The Observer Newspapers | Coaching at Their Alma Mater

Nov. 14 , 2008

Coaching at Their Alma Mater

By Rebecca Plevin

Observer Staff Writer

When she was on the Herndon High School cheerleading team, Jenny Goff said the stands at athletic events were always packed with people proudly clad in red shirts. Now Goff, who is in her fifth year of coaching the high school cheerleading team, said she is striving to "bring back the red zone." She said the cheerleading team sold red shirts as a fundraiser this year, and school spirit is again displayed boldly at sporting events.

Herndon wrestling coach Mike Gonzales, who graduated from the high school in 1994, also wants to "bring back something from the old school." He said there used to be a sign in the gym that read, "Welcome to Big Red Country," and this year, he plans to hang a sign that says, "Big Red Wrestling."

But Stephanie Bowers, who is an assistant coach for the freshmen girls' basketball team, said at least one tradition has survived since she was on the school's basketball team from 2001 to 2005. She said each player still puts her right hand on the shoulder of the girl in front of her during the national anthem and squeezes the girl's shoulder. "It feels good knowing that not everything is lost," Bowers said.

Goff, Gonzales and Bowers are three of the nine winter season coaches who graduated from Herndon and have returned to coach sports teams at their alma mater. "It wasn't something that we put a high priority on, it just kind of happened that these people were interested in coming back and helping out where they went to high school," said Mike Mahoney, director of student activities at Herndon.

Mahoney said many of these coaches had great experiences as Herndon athletes and they want to "make it a positive moment in the kids' lives they touch now." He said, "The coaches that have come back are real passionate about coaching here and it kind of reflects on to the kids who are the current student athletes here."

As a coach, Gonzales said his goal is to "put Herndon back on top." He said the Herndon wrestling team won the district championship all four years he was on the squad, and now as a coach, he wants the "kids to experience what it feels like to win." Goff said she came back to Herndon not only because she wanted to help the students improve their cheerleading skills, but also because she "wanted to coach them into young adults."

For these alumni, coaching at Herndon was an easy decision. Gonzales, who teaches ninth-grade English at the high school, said it would be "tough for me to go somewhere else and coach against Herndon." He said, "I'd want Herndon to win." Bowers said she "wouldn't have coached anywhere else." She said, "I just love it here," and added that she has strong ties to the area, since she grew up in town and her father and grandmother also graduated from the high school.

Jonathan Frohm, assistant director of student activities at Herndon, is one alumnus that was willing to teach and coach at another local high school. Frohm, a 1989 Herndon graduate, taught at Centreville High School and coached the school's baseball team from 1995 to 2006. "The only places I would teach were Centreville or Herndon," he said. He said he has always told people, "I like the Redskins, but I love the Hokies, and I really love the Hornets." He also said, "there is nothing better than playing and working for your school."

Beyond the shared passion for Hornet sports, Goff said she also relates to the students' academic pursuits. Goff, who teaches special education at Herndon, said she knows how challenging it can be to perform on an elite, competitive team and maintain good grades in difficult courses. "I know where they're coming from," she said.

Gonzales is a few more years removed from today's students, so he said he enjoys regaling the wrestlers with tales of his high school years. "I can tell them funny stories about what we did at Herndon," he said. The athletes, he said, "like hearing old stories of Herndon in the Ô90s."

The coaches said they are doing their part to pass their Herndon passion onto today's students. Gonzales said he trained some of the coaches he has now hired and other students have told him that they want to coach at Herndon after they graduate from college. Goff said it is different to be a coach and a teacher at Herndon, instead of an athlete, but "there is still the same Herndon atmosphere and Herndon pride."