Whitmore honored by students, WIAA

RITZVILLE – Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) staff traveled over from Renton Thursday, Mar. 25, to honor Lind-Ritzville Athletic Director and 2020 WIAA Board President Greg Whitmore.

The presentation of a plaque, in front of the student body assembled on the stadium bleachers, came as a surprise to Whitmore.

"Greg was the WIAA board president last year, and the tradition is to honor them with a gavel at the end of the year. We weren't able to do that this year, so I called Kevin (Terris), and he invited us over," said Executive Director Mick Hoffman.

Accompanying Hoffman were Assistant Executive Directors Cindy Adsit, B.J. Kuntz and Justin Kesterson.

"Greg had to help us navigate through a pandemic. This is a guy who loves kids and helping them play sports. His job could not have been more difficult," Hoffman said of Whitmore pulling duty as the WIAA board president in 2020. "He had to preside over that pandemic with 225,000 participants looking to him for answers."

High School Principal Kevin Terris surprised the students as well, by not disclosing all the details why they were called outside.

Speaking to them after they were assembled, Terris pointed out this was the first time in over a year, with the school shutting down last March, he has had the opportunity to address the student body as one large group.

Expounding on the stress of the pandemic and how the students were "mentally and physically damaged by all this," Terris invited them to take a moment, with spring sports starting Mar. 29, to look for opportunities to carve out some time to get re-engaged with the routines they had pre-COVID.

"Because so many great things were going on here at this school and in this community, that we haven't been able to do. But they're slowly coming back," Terris said, before telling them the real reason they were gathered - to help celebrate "a Lind-Ritzville Bronco who show us how to handle the stress and barriers that this time period has put on all of us."

"This person showed us how to persevere, how to rise to the occasion, and how to go beyond what everybody expected him or her to do," Terris said, before bringing student athletes Doug Morris and Janaye Wilkie over to introduce the WIAA guests and invite Whitmore to the front.

Wilkie, the ASB president, spoke of how bringing back school sports and other activities brought an "uplift" to the entire student body.

"The social aspect that sports and clubs offer have encouraged excitement in the halls of LRHS. There has been visible improvement in the students' mental health and attitudes with the starting of sports and clubs, such as FFA, FBLA, FCCLA, Knowledge Bowl and NHS. With competitions underway, this has helped students become more involved and have something to look forward to in this trying time," Wilkie said, encouraging any student not yet involved to try something new.

"These activities are exciting and challenging, but the one power they hold above all this is the togetherness and unity they bring. Clubs and sports have the power to bring schools and communities together, while competing for a common goal. I would like to say that this year has been an exceptional challenge for students and having these activities has been something to be thankful for during this time," Wilkie said. "The opportunity to offer these activities has been due to the hard work and dedication of these individuals from WIAA. And none of this would have been possible if it weren't for our own athletic director, Mr. Whitmore."

Morris then introduced the WIAA guests, giving background information on each and the role they play in high school sports across the state.

"The person we count on to make these athletic programs happen for us is Mr. Whitmore," Morris said, inviting Whitmore to stand next to him as he read a list of 65 items; just some of the things Whitmore does to keep the athletic program going along with other commitments to the school and local communities.

Handed the microphone, Whitmore said he was humbled, if a bit embarrassed.

"This must be Thanksgiving, because there's a turkey here and I think his name is Mr. Terris," Whitmore joked, before becoming serious and reflecting the honor of the award to those around him.

"I've been lucky to win some individual honors before. Coach of the Year a couple times, Educator of the Year, AD of the Year for our district. And I can tell you one thing - and I tell my football players all the time - you don't earn individual honors without the people that support you," Whitmore said. "There's no way that I could win any of these or earn any of these accolades without unbelievable support. Number one, from my wife Karen. Because when I am doing the list that Doug read off, and putting all that time in, pretty much one person or one family pays a price. And it's her."

Whitmore went on to say the coach's awards he's earned weren't because he was a great coach.

"It's because I had great players and great coaches with me, and great parents and great administrators that allowed me to do that. All this time it's taken me to be an athletic director at the state level, the administrators and the school board allowed me to do that. And I am so appreciative about that," Whitmore said, going on to say his job on the WIAA board was as a part-timer, while the WIAA's fulltime staff were the ones who do all the work.

"And you can't believe, kids, how hard this group and Andy Barnes and other staff over there worked on your behalf. And they're still working on your behalf. There's still work to do to pull off spring sports and they're advocating for you guys to play spring sports. And they're advocating for you to be free to play basketball and wrestling and winter sports. And it would not have happened without their help," Whitmore said, before saying how proud he was of the students, administrators and community members.

"I'm humbled by this honor, and again, I don't like accepting individual honors because there's two things that have to happen. One is hard work and the other one is the great people behind you. All they all do, they do it for you. Every one of these people are doing it for you. Keep that in mind. You're going to go on to become some of us, too, and you'll be doing it for the kids down the line," Whitmore said. "Thank you guys, thank you for coming out here, thanks to all that made this possible. I love you all."

Before the assembly began, Hoffman had words backstage to say about Whitmore.

"You never hear anything bad about Greg Whitmore. Even from people who compete against him as coaches or other players or AD's," Hoffman said. "And our current board president, Tim Thompson, said what he loves about Greg is, he always keeps the 'why' in front of every decision, in that he doesn't just represent his area, he represents every kid in the state of Washington. So that's not the norm. We have a lot of board members who do that, but definitely, Greg is about why we make decisions, make sure it's best for everybody. That's why we are so appreciative about being able to come over and honor him."