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06/10/2003 Archived Entry: "Ken Windholz"

KEN WINDHOLZ

I want to make a few remarks about Ken Windholz that may give you an idea of his connection to our students and the community.

Ken is a fine young man, by all accounts, and we are fortunate to have him here. He wants to remain in Ellsworth and make this his home. I hope he is able to do that.

I have concluded from my observations as a life-long resident of Ellsworth and from listening to others that there are two basic categories of head coaches. One is the career coach whose concern is advancement in his chosen profession and they seldom remain in one place very long. If it looks like there will be little chance of winning, they will be looking for a job elsewhere. Second are those who want to become part of a community and still coach; Ken is in that category. The pressures that accompany coaching make it hard to succeed at the second. Often staying in a community means giving up coaching or becoming an assistant.

Others close to Ken have told me how hard Ken works to build a quality program. I saw a lot of that yesterday when I visited his conditioning class. There may be coaches out there who will out coach him, but it will not be because they outworked him. I should think that our greatest hope for the youth of this community is that Ken will be able to remain here and continue doing what he likes: coaching young people to be more fit, to be better athletes, and to be better young men and women. Everyone likes to win and none more than Ken; however, with Ken I am convinced that our youth will win in long term regardless of the score at the end of the game. I'm proud to have my grandsons in his programs of conditioning and football. They can only become better young men because of their association with him.

In addition, he and his wife, Jill, are going to have a baby any day now. It is an event for all of us to look forward to for them. We wish them the very best.