TBR Interview with Eddie "Pop" Rivers

TBR Interview with Eddie "Pop" Rivers NCFSCA President

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Coach Eddie "Pop" Rivers, President of the North Carolina Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association (NCFSCA).

Cheeze: Pop, give us some background information about yourself.

Pop Rivers: Right from the outset, let me thank TBR for the opportunity to speak for and on behalf of the NCFSCA. It has provided me great joy over the last 3 years to be a integral part of the workings of our Association. TBR has been a supporter of the Association since day one and we thank them graciously for that support.

Well, I graduated from Pageland High School in Pageland, SC in 1975. While in high school, I earned 11 varsity letters for baseball, football and track. I then went to Francis Marion University in Florence, SC on a partial baseball scholarship. Played one and a half seasons and then got married to Pam, my elementary school sweetheart. On August 21, 2007, we will have been married 30 years. We have two beautiful daughters, Kimberly (12), and Katie (11). They are both active in softball and basketball. After I graduated from Francis Marion in 1980, we moved back to Pageland to find work as a teacher/coach. I majored in Sociology and minored in Psychology with a teaching concentration in Social Studies, Earned my Master of Arts/Education degree from Wingate University in 1990. Believe it or not, teaching jobs were hard to find during that time period, so I worked in construction and became a volunteer football coach at Central High School in Pageland. In 1984, a position became available at Forest Hills High School in Marshville, NC, which is only 18 miles from Pageland. For the next 16 years, I commuted to work while teaching Social Studies classes and coaching football and softball. I worked as an assistant coach for the football team for 18 years, spending the lst 16 of those as offensive coordinator, and the last four as assistant head coach. I began my softball career with the 1985 season and have just completed my 23rd season as head coach. My teams have won 269 games over that time period which places me at 5th or 6th among active coaches in the State and first among active 2A coaches. Longevity and many talented young ladies have played a part in those accomplishments, and I have enjoyed bein able to be a small part of their lives.

Cheeze: How did you get involved with the NCFSCA? Were you involved from the start?

Pop Rivers: Forming a Softball Coaches Association was an idea that had been discussed a great deal over the years. It really seemed like a great idea that never seemed to get off the ground. Only a handful of coaches would stay around each year after the last clinic session in Greensboro to discuss concerns with the NCHSAA representatives and to try to make changes that would be beneficial to softball. Their efforts need to be applauded, but it did not seem to carry much weight with the NCHSAA. Back in the spring of 2004, Lin Wheeler of Cape Fear High School posted a message on TBR and NCpreps asking coaches if they would be interested in forming a coaches association. I responded to Lin stating that I would like to see this become a reality and would be interested in what he had in mind. We emailed back and forth and each emailed softball friends within the coaching ranks to see if there was any interest. After getting some positive responses and negative ones as well, we decided to go forward and asked coaches who would be interested in forming an association to meet after the last clinic session in Greensboro. We had 49 coaches stay for the first meeting. At that meeting, we elected officers to serve. Lin Wheeler was elected President, and I was elected Vice-President. That was in July of 2004; in October Lin resigned as President for personal reasons. That meant that I would move into the slot as President. At that point, I was in over my head. Lin had worked extremely hard to make this happen, and at least from my perspective, the ship was sinking fast!!

Cheeze: How hard was it to bring this Association up and running?

