For those of us that are fans of high school football, we all too often base our teams and coaches around what our favorite school's won-loss record shows. However this year in Hanoverton, life, family, and community have taken center stage when one of their own suffered a terrible tragedy. Coach Mike Ward had an unimaginable loss this summer when his son Gavin died following an asthma attack while at football practice on August 3rd of this year.
Coach Ward has been a mentor to many of this areas football coaches during his 37-year career, not to mention the hundreds, maybe even thousands of football players he has instructed. But nothing could prepare him for that event.
"As a parent, that's your most prized possession. It's an indescribable pain," Ward would remark.
The loss may have hit the students hard too, but coach Ward was there to lift them up, not the other way around. "He was tremendous. More than us lifting him up, he lifted us up. We went through calling hours as a team. He had something to say to each one of the boys. Not just a little word or two, I mean he had something to say to each one of them about encouragement, and keeping your head up. Even the funeral at the school he talked. He talked about Gavin and life. It was very touching. I don't know how he did, but he did it," United head football coah Ed Ridgeway would recall.
The United school and community have helped coach Ward, his wife and daughter by showing their support and comfort in these difficult times. "The outpouring and support from the community was overwhelming. It has been very comforting. I feel the support, and it has saved me," Ward would admit.
But perhaps more importantly, coach Ward knew what is important in life. "All through the season he talked about how important life is, and how important it is that they have the opportunity to be able to play this game," Ridgeway recalled. "That is the character of Mike (Ward), that's a side I hadn't seen of him, but it was tremendous. He lifted our spirits, he kept things in prospective for us about what is important." Ward would confess, "I've been in football since I was twelve years old. It provides lessions in life such as accountability, respectability, freindship, and team work."
Coach Ridgeway revealed that coach Ward even helped him come to grips with life and the constant pressures and expectations that head coaches are forced to endure. "Many times I would just sit down and talk with him about what your held to (expectations), how people want to sometime tear you apart." Coach Jeff Sharkey of East Palestine can attest to the positive influence that Ward has had on him and his life. "I taught right next to him at United. he showed me how to attack problems from a possitive side, not looking at it negatively." |
