(Oakland) Chris Conover has spent nearly 20 years in teaching and coaching. Conover is in his 7th season at Riverside where he serves as the head softball coach.
Prior to Riverside, Conover was at West Harrison for 10 years where he coached both wrestling and softball. With a background in baseball, he’s come to appreciate the pace of the game in softball and what it’s like to coach girls. “When I first coached softball I had never worked with girls before. There was a learning curve there for me, but I’ve really come to appreciate just how appreciative girls are especially when they start to take a small step forward and start growing as an athlete and an individual.”
One of the main lessons he has learned as a coach is how to keep his emotions in check. “For softball when I first came in I was young and fiery and lived on every pitch. I was known to throw my visor a few times and knock a couple of water bottles down. I had a parent come up to me and say, ‘Coach I love your enthusiasm, but you’re going to give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down.’ I also saw how the girls were responding to me and that wasn’t the type of coach that they needed.”
He points to keeping a consistent core group together as being a big key in building success. He comments on the main thing he wants a player to take away from his program. “When a girl graduates my ultimate goal for them is to walk away with a passion, respect, and understanding of softball. These girls are the future parents of baseball and softball players, they are going to be working with the little league and t-ball. With an entire understanding of the sport, that’s how you’re able to get it to grow in popularity.”
Conover says there aren’t enough days in the year to put in all the work it takes as a softball coach. “You’re going non-stop between working with pitchers and catchers, taking girls to camps and clinics, and working with the youth program.”
Conover gives a lot of credit to his current assistant coaches for Riverside’s success and says one of the biggest things he’s learned along the way is to surround yourself with great coaches. The staff includes Taylor Frain, Jamie Bramman, Mike Rehfeldt, Sarah Duysen, and Shawn Bluml.
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