Pop Rivers: Well, the Association was up, but it definitely wasn't running the way Lin and I and the rest of the membership had hoped. Lin had us in pretty good shape as far as what we wanted to do and how to go about it, but getting some of our goals accomplished was another story. We had set about 7 or 8 goals to that point and people were asking what was going on. At that point, I was struggling to get anything accomplished and was looking for people to help. Thank goodness coaches like Gene Poindexter and Jim Welborn from Central Davidson, Mike Lambros from North Davidson, Eddie Dees from South View, and Derrick Hill from East Surry came to my rescue. There were others who helped when they could, but these guys stepped up when I needed their suggestions and guidance, and offered to do anything possible to help me. Without their help and advice, I honestly believe all of our plans would have fallen through. Our Association will forever be indebted to these guys for standing by me and offering their assistance to not let the Association go under as quickly as it began. We have worked our rear ends off to accomplish the goals that were set at that first meeting, and are extremely proud of the accomplishments that have been made. Some of those include, promoting the sport of softball and the ladies who play the game, a working website for the Association, creat a scholarship program for deserving young ladies, communication with the NCHSAA, pre-season polls, season polls, and final polls, All-District teams, players of the year and pitchers of the year, All-State teams, and bringing an All-Star game to our sport. One goal we have not accomplished is creating a Hall of Fame for softball, but the guidelines are in place and have been voted on by the membership, we will work to make this happen as well. Our Executive Board meeting is in Greensboro on July 18th and our general meeting of the membership is on July 19th. I am sure there will be lots of new ideas to discuss and it is time to elect new officers. I look forward to both these meetings and what direction our Association will take from here. Our Association had plenty of opportunities to crumble and at times I felt that we were. Fortunately for us, there are coaches across our State that care deeply about what they do, for their players, for the sport of softball, and for the success of our Association.

Cheeze: Some of us are curious about what support/working relationship you have from the NCHSAA, by this I mean how many hoops did you have to jump through to get the approval for the State Games of North Carolina??

Pop Rivers: That is certainly a good question. Our relationship with the NCHSAA is a positive one. We presented a list of concerns from our Association last year to the NCHSAA for discussion at their winter meeting. They took the entire list and made it an agenda item to be discussed. That was pretty impressive to us. They addressed each one of our concerns and sent their responses back to our membership. We did not get the results we were looking for in all of these matters, but they addressed each one. The State Games of North Carolina is an interesting concept. Their mission is to promote amateur sports in the State and has the blessing of the State government with the Governor serving as the top administrator of these events. So, the NCHSAA gave us their blessing. We had hoped to have an All-Star event added to the games in Greensboro during the annual coaches clinic. That was not going to happen and I understand some of their reasons. The first response we got was that it took a great deal of money to put on an event like we were suggesting at the games. The second was that there was no place to put an All-Star event on the schedule. I would say this is true in both cases. But that did not help our situation. We then turned our attention to the State Games. The reason is because baseball does not have an All-Star event at the clinic either, but have been playing in the State Games for years. We formed a committee from within the Association to meet with the directors of the State Games in Durham. As a side note, our old friend Lin Wheeler was instrumental in setting up these meetings for us and we owe him a great big thanks for helping us out once again. We talked with the event staff for a long time and to be honest, they were not sure about taking on this event. Chip Hofler of the State Games of North Carolina was an individual who we convinced and he would help present our case to their Board. They agreed to go with our idea and a coalition was formed to bring the first Softball State Games for high school girls to a reality.

 

Cheeze: Overall, how did you feel the State Games, All-Star games, Regional tournament went this year and what would you like to improve on, if anything??

Pop Rivers:

I thought the first State Games were great. The All-Star seniors playing on Thursday night was a tremendous show of talent. Every young lady on both squads had committed to play at the next level. The crowd was large and vocal, and the ladies did not disappoint with their level of play. Excellent pitching, hitting, base running, and outstanding defensive plays were the norm for these games. It was also very exciting to see the smiles on those faces when the medals were placed around their neck. You could tell by the expressions that indeed they were glad to be a part of the event. The Regional tournament for underclassmen showcased some of the wonderful talent that we will be hearing about next season and for the years to come. The young ladies played their hearts out in the sun to help their Region obtain one of those medals. It was very exciting watching those girls who play against each other during the high school season huddle up, join hands, tap gloves, and stand on the top step of the dugout cheering for their new teammates. I imagine some friendships that will last a lifetime were made at these games. One story of particular interest was Region 7 playing without one of their teammates being able to be there. Kendayl Waugh was a member of the Region 7 team but because of her treatments earlier in the week, was not able to participate on the field. That is not to say that she wasn't part of that team, nothing could be farther from the truth. Her jersey hung from the dugout fence during each of their games, and she was there in spirit. Your have to give the girls from Region 7 a lot of credit. It had to be difficult to play without her being there. I will tell you the truth; tears ran from my eyes after Region 7 played their last game. The PA announcer read a brief statement about Kendayl and her situation as the players from Region 7 huddled around her jersey on the fence. After he finished, everyone in the complex rose to their feet to applaud for Kendayl and the Region 7 team. It was something that I will never forget and I will always cherish that memory!

