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Thursday, May 1, 2008
Coach Speak
Central Oklahoma, OK
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By: Francisco Ojeda
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Photo(s) By: Jon Ervin
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Putnam City’s Randy Smith is a jack of all trades when it comes to coaching. He has coached track, volleyball, basketball, swimming, golf, baseball, soccer and cross country. In his 37 years of coaching, including 34 at Putnam City, he has instructed a lot of athletes and game planned for a lot of competitions. That all ends this year because Smith has decided to retire. But not without a lot of good memories.
This is my last year. I’m retiring. I want to enjoy the time with my three grandkids and the rest of my life. Coaching 37 years is a long time. I have really enjoyed it. This year has been exceptional. Every sport and kid I have coaches has been challenging and fun. I am going to miss that.
I started coaching in 1971. I always wanted to be a coach, just making an impact on kids’ lives. I went to college to be a coach. I got my first opportunity in a small town. I coached at a junior high in Sterling as a basketball coach.
Girl’s basketball is probably my favorite sport to coach. But really every sport I have loved coaching because I have had some great kids. Having great kids is what makes coaching a lot of fun. When you get kids that want to get after it and play hard.
Coaching is more difficult now than in the past. There are so many outside interferences. There are so many things that the kids do now. They participate in so many sports and activities that it takes up a lot of their time. So you get kids who are torn between one activity and another. They spread themselves so thin and sometimes it’s hard to get their attention because they are thinking of another thing they have to do.
The most memorable moment in my coaching career has got to be the 1995 (Class 6A girl’s basketball) state championship game. We lost in overtime to Choctaw on a last second shot in overtime. They made a shot with 2 seconds left. That was heartbreaking. I had been to the state tournament four times and finally got to the state championship game. But to lose like that hurt.
I still remember it like it was yesterday. (Choctaw) had just scored to tie the game. We turned the ball over on the inbounds pass. They pass it to a little girl who hadn’t taken a shot the whole night. And she makes the game-winning shot with two seconds left. It was a horrible loss, but a great game. I guess it was justice because we had the first two games we should have lost in that state tournament and the last game we should have won.
I never coached a team that won a state championship. I’m ending my career with no championships. I have gotten close, but they just eluded me. I don’t regret it. It would have been fun to win one, but there is much more to coaching than winning state championships. It’s about the experience.
Golf is my hobby. I really love to play golf. I started playing in my first year in college. I love the game; I’m just not that good at it. I like the challenge. Every shot is a challenge. It’s about hitting the best shot you can.
I used to collect a lot of baseball and basketball cards before they got too expensive. Now I just collect some to give to my grandkids. I just remember when I was younger getting rid of some cards because of stupidity. Once, my mom told me to clean my room. So while I was cleaning my room I threw out some really good baseball cards. I got rid of some Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays cards. I didn’t think anything of getting rid of them back then. Looking back, I wish I still had those cards.
I played baseball in high school and college. I had some pretty good times in college in the late 1960s and some good memories. I remember one game, me and another guy were not playing very much. But the coach was mad at the team and decided to mix up the lineups. So we got to play. We combined for 11 of the team’s 17 hits. It was like a career game.
When I was playing for Central State, we went up against Steve Rogers once. He went on to play in the Major Leagues. He pitched a two-hitter. But I had one of the hits. Just saying that I got a hit against a major leaguer is great.
The World Cup (in 1994) is one of the most memorable events I have ever seen. It was in the semifinals between Brazil and the Netherlands. It was neat. The World Cup is one of the best events in the world. I got to go with my daughter when it was in Dallas. We got to see the future World Champions in Brazil. The atmosphere for the game was incredible.
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