Sharing great memories makes my day!

I received a super wonderful email yesterday from one of my dad's former players. I have to share it. These stories mean so much to my family and to me. They also remind me of the hundreds of different sayings my dad has shared through the years, as well as his penchant for giving people all kinds of names of endearment. If you would like to continue to share your experiences, please email me at jmwilmarth(at)yahoo.com. I will share them here if you allow me to. And maybe I can talk Jordie Henry into writing about all the sayings he has collected from my dad ...

My name is Jordan (Gore) Ward; I was one of your dad’s former basketball players at Randall, and I was just informed about your mom and dad.  I am terribly sorry to hear about your parents; it is heartbreaking.  You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

I have been following your blog and came across the “You can help in the greatest way!” post, so I wanted to share a few of the many good memories that I have of your dad:

Coach Wil was a big part of my life, and he has had a major influence of where I am today.  Like a lot of his former players, I am now a teacher and coach.  His example in my life helped motivate me to get into the coaching business!  In elementary and middle school, I would always attend his basketball camps and could not wait to be a Raider and for him to be my coach!  Once I finally got into high school, I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of his team.

Coach Wil is famous for all the many nicknames that he gave out to us and our friends in high school.  (A lot of those nicknames have forever stuck and are still being used today!)  The most common nickname was to our guy friends; he would always ask us, “Why are you hanging out with those hairy-legged boys?”

Another thing that he was known for was always throwing his clipboard during games when he was mad.  During one game, he threw his clipboard, and a piece broke off and hit Coach Glenn’s leg (I think it actually stuck in his leg) and caused Coach Glenn to bleed!  It was so funny!  Coach Wil obviously didn’t stay mad too long after that!

Coach Wil also had a special way of motivating us.  Anytime we got down after a tough loss, he would always start off the next day by saying, “Welp, the sun came out today!”  I also remember one particular time that we were on a losing streak.  Our team moral was down, and we were expecting a hard practice the next day, but instead, we came to that practice and Coach Wil had a “dessert practice” for us!  He told us that sometimes we need to not be so serious and just relax.  He taught us how to have fun and enjoy the hard work that we put in every day.

As a middle school coach, I also find myself using many of his famous metaphors.  For example, when we would make a bad “rainbow pass”, he would always say, “Wow! That looked like a dying duck!”  Or when someone made a quick move he would say, “You’re so fast you could play tennis all by yourself!”  

Not only did Coach Wil teach us the game of basketball, but he taught us how to be successful in the game of life.  He motivated us to be good people and to help others.  All that we can hope for in life is to be remembered for all that good things that we have done for others.  There are so many more memories that I have of Coach Wil.  Please give him a big hug for me!!