I believe there are some improvements that could be made with the games and we are already working for next year. It is our plan to play the Regional tournament on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and have the East/West All-Star games on Thursday night to finish up the week. Hopefully, this will not interfere with the TB weekend tournaments and will give young ladies who may have had commitments this year an opportunity to try-out for the games. It just was not possible this year. Another thing to work on is communication among coaches in the State. Let me go on record right now, coaches, it is your responsibility to nominate and promote your players. It is also your responsibility to become informed about what is going on at the high school level in softball. I am not going to push this idea here, but joining the NCFSCA would hellp you become more informed. I don't look at softball as something to do in the spring, you should not either. There are plenty of places and people that are more than willing to help you get involved and informed. Leth those people help you. The days of saying that I didn't get a letter or did not know about something is a pretty lame excuse. If you want to promote your players, team, and yourself, the opportunity is there for you.

Getting uniforms donated for 10 teams by Cooks Sporting Goods of North Wilkesboro was a major help. Thank you Randy Hege for your role and to Gene Poindexter for heading up the uniform project. Don't know yet about uniforms for next year, but the ones this year sure were nice!!! This will be a major concern for next year.

I had a coach at the State Games ask me why you had to be a member of the NCFSCA to ge an opportunity to coach in the games. Well, the reason is that our Association has partnered with the State Games of North Carolina to put on the event and that was on of the stipulations that we asked for in the contract. And no, your NCHSAA membership pass will not get you into the games, but your NCFSCA membership pass will. Our Association and members are the ones doing the work, so get on board.

I believe one of the greatest things to happen to the event was being able to play at UNC-G. It is a state of the art complex for softball. It is designed for what we do. The only change that needed to be made was bringing in a new pitchers plate to put down at 40 feet. The grounds crew is an exceptional bunch; Aggie and her staff know what to do to get a field ready for play.

We learned a lot about how to do things, and also found out that there is a great need for volunteers. That is something to be addressed at our meetings in the future. I guess communication is the one area that we will strive to improve on for next year and the coming years. We will try to make sure everyone who is involved will be on the same page and getting the same information. There weren't too many problems for the first time around. We will work to get better in certain areas.

Cheeze: Membership!! Any organization like yours needs membership! Could you break it down for us, like what a high school coach is entitled to as a member? Do junior varsity coaches have a say also, and what does a parent get for their membership?

Pop Rivers: We definitely need to get more coaches across the state involved in what we are trying to do, however, I don't see it as an Association that asks: "What do I get for joining?". Coaches at the high school level should want to be a part of the promotion of the sport and the players. The only money we have received prior to the State Games was through membership dues. We did get a share of the ticket and t-shirt sales from the Games, but the majority of that money went to pay expenses. Voting members of teh Association serve on committees, and there are quite a few of them now. Voting members, who are head coaches at their school, may apply for coaching postitons in the State Game. Voting members may hold office within the Association if elected by the membership. All members are admitted free of charge to the State Games. Anyone who is a voting member may bring suggestions to the floor of the general meeting for consideration.

