(Anita) For the first May since the 1980’s Larry Hunt isn’t wrapped up in baseball or softball practice. While the 2020 season is on hold, KSOM/KS95.7 Sports caught up with Hunt for this week’s Why I Coach podcast.
Sports have always been a priority in his life. “Baseball, Basketball, Football, it was just something the farm communities did. Athletics were a big part of everyone’s life whether you played it or just watched. It was just something we always made time for.”
Hunt was thrown a big curveball early in his career as a full-time educator and coach. He got his start at Prescott, but the high school closed its doors just three years after he arrived. “CAM was somewhere I came just looking for a job, but it turned into a home.”
Hunt got his coaching start in the mid-80’s as a college student. He spent his summers at his alma-mater, Paton-Churdan, as a baseball assistant. After his brief stint at Prescott and one summer coaching Lenox, he’s manned his current post since 1991. His one season at Lenox is where he transitioned from baseball to softball. “I fell into softball in 1991 because a friend of mine was ready to retire and he called me and asked if I’d do it for a year. A friend of mine asked if I was ready to coach softball. At the time I thought there were a lot of similarities from baseball and I’d be okay. It took a little while, but right now I could never see myself going back. I love the game of softball, it’s evolved into quite a game and I truly love being on the softball diamond every day.”
He refers to the opportunity to work with kids as a blessing. “It’s just one of the best things you could ever have. I’ve been blessed to have great kids. Many of them I stay in contact with on a regular basis.”
If Hunt could go back in time and give himself some advice as a young coach it would be to listen to others, because you don’t know as much as you think you do. “I talked to Gary Wax (Carson-Macedonia/Riverside) when I first started, Jerry Brown at Murray, and Dennis Tassel at Diagonal. I’ve had great coaches here at CAM to learn from like Steve Pelzer, Dean Downer, Sandy Booker, and Rex Mehrhoff. How to coach, how to work with parents, how to make kids better. All of them were great role models for me.”
Hunt has also has spent time on the girls basketball staff and coached track.
Previous Coaches
Eric Maassen, (AHST grad) Sheldon
Jerome Hoegh, Atlantic grad (West Sioux)
Gaylord Schelling, Atlantic and Tri-Center
Trevor Gipple, (Griswold grad) SW Valley
Eric Stein (Harlan grad) Iowa Central
Darrell Burmeister, Nodaway Valley
