Siloam's Sports Turnaround

Once a month during the school year, the Siloam Springs High School coaching staff gets together for a lunchtime meeting. But it's not to discuss X's and O's or the budget or even their golf games or favorite hunting and fishing spots. They get together to talk about leadership. The monthly meeting is the brainchild of Siloam Springs athletic director Kerwin Dees, and brings everyone from successful coaches and business leaders to representatives of organizations like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes together with the Panthers' coaches to talk about how they can better lead the young men and women in their collective charge. "We've been able to bring in people like (former Arkansas football coach) Ken Hatfield, (broadcaster and former area FCA head) Rick Schaeffer and (former Allen Canning president) Pete Allen to talk to our coaches about some of the thing they've experienced and how they view leadership," Dees said. "And the great thing is, they'll do it for the price of a sandwich." As far as Dees is concerned, forking over for a roast beef on rye once a month is a small price to pay for something that might help further the cause he views with almost a missionary zeal: helping improve the lives of the young men and women who pass through the Siloam Springs athletic department. After all, this an AD who took his entire coaching staff, including the boys' coaches, to a women's leadership conference just so they could hear legendary University of Tennessee basketball coach Pat Summit. If wins and losses are any indication, that emphasis on leadership is paying off. Dees can tick off the state and conference titles won during what he refers to as the western Benton County school's "golden year" in 2007-2008, a year capped by the school's first state boys basketball championship. But while the former Siloam Springs basketball coach is obviously proud of "the first boys' basketball championship in the 100 years of the school," he seems just as pleased to mention state and conference titles in sports like bowling, swimming, cross country and volleyball. And he seems ecstatic about the nine Arkansas Activities Association - McDonald's Academic championships won by the school's teams for having the highest cumulative grade point averages in their respective sports. All of which fits into what Dees sees as critical components of Siloam Springs' programs - stressing academics as strongly as athletics and celebrating all the programs' successes. "We tend to make a big deal of what happens on the football field or the basketball court," Dees said. "But to the bowler who wins that state championship, that's just as important to him, and we want to make sure it's just as important to us." That concept of overall program success is reflected in everything from off-season training schedules to a commitment to encourage players to participate in a variety of sports. Both the boys' basketball and football programs participate in off-season workouts together, and Pather boys basketball coach Jason McMahan and Siloam Springs football coach Clint Ashcraft supervise training in unison. "I'll look over and coach Ashcraft will be helping (basketball standout) Coleson Rakestraw with his (workout) technique," McMahan said. "And that afternoon, I'll be helping some of his football players. To some degree, Dees says he's not as concerned about where any of the school's teams wind up as he is about their commitment to the programs' core values. As a former basketball coach at Prairie Grove, Owasso, Okla, and Siloam Springs, he understands some of the realities of high school coaching. "We're one of the biggest schools in our classification, but we could move up and be one of the smallest, at least until the student population catches up," Dees said. "You've just got to play with the kids you've got and understand you may not always have the kinds of athletes you want." However, Dees has a clear idea of what he wants in his coaches, including an understanding of the Siloam Springs community. Both McMahan, whom Dees hired to replace him when he stepped up to be AD, and Ashcraft had served as assistant coaches in the Siloam Spring schools before being hired as head coaches. Ashcraft had been on Billy Dawson's staff during the coach's one year at the Panther's helm, and McMahan had served as an assistant under Dees before coaching at West Moore, Okla., High School. Both say they've grown to understand the sort of athletes they have during their time in Siloam Springs. And they've grown to think of the Siloam Springs coaching staff as a family. Which is why the news that Dees' wife, Vicki, is battling an aggressive form of cancer, has hit the staff hard. "I've told him this, but he's one of the best people I know, and the only person better than him is his wife," Ashcraft said. "It's really hard for all of us, because we've all gotten to know her." Still, Dees said even his wife's illness has delivered its share of insight for him. "I told my coaches I got a call from a young man I'd coached 14 years ago who is a pilot in the Air Force in California, and he was telling me he was so upset by the news (of Dees' wife's illness) and was praying for us," Dees said. "And he had played on a team that went 6-20 his senior year. "The thing about kids is they won't remember who they played that year or who they beat. But they'll remember that you loved them."