By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Veteran Washburn Rural volleyball and girls basketball coach Kevin Bordewick is one of 23 high school coaches from across the nation selected as 2020 National Coaches of the Year by the National Federation of of State High School Associations Coaches Association.
Bordewick, the lone honoree from Kansas, has been at Washburn Rural for 28 years, including 26 seasons as the Junior Blues' head volleyball coach and 12 seasons as Rural's head girls basketball coach.
Washburn Rural's Kevin Bordewick, who has 1,099 victories as a head coach at Rural, has been named a National Coach of the Year for 2019-20 by the NFHS. [Photograph by Rick Peterson]
Bordewick has coached Washburn Rural to seven Class 6A state championships in volleyball and one in basketball while compiling a 1,099-284 record at Rural (896-218 in volleyball, 203-66 in basketball). Bordewick has 1,175 career victories.
Bordewick was named a national coach of the year for the 2019-20 school year for volleyball.
"It's very humbling and I really think it's more of an award for eveybody that's been involved in some way, form or fashion for the Washburn Rural community,'' Bordewick said. "All the assistant coaches that we've had, the administrators, the athletic directors, the principals, the school board, to me you can't have any of that (success) without their support and continual backing.''
And, of course, Bordewick knows his programs have been blessed with talented student-athletes over the years.
"The biggest underlying factor that has kept us so good is we've had great athletes,'' Bordewick said. "Obviously, there are so many I couldn't hope to name them all, but they've just been fantastic. They come from great families and it's a great community and this is just as much their award as it is mine.
"You can't do without great kids and great athletes who are good teammates. It does make me feel old because you do kind of pause and look back and think about all the kids who have come through here. Some of them weren't the best volleyball players, but they were great teammates and that helped make us just as good as some of the great players did.''
The NFHS, which has recognized coaches through its awards program since 1982, honors coaches in the top 10 girls sports and top 10 boys sports (by participation numbers) and in two other sports -- one for boys and one for girls -- that are not included in the top 10 listings as well as a spirit coach.
Winners of NFHS awards must be active coaches during the year for which they receive their award.
NFHS 2019-20 NATIONAL COACHES OF THE YEAR
BOYS
Baseball: Ron Murphy, Rio Rancho HS (New Mexico); Basketball: Jerry Petitgoue, Cuba City HS (Wisconsin); Cross Country: Kevin Ryan, Bellingham Sehome HS (Washington) ; Football: Gerry Pannoni, Lorton South County HS (Virginia); Golf: Steve Kanner, Chandler Hamilton HS (Arizona); Soccer: David Halligan, Falmouth HS (Maine); Swimming and diving: Douglas Krecklow, Omaha Westside HS (Nebraska); Tennis: Douglas Chapman, Somerset Berkley Regional HS (Massachusetts); Track and field: Robert Palazzo, Providence Classical HS (Rhode Island); Wrestling: Douglas Hislop, Imbler HS (Oregon).
GIRLS
Basketball: Donna Moir, Louisville Sacred Heart Academy (Kentucky); Cross country: William Clifton, Middletown South HS (New Jersey); Golf: Carol Fromuth, St. Louis St. Joseph's Academy (Missouri); Lacrosse: Tim Carey, Fresno Hoover HS (California); Soccer: Stephen Estelle, Huntington Gateway Regional HS (Massachusetts); Softball: Mary Truesdale, Sacramento Sheldon HS (California); Swimming and diving: Michael Rose, Brookfield East HS (Wisconsin); Tennis: Judith Hehs, Wixom St. Catherine of Siena Academy (Michigan); Track and field: Willie Smith, Beachwood HS (Ohio); Volleyball: Kevin Bordewick, Washburn Rural HS.
Spirit: Anne Ellett, Gresham Centennial HS (Oregon); Other boys sport: Michael Bowler, lacrosse, Rocky Point HS (New York); Other girls sport: Mary Beth Bourgoin, field hockey, Winslow HS (Maine).
