MHSAA Library
Here's To Q . . . And Everyone Like Q
(Fall 2004)
While producing on the video, "Coaching Character," this summer, I had the opportunity to work with a variety of coaches and their former players, and enjoyed listening to their views about the role that coaches have in the development of our young people. It reaffirmed what many of us believe about the perspective school sports should come from.
After completing the video, however, I was privileged to be a part of something that brought all of it closer to home.
But to set the scene first. About four years ago, while inviting members of the great Kalamazoo Central boys basketball teams from 1949, 1950 and 1951 (the first Class A school to ever win three consecutive titles) back to the MHSAA Boys Basketball Finals to be honored, team members and a dear old sportswriter friend told me - insisted, in fact - that they wanted the son of their departed coach, who as a youngster lived at the gym and was as much a part of those teams as anyone else, to be in attendance.
At the time, I only knew that John Quiring was a cross country and track coach in the school district I lived in, and who would be the coach if my son, a fledgling middle school distance runner at the time, decided to participate in those sports when he got to Okemos High School. I contacted John to ask if he had any pictures of his father, Bob, and those great teams he coached, if we could use them to help again recognize their achievements, and to invite him to the Legends presentation.
What was supposed to be a few pictures being dropped off in the office turned into a boxful, and an introductory meeting took the better part of an afternoon as John talked about those teams and his dad.
The former players were overjoyed to see John Quiring represent his dad at the Legends of the Games ceremony, and he seemed to enjoy seeing the old faces and renewing acquaintances at the halftime of a game where the Maroon Giants were actually in the Finals again for the first time since those great teams of a half-century ago.
That could have been the end of the story. Another reunion enjoyed by all and a chance for this writer to get a little bit closer to some of our state's sports history.
Thankfully, it wasn't.
Later that same year, my son decided to go out for his high school's cross country team and run for John Quiring. I told him about my first meetings and impressions of his new coach, and told him I thought he would be running for a good guy.
Good hardly describes how my son and our family have been blessed these past four Falls. But that sets the scene.
In August, a group of running alumni, with the help of John's wife, Jan, surprised "Q" with the largest turnout ever for the varsity-alumni race at the beginning of the season (about 80 alumni runners); and a dinner that evening where over 200 people, mostly alumni, gathered to say thanks for the role this teacher-coach played in their lives.
In an open microphone session, the alumni one by one each told their own story about how Coach Q made them a better person first, the best runner they could be second, and how they were so grateful for the difference the coach made in their lives.
I kept an eye on the current team members in the back of the room as the alumni spoke, eventually leading to a standing ovation and a tear-choked Q taking the microphone to return the compliments and to thank his former players for making him a better person.
In a media interview earlier in the day, Q recalled the times where he watched and enjoyed the relationships his father had built with his players, and now on this day, the same was coming back to the son.
Sometimes, you have to be removed from your high school experience for a number of years to really appreciate what took place. The next day, being the foolish parent that I am, I asked my son what he thought about the previous day's events. He replied, "Dad, everybody loves Q!"
Had it sunk in for him yet the way it had for the alumni? Maybe. My son has grown in so many ways the past few years, and a lot of it has to do with the relationships with his coach and his teammates in the magical way that only high school sports can provide. It's been a wonderful thing to watch first hand.
But you know what? This scene isn't exclusive. It's played out in communities around the state and around the country all the time, where other kids and families who have also reaped the true benefits of participating in high school sports say thanks to their teacher-coaches. This just happened to be the story from our little corner of the world.
Thanks Q. Your dad would be proud of you.
— John Johnson
MHSAA Communications Director
