Each month, Eagle Radio in Great Bend is recognizing groups or individuals that make a big impact on our community. This Appreciation Month is highlighting coaches.
By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Central Plains High School girls basketball coach Pat Stiles
tells his players each year there are two things you can control. Your choice
of attitude and how hard you play.
“You can’t control whether you turn the ball over, miss a shot or lose a game,”
said Stiles. “You can always control your attitude and how hard you play.”
Those are two qualities Stiles has been instilling into the minds of student athletes for decades. Stiles has spent the past 40 years at Central
Plains and the former Claflin High School, nearly his entire career outside of
one year in Kansas City.
“My wife and I grew up in Wilson, Kansas,” said Stiles. “I had a junior high
coach, Darrell Thrasher, who just passed away this year. I idolized him and
that’s who I wanted to be. I wanted to be a science teacher and a coach.”
Sports was everything to Stiles in high school. He continued his playing career
at St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, now closed. Stiles played four
years of basketball in college and two years of football.
“I was a pretty mediocre basketball player,” joked Stiles. “I enjoyed being on the
team. Our teams were pretty average in college.”
Stiles and his wife got married while attending college. His wife worked as a
bank teller which helped put Pat through school. Upon Pat’s graduation, his
wife went to Kansas City to finish her nursing degree. Pat accepted his first
job at St. Joseph school in Kansas City where he taught science and was the
assistant football and basketball coach.
“That was a trying year,” said Stiles. “I’ve always been at a small school and
then all of a sudden I was at a 4A school. I was teaching four sections of
biology and one section of chemistry. It was so busy.”
Following one year in Kansas City, Stiles and his wife wanted to get closer to family. Stiles accepted a science teaching position at Claflin High School in the early 1980s.
For decades, Stiles coached multiple sports at the junior high
and high school levels. When Quivira Heights and Claflin consolidated schools
to become Central Plains High School in 2011, Stiles decided to focus on girls
basketball.
“When we consolidated, there seemed to be a surplus of coaches,” said Stiles. “I
thought that was a good time to step down and do just one sport.”
It has been a productive run for Stiles leading the Lady Oilers. Central Plains
has won seven straight state basketball championships and set the state record
with 138 straight wins during that stretch.
“I’ll look back at the success later,” said Stiles. “You want to live in the moment.
You win that state championship and you’re already thinking about next year.
One of these days, when they’re tired of having me around, I can look back at
what we’ve accomplished.”
Stiles credits his passion to learn and attending clinics on how he has grown
and improved as a coach in his 41 years. He has also been around a lot of great
coaches in the Claflin area during his time.
“You think about all the coaches we’ve had here,” said Stiles. “Starting with
coach Randy Clark, Greg Webb, Toby Holmes, Chris Steiner and Jim Ryan. I’ve
been so fortunate to be around so many great coaches.”
At the beginning of Stiles’ career, he enjoyed seeing the tremendous
improvement at the junior high level. Now, he said it is amazing to see a bunch
of individuals come together and put the team first.
“When teams play together and play the right way, that is such a high for me to
see,” said Stiles. “I think that is what the kids have developed here at
Central Plains.”
While Stiles did not coach his daughter Jackie, the former WNBA player and
former collegiate coach, he did have a chance to coach his daughter Roxanne to
a state championship in track and field in 2006.
“I remember we started a tradition that if we won a trophy we would carry it all
the way to the top of the stands at Cessna Stadium and back down,” said Stiles. “That
was such a cool moment.”
Also in 2006, Claflin won the girls basketball championship as
Stiles was an assistant to Holmes.
“I look back, and three of the five starters on that 2006 team became doctors,”
said Stiles. “That was a smart group of kids.”
Right up there with his favorite moments of coaching was the first of seven consecutive
state championships in basketball in 2014 as the head coach.
“All the state titles are fun but that first one is special,” said Stiles. “That
was quite a moment, especially when we weren’t picked to win that one. All my
kids were there. It was cool to have all my kids in the stands watching.”
From teaching and coaching immediately after college, Stiles cannot imagine
doing anything else.
“Teaching and coaching has been a rewarding career for me,” said Stiles. “I
know monetarily it’s not always beneficial to teach, but it’s worth it when you
get that letter or note from your past athletes thanking you. That means so
much. Those are things you stick in a drawer and save.”
Read the previous Appreciation Month stories by clicking HERE.