversations must take place with parents.”

Rick said the ultimate gauge of success is not wins or losses but rather the ability of a coach to create an environment which allows the student-athlete to grow and reach her potential.

MEET THE COACHES

Gary Conner has coached cross country as well as track and field in addition to teaching in the Tahoma School District for more than two decades.

At his core, he is a runner. Conner, who grew up in a small town outside of Billings, Mont., began running in elementary school.

“It’s just always been part of my lifestyle,” Conner said. “Everywhere we went (growing up), we ran.”

When he first started teaching physical education in the Tahoma School District in 1989 — at Lake Wilderness Elementary before moving to Tahoma Junior High — he did not coach.

“Then I went to a practice and thought, ‘I want to do that,’” Conner said.

He was an assistant coach then moved into the heading coaching position in 1996, around the same time he began teaching at the junior high. It may seem like it would be hard to coach the high school cross country team from there but, Conner said, it is actually ideal.

“For me the eighth/ninth combination has been really nice,” Conner said. “Since we don’t have a junior high feeder program, it’s been my recruiting ground. The fact that I’m here right now outweighs all the (challenges).”

For the past two years, one of his assistant coaches, Anne Hobson, has been at the high school which creates a bridge between Conner and his runners in that building.

Like Conner, Tahoma volleyball coach Sally Eager does not teach at the high school, yet it seems to work well.

Eager has coached volleyball at a variety of levels from club to high school since the mid-1980s. Eager is a second career teacher and currently teaches math at Renton High, where she played volleyball and won three state titles, as well as met her husband Keith, who is a throwing coach for the Tahoma track and field team. Keith Eager also coaches the Renton wrestling team in addition to teaching health and fitness. Their three children, Derek, Kylie and Brock, have all gone through the Tahoma School District. Derek Eager is throwing for the UCLA track and field team. Kylie is playing volleyball and Brock is a senior at Tahoma High. Athletics is an integral part of Sally Eager’s life at school and at home.

Eager isn’t the only one who returned to coach and teach at her alma mater.

Kentlake cross country coach Scott Cleary is no stranger to running for the Falcons. Cleary, who co-coaches with Carrie Heitz, graduated from Kentlake in 2000 where he was a member of the cross country team.

After high school Cleary earned his bachelors degree at Washington State University and went on to earn his masters in curriculum and instruction at Seattle University. This year marks his sixth at Kentlake at where he teaches English.

“When I actually got a job here, that was an aspiration — to coach for the team I ran for,” Cleary said.

Logging the miles to train for a marathon this fall means Cleary’s alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., and then it’s off to school by 7 where he puts the finishing touches on planning for the day. After a busy day of teaching 10th grade English and a UW in the High School class on comparative literature, Cleary laces up his running shoes again for practice, which often finds him and Heitz running out on the road alongside the student athletes.

Cleary said what inspired him to become a teacher was the teachers he had growing up, especially at Kentlake, and it’s also why he wanted to become a coach.

For Heitz, who moved to the Pacific Northwest from Missouri, this year is her ninth teaching English at Kentlake and her fourth year coaching. After attending the University of Missouri and getting married, Heitz and her husband decided they wanted to move and landed on Seattle.

Heitz grew up playing soccer and ended up on her high school cross country team at the urging of one of her friends.

“I think I really wound up enjoying the (cross country) team more than I enjoyed soccer,” Heitz said. “It became more of a passion for me.”

Even though it wasn’t her first sport, running is one she has continued to love and participate in, running a marathon earlier this month.

Heitz’s mornings start at 4 a.m. and she’s at Kentlake by 6:30. Often she doesn’t leave the school until 7 p.m. and doesn’t get home until 8.

This year Heitz is teaching four core 10th grade English classes and one honors English class.

PHILOSOPHIES AND MISCONCEPTIONS

Until two years ago Conner, the Tahoma cross country coach, would run at every cross country practice with the boys team, but three knee surgeries since 2011 have kept him off the trails. That has fundamentally changed his perspective and coaching style for the better, he said.

“I now have a better understand of the progress of the runners and what the needs are,” Conner said. “My philosophy is that I always ran with the kids. They never go, ‘Hey, Conner, why are we doing this.’”

Conner is thankful for his assistant coaches who he said complement him well.

“I’ve got great assistant coaches,” he said. “I have three other people in our program who are just fantastic.”

