Page 23 - Coffee County

“With sports, kids learn to get along with other people. Everyone comes together for the good of the team. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white, rich or poor, the son of a banker or the son of a farmer. Everyone works for a common goal,” he says.

Through the recreation department and its programs, Huck showed kids that they could be successful if they hitched up their belts, strapped on their shoes, and gave their best – no matter if they were the best athletes on the feld or the unathletic kids who played right feld. “I treated everyone the same. I wanted the kids who maybe were not as good as some of the others to have the same opportunities to play. It was always about recreation and having fun. I didn’t want to ignore the kids who were the best athletes,” he says. In doing so, he inspired more than one generation of kids to do their best. They learned that good things happen if they go to work every day.

Do not think, however, that Huck wasn’t out to win. He wanted to be competitive, and he ran a sophisticated program for the travel teams, particularly with regards to football. Huck based his coaching philosophy on that of Van Davis. “We used the same playbook, the same formations, everything. We stressed fundamentals,” states Huck. He often went to the library and read books on coaching. He investigated different schemes on both sides of the ball, and implemented what he thought would work for the local program. “We had 12-year-olds calling audibles,” he laughs.

Though he wanted to win, he did not defne success in terms of wins and losses. Huck defned success by getting the most out of the players he had. He wanted to tap into every ounce of potential a kid had, whether he was a third string lineman or the star running back. “I wanted the kids to do their best,” he says. The ones that did were rewarded. Maybe the

most glaring example of that is Greg Walker, the current hitting instructor for the Chicago White Sox who enjoyed a nine-year major league career. Huck can list dozens of players who were better athletes than Walker was. It wasn’t superior athletic ability that got Walker to the big leagues; it was his tenacious work ethic and determination to be the best that got him to The Show. Huck taught those same lessons to everyone; they all beneftted in some way. He had his fair share of Division I athletes come through the recreation program, and he knew exactly how to maximize their ability to prepare them for the stardom they would eventually enjoy. Nevertheless, more importantly, Huck coached thousands of teachers, bankers, physicians, educators, ministers, attorneys, stay-at-home moms, soldiers, and kids who chose countless other professions. The lessons they learned

under Huck stayed with them for the rest of their lives.

Though he does not seek recognition for what he has done, he has been honored many times over the years. In 1992, the American Heart Association chose Huck as the Man of Vision, Man of Heart. In a story printed in The Douglas Enterprise on May 6, 1992, author Kelley Swilley included the following passage: “The program for the evening stated, ‘No one has shared more of his own heart than Huck. Take a look around the community and in every nook and cranny, there is someone who has benefted by the touch of Huck’s heart.”’ In 1989, Huck received the Douglas Bar Association’s Quincey Liberty Bell Award for outstanding community service. And in July of 1996, Huck was selected as one of the locals who carried the Olympic torch when it made its way through Douglas