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Tuesday, April 1, 2008
From the Frying Pan Into the Fryer
Western Arkansas, AR
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Union Christian Academy in Fort Smith has been blessed to have one of the up and comers around in baseball coach Brian Fry, who at 33-years-old is also one of the youngest athletic directors in the state. He loves going to the lake and watching movies with his wife when he’s not coaching or handling his duties as athletic director.
HSSTM: Where are you from originally?
UNION CHRISTIAN’S BRYAN FRY: I’m from Van Buren, Arkansas. As a matter of fact, I have lived in Crawford Country my whole life.
HSSTM: Where did you go to college?
FRY: It was formally Westark in Fort Smith. I went there and received an Associates degree, then I went to work for my brother in law for about eight years at a graphics company. I enjoyed it, it taught me a lot.
HSSTM: Did you play any sports growing up?
FRY: I played baseball in high school and in legion. Baseball was the only sport I played.
HSSTM: So how did you end up as the first athletic director/baseball coach at Union Christian Academy?
FRY: It’s a long story. After my last high school baseball game, I knew I wasn’t going on to college to play baseball, so a friend of mine and I talked about getting involved in sports and I started coaching a 13-year-old Boys Club baseball team here in Van Buren. Along with working for my brother in law, I always coached baseball in the summer. Eventually the Legion job became available and I coached for Legion here in Van Buren. Then I was approached by the high school coach in Van Buren to be like a registered volunteer, so I helped with Van Buren’s high school team for four years. It was then that the high school coach, Stuart Smith, told me you need to go back to college get your coaching degree and get into high school baseball full-time. At that point is when I went back to college at University of the Ozarks. I graduated in May and a good friend of mine Mark Kincannon, who I coached against in Legion, asked me, ‘What are your plans after college?’ And I said, ‘Right now everything is kind of open.’ He asked me if I would be interested in basically taking over his job. He was leaving the school because he was going full-time into ministry with Community Bible. He set me up an interview with the principal and that’s basically how I ended up here.
HSSTM: What’s it like starting a new athletic program at a new school?
FRY: It was very exciting, very surreal to go from all that time basically coaching as a volunteer to go straight to your own program, it was very exciting.
HSSTM: Can it be nerve wracking too?
FRY: Of course it can. You know you’re making all the decisions and everything falls back on you. You can second-guess yourself sometimes, so yes it can be nerve wracking but at the same time, it is very rewarding everyday and every year. Without a doubt, I learn something new every year. One thing I feel fortunate about is I started coaching right out of high school and by coaching American Legion and with the experience Van Buren High School, I gained the confidence to move right into the head coaching position. All those years I was learning as I go and I am still learning, but it did make it easier.
HSSTM: What do you do when you’re not coaching? Do you have any hobbies?
FRY: I like to play golf. The wife (Tonia) and I, we also love to go to lake with friends. Lake Ouachita and Lake Tenkiller. I’m not a big fisherman. I have buddies who have bass boats and I will go out with them occasionally, but personally I am more of a ski boat person.
HSSTM: If you were giving advice to any other up and coming young coaches, what would it be?
FRY: I guess my advice would be don’t be afraid to ask questions. That’s one thing I did, I would ask a lot of questions. The first thing I tell my players every year is that I didn’t invent anything in baseball. I’ve just learned everything I can from the great baseball coaches in our area and picked their brains to find out as much as I can about the game.
HSSTM: Tell us something that your average player may not know about you?
FRY: What people probably don’t know about me is that I love to watch a lot of movies. You always stay busy with school and baseball, but my wife and I always find time to watch movies. We like them all.
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