2008 Woodie Awards
Bonding at the pool
Nick Tabor
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Hostage negotiators could take lessons from Kurt Kirner, Hillsdale College's new swim coach.
Kirner is friendly, soft-spoken and apparently persuasive.
"The student athletes at Lawrence [University] loved him," said head basketball coach John Tharp, who coached alongside Kirner at Lawrence until last year. "He was always challenging them to be the best they could possibly be."
Kirner coached at Lawrence for 16 years. This is his first season at Hillsdale and only his third week living in town. His wife and daughter are still living in Wisconsin.
"I'm almost like a college student," he said, laughing. "The team has done a very good job of making me feel comfortable."
Co-captain Alison Lanctot, a junior, assented.
"I think everyone's excited to have him here, so we want to make him feel like Hillsdale's his new home," she said.
Lanctot said the team invited him to a "pasta party" last week, and Kirner said the girls always invite him to sit at their table in the Curtiss Memorial Dining Hall.
Kirner said his coaching style comes from his background as a teacher. He taught physical wellness at Lawrence and is plans to teach sports psychology at Hillsdale next semester.
"It takes more of an effort to be a teacher," he said. "You want your athletes to understand what they're doing and how it applies to them. They become self-motivated."
Kirner said his concern for the students goes deeper than his education background.
"It's part of my personality," he said. "I feel that coaching is a passion - it's not just a job. [And] if it's a passion, it's something you do based on how you feel."
Lanctot said it's too early to tell how this year's team will compare to last year's. She said Kirner encourages the swimmers to focus on the GLIAC, a four-day conference competition in February which closes the swimming season.
In order to prepare them, Kirner said he's trying to schedule as many meets as possible.
"That's one of the reasons we respect him," Lanctot said. "The team just wants more meets."
Lanctot said the practice schedule is exactly the same as last year's.
"He's trying not to change too much on us, so we don't have a complete 180," she said. "But we really want him to implement his own ideas about swimming."
The team's next event is scheduled for this Saturday at Ashland University in Ohio.
Kirner is friendly, soft-spoken and apparently persuasive.
"The student athletes at Lawrence [University] loved him," said head basketball coach John Tharp, who coached alongside Kirner at Lawrence until last year. "He was always challenging them to be the best they could possibly be."
Kirner coached at Lawrence for 16 years. This is his first season at Hillsdale and only his third week living in town. His wife and daughter are still living in Wisconsin.
"I'm almost like a college student," he said, laughing. "The team has done a very good job of making me feel comfortable."
Co-captain Alison Lanctot, a junior, assented.
"I think everyone's excited to have him here, so we want to make him feel like Hillsdale's his new home," she said.
Lanctot said the team invited him to a "pasta party" last week, and Kirner said the girls always invite him to sit at their table in the Curtiss Memorial Dining Hall.
Kirner said his coaching style comes from his background as a teacher. He taught physical wellness at Lawrence and is plans to teach sports psychology at Hillsdale next semester.
"It takes more of an effort to be a teacher," he said. "You want your athletes to understand what they're doing and how it applies to them. They become self-motivated."
Kirner said his concern for the students goes deeper than his education background.
"It's part of my personality," he said. "I feel that coaching is a passion - it's not just a job. [And] if it's a passion, it's something you do based on how you feel."
Lanctot said it's too early to tell how this year's team will compare to last year's. She said Kirner encourages the swimmers to focus on the GLIAC, a four-day conference competition in February which closes the swimming season.
In order to prepare them, Kirner said he's trying to schedule as many meets as possible.
"That's one of the reasons we respect him," Lanctot said. "The team just wants more meets."
Lanctot said the practice schedule is exactly the same as last year's.
"He's trying not to change too much on us, so we don't have a complete 180," she said. "But we really want him to implement his own ideas about swimming."
The team's next event is scheduled for this Saturday at Ashland University in Ohio.
Be the first to comment on this story