(Audubon) Our weekly coaching series brings us a visit with Pete Dammel. He’s the head cross country coach at Audubon.
When Dammel started out he wasn’t so much dead set on coaching as he was on landing a teaching job. It turned out the two went hand in hand. “Well it’s an interesting story. When I first started teaching and coaching I think I was more scared of coaching than I was anything else. I knew I wanted to be a teacher and coaching just sort of came along with it. It was a part of the package. I was pretty intimidated. I was afraid I was going to screw everyone up and didn’t know enough. You just jump in and get busy and start finding out what you don’t know and then when you know what you don’t know you start talking to people smarter than you and do some listening and watching and figure some things out.”
Dammel had plenty to learn in terms of fundamentals of the sport he was coaching, but the main thing he found was the importance of relating to athletes. “The most important thing is connecting with kids and being genuine and having your priorities in the right place. Of course everyone wants to win, but winning in my view is secondary to creating an environment where everyone where people feel as safe and comfortable as possible and are having fun. They know they are learning the fundamentals of the sport and you are setting them up for future success. The biggest thing is just being genuine.”
He recalls the first ever practice he conducted as being physically and emotionally exhausting. “I wondered if I was going to be able to do it all year and get it right.”
Dammel spent some time away from coaching and quickly realized he missed it. “What I was doing wasn’t fulfilling. I was in the business community for a while and it was wonderful, it just wasn’t for me. I found out it wasn’t a fit for me and I just wasn’t being fulfilled. I’d gone into the retail business in the Des Moines area and it wasn’t bringing me joy.”
Previous Coaches
John Kesselring, Adair-Casey alum
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Chad Klein, Audubon Native (Kuemper Catholic and Boone)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Monte Riebhoff)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Steve Ahrendsen)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Scott Weber)
In Memory of Bob Monahan, Audubon (Curt Mace)
Chris Stimson, Elk Horn-Kimballton
Jan Jensen, Elk Horn-Kimballton alum
Seth Poldberg, EH-K grad and Guthrie Center coach
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Angie Spangenberg, Harlan and Red Oak
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
Lanny Kliefoth, Nodaway Valley