Even with that help, Conner said, there are always those who just don’t understand the time commitment coaching requires. He works with the cross country runners all summer. In 25 years of marriage, he said, he and his wife have not gone on vacation while he was on summer break. That’s because running cross country for Tahoma is a lifestyle, one that Conner always modeled thanks to his passion for distance running.

“People really have no how idea how much work we put in as coaches,” he said. “I’m fortunate that my wife is patient.”

While teaching is an important part of his life, Conner said, coaching is where he believes he has the most impact on kids.

“My passion is coaching,” Conner said. “I feel like that’s where I touch lives. Our goal at Tahoma is to make you better, not just a running, but in the classroom and in life.”

Conner talks to his athletes about balance, how to manage stress, and at practice he preaches the importance of keeping their priorities straight. At a recent practice as the runners checked in, Conner asked a girl if homecoming was creating undue stress and looked at the boy who walked with her then reminded him not to add another stressor to her life. The teens tried to convince Conner it wouldn’t be an issue but her persisted, coaching them about something more important than how to deal with the number of miles they would run that day in training.

“At cross country, we try to help them organize their thoughts and make good choices,” Conner said. “Our kids work really, really hard. In order to run varsity … it has to be a lifestyle. It’s my hope that by the time they graduate they take a little bit of Tahoma cross country with them.”

Sophomore Tristan Houser used to play football. Now he is on the cross country team. His parents pushed him to run track when he was in eighth grade at the junior high. That’s when Conner noticed Houser.

“He decided I should be on the cross country team,” Houser said. “It’s hard. Most of the time it’s hard. The way we’re coached … we’re always really well prepared.”

Nick Pennington, a senior, explained running for Conner is great.

“It’s the one thing outside of school that I’m really passionate about,” Pennington said. “Conner really got me passionate about running. I can do what I think I can’t do. It’s a good way to actually see you can overcome the challenges life throws at you.”

For junior Delaney Tiernan, running was something she started doing in seventh grade with her dad to get in shape for basketball. She discovered she liked it. Heading into ninth grade she went to a cross country camp with the team and “just fell in love with it and all of Tahoma cross country.”

Tiernan described the team as one big family.

“I love everyone on the team,” she said. “This program is great for everyone here. Everyone on the team has a passion for it. We put in a lot more time than other teams do.”

Running is a lifestyle for Tiernan and she likely will take a little bit of Tahoma cross country with her when she graduates because she believes, as long as her body is able, she will run for the rest of her life.

As for Conner, Tiernan said, she knows the reputation he has outside of Tahoma does not really reflect what is important to him.

“He comes across pretty rough and tough to other teams, but we know he cares about us,” Tiernan said. “He really does care about each an every one of us. I don’t think he’ll ever give up his coaching position. This is his passion. This is his life.”

Conner’s passion is demonstrated in the time he puts in during the summer and after school. There are many days during cross country season he doesn’t get home until 8:30 p.m.

Long days are nothing new for Eager, either.

Eager’s day at Renton High starts early. She arrives at 6:45 a.m. First period starts at 7:20. When the Reporter shadowed her Sept. 27, Renton High was in the middle of a late start day. It was just after lunch and fourth period algebra 3/4 was about to start. She got class going with an entry task then checked on homework — students who completed it got a stamp on paper, others tried to dodge a stamp on the forehead.

From there, the kids worked on problems in table groups of three or four as preparation for a quiz the following week. Eager went from table to table answering questions but she encouraged them to help one another.

“Let’s try and finish this before the end of the period so you don’t have homework,” Eager said.

For those who didn’t get the problems finished Eager suggested they take a photo of the remaining problems — which were on slips of paper she handed out — with their cell phones because she needed to hang onto them until the end of the day for her other classes.

Eager earned a business degree at the UW and worked at IBM while she was in college then for a number of years after graduating. Her passion was marketing. She left IBM after six and a half years after her first son was born. Eager said she was working a lot of hours and she was reluctant to put him in daycare.

She was familiar with coaching as she worked with club teams after earning her bachelor’s degree from UW. Her husband taught from the time he finished college so once they started a family, there was the appeal of having the same hours, the same vacation time as well as being able to spend time with their children.

Initially she worked as a substitute teacher after student teaching at Lindbergh while working through a one-year program through Central Washington University. She earned a master’s in education in curriculum and instruction but that didn’t come with teaching certification and her career and technical education certification didn’t work quite how she thought it would.

