John Raffel
Sports Scene
A familiar face is back on the sidelines for the Central Montcalm boys basketball team.
John Kearney, who coached the Hornets in the 1990s before taking an administrative role with the school, is again coaching the hoops team.
The first season of his nine-year stint as basketball coach was 1989-90. After that, he served as assistant principal for nine years and as principal for three years.
“The position I had as an administrator gives me a little more freedom to work with our athletes,” Kearney said. “The position came open in early summer. I talked with our superintendent about applying for it, and he was okay with it. I went through the interview process like everyone else. They offered the job to me.”
Central Montcalm improved to 2-5 overall on January 21 with a 49-43 win over Chippewa Hills.
Three years ago, Kearney had been planning on taking the girls varsity coaching position before he was appointed principal. When the opportunity to coach presented itself again, Kearney could not ignore it.
Having been out of coaching for several years meant that he had to go through an adjustment period, though.
“It took a little time because you have to get to know where our kids were, where I had to go, and where I had to start,” he said. “We jumped right into summer ball for two weeks and started putting in fundamental drills, put one offense in, that was it, and played man-to-man. Then I had a chance to find out and evaluate where we were.
“Probably the hardest part up until now was running a game. I had my assistant coach and the kids doing the book remind me how many timeouts I had, who’s got fouls, and things like that.”
Kearney admits that he missed coaching.
“You always do, that’s why I still went to the games,” he said. “My son [Andy Kearney] was playing high school so you’re always watching…even when he graduated. I still I had a love for the sport, a passion. You get that itch again. I was able to jump back in and enjoy it. I’ve got a great group of guys, and it’s been fun.”
Kearney noted that he was asked during the interview process how many seasons he might put in.
“I can retire at anytime; I have my 30 years in and this will be 31,” he said. “I enjoy it and want to be in it for the long haul; I would assume four years at least, and hopefully get it back going to where we were when I left.
“Last time I was varsity coach, I ran everything from second grade up. I’m going back, we had a meeting in November with our seventh and eighth grade coaches saying this is the offense we want you to do, man-to-man defense, no zone, and they have to learn how to play-man-to-man.
“I talked to some of the younger coaches. They’re working on the man-to-man skills. At the varsity level, you’re trying to put things in place and give your kids a chance to win. In one game, we played all zone, but if you came to our practice, all we ever do is man-to-man drills. But I had to put our team in a chance to win the game and do some rebounding. I did what I had to do to give them a chance.”
Kearney said he and his junior varsity coach have already discussed what they’ll be doing in the spring.
“We’re getting ready for next year so things are in place,” he said.
For 13 years, Kearney has been league secretary for the Central State Activities Association, and he will continue in that role. He noted that Newaygo comes into the league next season, making it a 10-team conference with Big Rapids, Chippewa Hills, Central Montcalm, Hesperia, Holton, Lakeview, Morley Stanwood, Reed City, and White Cloud.
“We had a meeting of principals and athletic directors the first week of December and had a number of schools saying that if we were looking at expanding, they would be interested, and I’m sure there would be more,” Kearney said. “We feel that the wheel is not broken and 10 is a good number. The vote was 6-3 [among principals] to keep it where it is. Right now, that’s where we’re going.”