The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners voted Marble Falls High School’s Rich Powers their favorite Locals Love Us school coach. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
Rich Powers called to make sure the information he received was correct. Yes, The Picayune Magazine readers and KBEY 103.9 Radio Picayune listeners voted him their Locals Love Us favorite school coach.
“I was humbled,” he said about the news. “That was awesome.”
The 17-year educator is in his second year as the head track-and-field and strength-and-conditioning coach at Marble Falls High School. It is his third year on the campus. In all, he works with 325 athletes. “There’s a certain level of confidence that weights will bring to you,” he said about strength and conditioning. “As you see the results on you, you become more confident.”
Athletes have responded to the Marine's tough love. He pushes them when they need it but also encourages them.
“I absolutely love every single kid who competes on my teams,” he said. “You always want to maximize what you get out of your kids. The best way to do that is to show genuine concern for those kids. When you build those relationships with kids, they’ll do anything for you. They’ll run through walls for you.”
That requires dedication and patience on Powers' part. Most of his conversations with his student-athletes aren't about sports; they're about life.
“I show genuine concern for who they are as a person and have support and be their support, and the kids will do anything ” he said. “I think you put yourself out there for those kids, and they’re going to give you everything they have.”
Giving your all is the key to success, Powers said. And he's been in their shoes.
As a high school junior standing just 5 feet 4 inches, he was cut from the varsity basketball team. That didn't sit well with him, so he worked hard, rejoining the team as a senior and later playing the sport in the Marine Corps.
He credits his high school basketball coach for believing in him and seeing something in him that helped him succeed in life.
Powers wants to be that same coach for his student-athletes.
“If you give them everything you’ve got, they’re going to reciprocate that,” he said.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