When she first began teaching at Renton she took on business classes with a conditional certificate. Eager eventually earned her teaching certificate through City University-Seattle. Eventually she worked as a long term substitute in math.

She coached Renton High’s volleyball team for seven years before Tahoma’s volleyball coaching position opened up in 2009. It was perfect. Her oldest son, Derek was a senior, her daughter was heading into ninth grade, so it was an opportunity to be closer to her children’s practices and competitions.

Now that Kylie has graduated, it’s a bit different at practice in the Tahoma gym for Eager, but she is adjusting. Her middle child is now playing volleyball for Clark College in southwestern Washington in a league which consists of Green River and Highline community colleges, so, Eager gets to see her play fairly often.

While there are some challenges for Eager not teaching at Tahoma High, one of her assistant coaches is there, and the team is at a point in her fifth season they can get rolling at the start of practice before she even arrives after the 30 minute drive from Renton High. It is fortunate, too, that she gets done with her school day before her players do so the timing works out well.

The girls get the gym set up and do their warm ups so when Eager arrives they can get right into practice with a laser focus.

“The focus today is to get as much out of practice as you can,” Eager said Sept. 27 after she arrived.

When the drills were over — the kinds of exercises which allowed the players to work on several different skills such as passing, serving and communication — Eager said, “You guys need to be sure you’re going 100 percent of the time.”

Eager said she is supported by both schools she works for throughout her time coaching at Tahoma which has made it easier.

There are some misconceptions she deals with that are specific to her sport.

“In volleyball, part of it is that (idea) that high school coaches don’t know what they’re talking about,” Eager said. “But, the truth is a lot of high school coaches are club coaches.”

And ultimately, it’s about what the players take away from the experience.

“The main thing is they get a sense of community,” Eager said. “In volleyball you don’t win without a team effort. The girls learn how to get along, that they have to rely on each other.”

The attitude she tries to help the girls adopt is they need to work hard and play hard as well as always be competitive.

If she does that, then regardless of wins or losses, she is successful as a coach.

“I’m not in it for the money,” Eager said. “I’m in it because I love volleyball and I want them to come away loving volleyball.”

Kentlake’s cross country coaches, Cleary and Heitz, both said the biggest thing they don’t think people recognize about coaching is the time that goes into it.

“A lot of people don’t understand the stuff that goes on behind the scenes,” Cleary said Oct. 3. “I was here until 7:30 last night. The coffee shop is my favorite place on Saturday mornings.”

Cleary explained that he and Heitz plan the season by dividing it into four sections and focusing on a different skill, like building strength or endurance, in each section.

“We try and focus on individualized training plans and then they’ll have the ability to design their own training plan,” Cleary said.

Heitz said her goal is to help students develop a life long love of running and she hopes they learn about determination and how to overcome obstacles by being on the team.

“Your legs hurt, your lungs hurt, your mind is telling you to stop but you push through it,” Heitz said.

Another aspect that they focus on is goal setting and helping their runners to set measurable goals that they can achieve. In a goal setting session Oct. 3 they went over setting team and individual goals for the rest of the season. They talked to the team about setting goals that were SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. That was followed by a 40 minute run from Kentlake to Kent-Kangley and back.

Heitz said that she became a teacher both because of her family’s influence — both Heitz’s parents were teachers — and a teacher who impacted her.

“I had a really awesome 10th grade English teacher who showed me what good teaching was,” Heitz said. “The kids are really awesome, coaching is just the cherry on top.”

Heitz’s coaching career started off when some students who knew she ran asked her to start a running club and then the cross country coach asked her to join the team as an assistant coach.

Cleary said that his coaching philosophy revolves helping students do their best.

“I would describe my coaching philosophy as balancing,” Cleary said. “Establishing that amongst a team and balancing that with designing training that is going to make each runner successful.”

Heitz and Cleary are working to build team unity and a running culture through team events like pancake breakfasts after morning workouts and other activities. One tradition that the team has come to look forward to each year is running the homecoming football game ball to French Field from Kentlake.

“Cross country doesn’t get a ton of recognition,” Heitz said. “Our team is getting bigger so we’re getting more attention.”

Heitz also added that it’s the young athletes that are her favorite part of coaching.

“The kids, definitely,” Heitz said. “Cross country kids have the best personalities.”