(Sheldon) AHST alum Eric Maassen is in his 7th season as the head boys basketball coach at Sheldon. KSOM/KS95.7 Sports caught up with him for this week’s Why I Coach podcast.
Maassen tells KSOM/KS95.7 Sports it became apparent that coaching was his calling during his college playing career. “Once I got to Dana it was pretty clear to me right away that it was something I wanted to do. I couldn’t imagine what I would do with myself without spending the winter and the summer on the court. I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity.”
Maasseen spent one season as a graduate assistant coach at Dana, but ended up landing a job at Sheldon after his dad saw an ad for a social studies teacher and assistant boys basketball coaching job in the newspaper. Maassen has found the relationships he has built with student athletes to be the most rewarding aspect of his career.
The AHST graduate had a lot of positive impacts on his life throughout the way including his high school football coach Cory Faust. “Just the confidence that he instilled in all of us. I’ll never forget the energy he had every single day in practice. It was something that really stood out to me. I try to bring that energy to practice today. One of the things I remember hearing him say was ‘Today is the last January 24th, 2020 we are every going to have, let’s make it a great one.’ The guys kind of laugh at me now when I say that kind of stuff, but I really enjoyed that experience with Coach Faust.”
He notes he also learned a lot from Carl Cochran through Tri-Center’s summer camps and lists current Tri-Center coach and former Walnut Warrior Chad Harder as an influence. As a player at AHST, Maassen went from winning three games as a freshmen to being on a conference championship team in his senior year, something he takes great pride in.
Maassen has also served as a head coach for volleyball and girls golf and guided Sheldon to state in volleyball in 2013. He’s also carried out several assistant and junior high coaching duties. In addition to being the head boys basketball coach, he currently serves as Sheldon activities director.
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Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
