Lessons learned on playing field may lay road map for athletes' futures

There are times when the circle of life hits the crossroads.

That’s a heady mashup of ideas.

At certain instances in the experience of living, one reaches a three-way stop and has to look both ways before proceeding.

One of those times occurred over the course of the last week — high school graduations.

The act of marching across the stage presents a first time for young people to consider three things — the past, the present and the future.

If they take that minute, it’s a quick exam of where they came from, where they stand and where they’re heading — especially before heading off to Ocean City, college and/or adulthood.

For athletes — and other students alike — this becomes a great time to take inventory of the coaching and instruction they’ve received to this point.

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They might discover many people had a hand in getting them to the point of wearing that hat that could double as a serving tray.

In athletics in particular, coaching leaves a mark — not like a bruise, but in a “frame of reference” kind of way.

They may not know it now, but somewhere down the line, they’ll draw from their sporting experience in some way. And they’ll remember who taught it.

And no, this isn’t a talk about the pillars of character-building and confidence sports provide. That goes without saying.

Part of this “circle of life/crossroads” thing is choosing a path to follow.

In some cases, athletes will try to play in college before migrating into the coaching profession. It’s been known to happen.

With that in mind, let’s get “Scrooged” with the ghosts of coaching past, coaching present and possible coaching future.

Here are three current topics that may have been lost in the wave of graduation activity.

• Coaching past — Former Shepherd University football coach Monte Cater is a candidate on the 2023 College Football Hall of Fame ballot.

If there was a Mount Rushmore for Shepherd coaches, Cater would be on it. He spent 31 years transforming the Rams from a little-known college on the Eastern-most corner of West Virginia into a national power.

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The latter part continues as Cater has passed his whistle onto Ernie McCook.

Cater won 245 games at Shepherd — at a 70% winning percentage — and led the Rams to 17 conference titles and 13 postseason appearances, including a 2015 trip to the NCAA Division II national final.

He retired as the winningest coach in West Virginia college coaching history and bowed out in 2017 to end his reign as the NCAA’s winningest active coach with 274 overall victories.

The numbers are fantastic, but maybe the best thing about Cater’s career is he was a coach players wanted to play for. He used a quiet discipline, coated with fatherly wisdom, to nurture many players into success.

• Coaching present — Two Washington County baseball coaches, Clear Spring’s Mark Shives and St. Maria Goretti’s Greg Eversole, led their teams to huge success.

Clear Spring and Goretti were the biggest winners in county baseball in 2022.

The Blazers topped county public schools with 18 wins and a Maryland Class 1A state title in a championship-or-bust season.

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The Gaels were a county-best 21-4, capped with the Old Line League title. For Eversole, it was only surpassed by his 1996 season, when he led South Hagerstown to 21 wins and the Class 2A state crown — the first ever won by the Rebels.

In both cases, players excelled in situations to become champions.

In both cases, the two teams were largely filled with talented underclassmen.

Both teams overcame obstacles. Clear Spring’s bats didn’t come alive until the playoffs, and Goretti learned high school baseball on the fly with only one senior on the roster.

Both teams had talent, but the success is a testament to the methodical style and depth of baseball knowledge both Shives and Eversole possess.

Each has a taskmaster approach to how they want players to play. Their teams embraced their leadership.

That’s why both the Blazers and Gaels took home trophies.

• Coaching Future (maybe) — Williamsport’s Jevon Yarbrough will continue playing basketball at Hood College.

Yarbrough had a remarkable senior season for the Wildcats. He was one of the county’s top scorers at 25 points per game and was named The Herald-Mail player of the year as Williamsport advanced to the Class 2A state quarterfinals.

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He was everything the Wildcats wanted on the floor. He was even more off the court.

Yarbrough took it upon himself to be a vocal team leader.

He organized informal practices to get the Wildcats together.

He made sure all his teammates were doing well and keeping their grades up to stay eligible.

He practiced hard to improve his craft while managing life as a Type-1 diabetic.

Yarbrough succeeded on all fronts, performing all the duties of an unnamed assistant coach.

It was a product of learning under former Williamsport coach Ryan Grabill — who was disciplined, yet inviting to play for — and his belief in Wildcat tradition.

Past, present and future carry some similarities at Checkpoint Graduation.

Working hard, being disciplined and acting in a personable manner not only brings success and order to most endeavors, it also encourages allies.

That’s a heady group of attributes to use on the way to the next checkpoint.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Parasiliti: With graduation, prep athletes move into a whole new class