PAGE C6, KEIZERTIMES, MARCH 20, 2020
COBURN,
continued from Page C1
title game appearance while
the basketball team reached the
semifi nals in 1991.
“They were all super kids
and the city of Mount Angel
just takes you in,” Coburn said.
But with being a high school
teacher and coach for two var-
sity sports — all while living
in the Salem area — Coburn
wasn’t getting enough time
with his family.
“I was missing my kids ac-
tivities by being a high school
head coach for two programs.
I was busy from August un-
til March. So me and my wife
talked about it and decided
that I needed to help raise my
kids and not just everyone else’s
kids,” Coburn said.
So when Whiteaker Middle
School offered him the P.E job
in 1993, he was more than hap-
py to take it.
However, it wasn’t long be-
fore Coburn started coach-
ing again as he took over the
Whiteaker volleyball program
in his fi rst year at the school.
Even though he started out
his education career as a basket-
ball guy, it’s safe to say that he is
a volleyball guy now.
Coburn has amassed more
than 400 wins in his volleyball
coaching career and has had
more than a dozen undefeated
seasons at Whiteaker.
“I really do love it. The girls
at this age, you can develop
them. And having been a varsity
coach, you know what needs to
happen and where kids need to
get to, so I have always tried to
do that,” Coburn said. “It’s been
a wonderful ride and the kids
play so hard. It’s been fun.”
Coburn also takes pride in
making sure that his girls are
prepared for high school volley-
ball, so he fostered relationships
with each volleyball coach Mc-
Nary has had over the last 27
years to make sure he relays the
high school program’s language
and philosophy to his players.
McNary’s current volleyball
coach, Crystal DeMello, was
one of Coburn’s former players
at Whiteaker.
“He’s always been such a
great coach and worked on fun-
damentals. We had a great team
at Whiteaker when I played.
He perfectly balanced fun with
hard work at practice. Coburn
made competition fun,” De-
Mello said. “We’ve been fortu-
nate at McNary to have such
an experienced and dedicated
coach at the middle school level.
Coburn has invested in his pro-
gram throughout the years and
it shows. Collaborating with
him at summer camps makes
the transition to high school
seamless. He will be missed.”
But Coburn has done more
than coach volleyball in Keizer.
He was an assistant boys bas-
ketball coach at McNary from
1995 to 2009 — the Celtics
won six league titles during that
time frame.
In 2004, he also took over
the track & fi eld program at
Whiteaker — who won the All-
City crown on both the boys
and girls teams last season.
Coburn says that it can be
tricky to maintain balance in his
life at times, but that arriving at
school at 6:30 a.m. during the
week helps him stay organized
and accomplish what he needs
to.
“I try to leave everything
here. That’s why I come early
and stay late. The balancing is
diffi cult, it takes a lot of time.
Some people don’t want to
give the extra time or take on
the extra things. But me, I love
doing things. I love organizing,”
Coburn said.
Over the course of his career,
Coburn has won numerous
awards for coaching excellence.
His fi rst award came back in
1981 when he was named the
Tri-River Coach of the Year.
He has also been recognized
as the Oregon Middle School
Coach of the Year twice (2006,
2012).
In 2009, Coburn was induct-
ed into the McMinnville High
School Sports Hall of Fame
along with the 1979 boys bas-
ketball team. During that same
year, he was named the Valley
League Assistant Coach of the
Year.
In 2016, Coburn was recog-
nized by NBC Sports North-
west — formally known as
Comcast Sports Net — as
the network’s All-Star Coach
Award winner, which includ-
ed a $5,000 cash prize to go
towards the Whiteaker athletic
programs.
Despite the accolades, Co-
burn is humble to the core.
“I get great kids and we
do well. Yes, I have won some
awards, but it was mainly be-
cause of how good the kids are,”
Coburn said.
Coburn says he’s going to
coach one more year of eighth
grade volleyball, but he conced-
ed that the team needs some
new blood after this season.
“It’s time for someone else
to start running the program,”
Coburn said.
In retirement, Coburn is
looking forward to spending
more time with Laurie and his
fi ve grandkids, as well as travel-
ing and working on some home
improvement projects. But he
will greatly miss the people of
Whiteaker Middle School.
“Whiteaker is a big school
with a small-school feeling.
The community is extreme-
ly supportive. People want to
give. When I came here, I was
the young guy on staff, and the
old folks that have been here
since ‘65 just took me in and
it was like a home. Everybody
just took care of everybody,”
Coburn said. “Even though the
staff has changed, we still take
care of each other. It’s just fun to
be here. I love coming to work
every day. The place will carry
on, but I hope that I have done
some things that people will
feel good about.”
Coburn
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