Voting memberships is open to all head coaches, assistant coaches, JV coaches and coaches at middle schools. Associate memberships are available at a reduced fee to anyone that wants to make a donation to help promote our sport. Also, the more money we have in the bank, the higher the dollar amount for the four scholarships that will be given each year to deserving young ladies who are nominated and go through the application process. The Association has chosen these young ladies for the 2007 season and they have been announced on our website. Let me send personal congratulations to these young ladies, their coaches for nominating them, and to our Scholarship committee for a job well done. Some of the money from memberships is used for mailings, copying, and a little for reimbursement of expenses. I believe the greatest satisfaction that a voting member or associate member can receive is knowing that their money is going to provide these scholarships and helping to promote our sport. That is certainly the way I look at it.

 

Cheeze: Could you explain the All-District/All-State selecton process???

Pop Rivers: The way we have done things has changed over the past three years. Admittedly, we made some mistakes with our process during that time period. It is a very difficult task to choose All-Star teams, and you must be willing to accept criticism the moment the list goes public. Someone is going to be upset about the selections and really that is to be expected. But, where do you focus your concerns, and anger in some cases? I can tell you, a great deal of the focus comes to my email at our website! So, I personally am looking for the best possible solution for the selection process.

This year, our Association produced the first All-District teams. Coaches across the State, members and non-lmembers, nominated young ladies from their teams who they felt qualified as an All-District selection. Letters from District Chairpersons were sent to each school, announcements wre made on TBR and NCpreps, and our website had a nomination form online that could be used for nominations. These nominations were sent to the District Chairpersons who formed committees within their district that would meet and select their own All-District Team. After this was completed, the teams were sent to our website for publication. The ladies who were selected to their respective All-District teams then became the pool of nominations for the All-State Team. The All-State team is scheduled to be released by July 15th, and will be chosen by a commitee within the Association as well. We now believe this method is the most effective way to handle the All-Teams. The biggest problem is getting the coaches to nominate, but that is their responsibility and one that they should take time to do.

Cheeze: What plans or projects do you have planned for the future?

Pop Rivers: I am looking forward to the Executive Board meeting and the General meeting on July 18th and 19th. There will certainly be some ideas and suggestions kicked around in both meetings. I guess the major decisions to be made at this year's meetings are the election of officers for the next two years. This will be a very important step for our Association. We must place individuals in these positions that are willing to work and to keep the Associaton moving forward. We have been fortunate, in the last year especially, of having dedicated mem and women to serve as elected Board members. Our District chairpersons have had a great deal to do this year with the All-District selections and the State Games. Their task will not get any easier in the next couple of years. We must place dedicated people in those positions. We must also appeal to the new and younger coaches across the State. A good number of veteran coaches are leaving the ranks to pursue other goals, retire, or to allow other coaches their opportunity to be the head coach. It was great seeing some of the younger coaches involved in the State Games. That is where the future of our Associaton lies and recruitment of these new coaches must be one of our priorities.

I am sure our Associaton will continue with the All-District and All-State teams, polls, scholarships, maintaining the website, State Games, and recruitment of new members. I hope we can get the Hall of Fame in place to recognize those who have come before us and made lasting contributions to high school softball in our State. I would like to see our scholarship money increased each year. I would like to see our Association have enough money to recognize coaches, players, and members with awards, just a little something besides recognition. I would like to see our relationship with the NCHSAA stay positive and work with them to make changes that will enhance the game we love. I would hope that one day every high school softball coach in the State was a member of our Association and working for the promotion of their playersl. This is one area that parents could really help in the coming years. Find out if your high school coach is a member of the NCFSCA, and if he or she is not, ask why not!! If they are not, be sure to let these non-members know about the opportunities that are out there for your daughters through the NCFSCA. I would like to see all of the softball entities work together in North Carolina to promote our young ladies in any way possible. Promoting the girls who play has been, from day one and will always be, the focus of the NCFSCA. I am extremely proud to say that I am a part and will continue to be a part of that effort for our North Carolina girls!!!

Cheeze: Thanks Pop for this interview. we've had a lot of questions on TBR about different process's and I hope this covers them all

Good Luck with the Association and my hat's off to you and your group of dedicated members