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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Stand by Your Man
Central Indiana, IN
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By: By Derrek Mallory
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Photo(s) By: Mitchell Family
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Finding time for family isn’t always easy during the high school basketball season, but for coach’s wives Debbie Mitchell, Kim Hicks and Jan Keefer, it’s about adopting a game plan. Of course, a lot of patience helps, too.
Debbie Mitchell grew up in a basketball environment, which made her a perfect fit for her husband Doug Mitchell, the head coach at North Central High School.
“Her dad coached for 30 years,” explained Mitchell, who has amassed a 239-119 record in 15 years at North Central. “She’s a great basketball wife because she understands coaching. Besides, she knew what she was getting into when she married me and growing up around the game helped.”
Debbie’s father, Jerry Petty, coached at Lawrence Central, where Doug was an assistant from 1985-87. Mitchell played for her uncle Jim Petty, who coached at Hamilton Heights.
“With my dad and uncle coaching, and all my brothers playing, I really grew up in the gym,” she remarked.
Being the wife of a basketball coach can be demanding, but it helps if you understand and enjoy the game. Dealing with the long hours and year-round commitment can be equally demanding, especially when you’re trying to raise children and pursue your own career.
But Debbie handles both roles like a seasoned veteran.
She owns a tanning salon in Fishers, and the couple has three daughters Taylor, 24, Morgan, 18, and Payton, 13. The Mitchell’s son Bryce, who played for his father at North Central, died in a tragic automobile accident in 2002.
“Doug works 12-hour days, and on Friday and Saturday nights, we go to the games,” she said. “Our daughters attend every game. We both work long hours and our free time is rare, so we spend as much time together as possible.”
Mitchell coached as an assistant under Barry Collier at Butler University prior to accepting the head coaching job at North Central. When he left the college game for the high school level, Debbie said he was ready to impact the lives of not only his own children, but his players and students.
“With all of the travel that goes with college basketball, he decided that he wanted to spend more time with his children,” she said.
She soon found out that her husband’s passion for basketball went far beyond coaching.
“Now that our kids are older, he spends more time with his players than he does with the family, and it’s good for those kids,” she said. “He’s coached a lot of kids who didn’t have that father figure around. He offers them support and guidance, and you can tell how much he enjoys it. He grew up poor on a farm, so he knows what it’s like to work hard for something.
“He gets almost every kid who plays for him a scholarship to college. He always goes that extra mile for those kids.”
FOR THE HICKS FAMILY, MOTHER KNOWS BEST
Growing up as the third oldest of 11 children, Kim Hicks was already used to a hectic and fast-paced lifestyle. When she married, at the time a soon-to-be basketball coach, she was prepared for the forthcoming burden placed on the wives of coaches.
Kim, the wife of Cathedral head coach Scott Hicks, has taught music in Lawrence Township Elementary Schools for the past 17 years. Hicks, a 1983 Cathedral graduate, is entering his ninth year as head coach at Cathedral with a 140-42 record. They have three boys Ethan, 6, Cameron, 7, and Scott Jr., 11.
Raising three boys while employed as a school teacher can be difficult, but she insists that she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I just have to make sacrifices, so Scott can focus on coaching,” she said. “He spent his first three years at Cathedral as an assistant, but when he was named head coach he spent more time away from home. Being in charge of the entire basketball program requires longer hours.
“When school ends in May, he spends the month of June working in camps. The team will play in various summer tournaments in July, and he does get some time off in August. Things start to heat up in October, and it’s pretty hectic during the regular season. I attend all of the home games, and depending on the kids’ schedules, we rarely attend road games.” Kim admits the constant phone calls from recruiters, and the time her husband has to spend with college coaches that scout his players, can test your patience. She says that she learned how to deal with the lifestyle of a coach’s wife by watching her mother raise 11 kids when her father worked six days a week.
“My mother is a good role model,” she said. “She taught me how to manage and juggle my schedule. I’ve always tried to live up to her standards.”
THE KEEFER FAMILY ALWAYS FINDS THE TIME
How a basketball coach and an attorney could spend some quality time together is a mystery, but Jack and Jan Keefer have found a way to make it work.
Jan Keefer, an attorney for Bingham and McHale, has been married to Jack Keefer for 24 years. Her husband has coached at Lawrence North for 32 years, compiling a 555-215 record along with three Indiana High School Athletic Association Class 4A state titles.
Jan says that the key to maintaining a good relationship is to spend as much time together as possible, even if those times are rare.
“We have to make time for family and friends,” she said. “When he goes out and scouts the opposing teams, I’ll go with him. We always try to do something together after the games. When the season starts, he’s gone until about 8 p.m. Then, he’s preparing for the next day. We take advantage of every chance we have to spend some time together.”
Compared to some coaches, who switch jobs and move from town to town, Jan says she is lucky to have a husband who has held the same position for so many years.
“I’m grateful that he has stayed here,” she said. “He enjoys coaching high school kids because of the opportunity to influence kids’ lives. He’s been able to build the program. He likes it too well to quit any time soon. I told him that, if he retires, then I’ll retire.”
Jan says that when she married the coach, she married the program.
“We’ve always tried to make Lawrence North a family-oriented program,” she explained. “Whether it’s having the team over for dinner, or having a cookout; it’s a family atmosphere. The community has been good to us, and we should give back to the community. I’m currently serving as the president of the Lawrence Township School Foundation Board. We both respect what each other does, and that’s important.”
The Keefer’s have a son Jake, 11, who plays basketball. Jan can definitely see her husband still coaching by the time Jake is in high school.
“His passion for coaching goes beyond winning and losing. He could have walked away after three consecutive state titles, but each year brings a new challenge and journey. As long as he looks at it like that, he’ll continue to coach.” •
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