Rick began coaching at in Hanna starting in 1971. He coached and taught at Hanna Jr. High until 1980 when he switched over to J.C. Charyk High School. Rick has coached Cross Country, Golf, Volleyball, Track & Field, Badminton, Football, Basketball and Volleyball - he coached Sr Volleyball until 2001. He was the Defensive Coordinator for the football team from 1995-2008. From 2013 -2015, Rick helped to coach the 6 man football team. Rick continues to coach Sr. Girls Basketball, even though he retired from teaching 12 years ago. Rick has dedicated his life to high school sports. He has taken every opportunity to make himself a better coach by attending every clinic available, even if it meant heading to Montana.
21 Basketball banners hang in the gym at J.C. Charyk School and all are attributable to Rick. Three of those are championship banners from ASAA provincials in 1987/88, 1988/89 and 2001/02. Over several decades, Rick has been to the zone championships countless times and then on to ASAA Provincials more time than most coaches could ever dream of. Before this season, his win column for basketball games totaled 888!
Outside of being a coach, Rick hosted many zone championships and also hosted ASAA provincials four times. As an administrator he has been zone President and regularly represented the zone at ASAA Planning Meetings and the AGM. He has been the recipient of several awards, having won ASAA’s Robert H. Routledge Award in 1994/95, the Most Sportsmanlike Coach award of the ASAA in 2001/02, and the SC Zone Award of Merit in 2002/03. One of Rick’s proudest accomplishments would be that he got to coach all four of his daughters and that each of them ended up playing post-secondary basketball, just like their mom.
Rick’s philosophy is “prepare rural young ladies to compete confidently in anything they take on. Believe in yourself and your preparation. Dare to take a chance in school, college, university, athletics, career and life.”