After more than 40 years of coaching, Willapa Valley's John Peterson has retired from the profession he so dearly loves...coaching basketball and football.
"Forty years is long enough," said Peterson, who retired from teaching after 37 years in 2021.
Peterson is the epitome of a sports enthusiast. Peterson eats, drinks and breathes sporting events - whether it's professional, college or high school sports. Asked what his hobbies are, Peterson shot, "I don't have any. I watch sports. I mow the lawn, work in the yard...we travel some." More seriously though, Peterson deeply loves his family, and is going to devote even more time to his wife, children and grandchildren.
Peterson, who is a no-nonsense guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve, said. "With me, what you see is what you get."
On the sidelines, Peterson, who has received several coaching awards, including being inducted into the Washington State Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, was very demonstrative.
"I learned my work ethic from my dad," Peterson said. "My dad has the hardest work ethic I ever saw. It doesn't take any talent to work hard. We're a blue collar community. To outwork everybody, that is ingrained in our community."
True Blue Viking
Peterson, who graduated from Willapa Valley HS in 1977, is, and always will be a Valley Viking tried and true. "I played all the sports and was in a lot of clubs in high school," he said. "I was the ASB President for two years. As an athlete, I was pretty good, fair, but not great. I made some all-league teams. I could run pretty fast."
Peterson attended Grays Harbor College for two years and attended Western Washington University for a quarter. Peterson played golf at GHC and still shoots in the low 80s. "I quit school and worked. I drove a truck for my dad, worked at 76 station and at Pacific Wholesales, and then went back to school - Eastern Washington University in 1980." There, Peterson earned his bachelor of arts degree in education in June 1983.
Peterson met his wife, Jaime, while coaching at Skagit Valley. They have been married since July 1985. He then coached boys basketball at Concrete HS (1985-89). Eventually Peterson arrived at his roots at WVHS in the fall 1992 where he was an assistant coach under Tom Betrozoff for five years. "I learned a lot from him," Peterson said.
Peterson was the WVHS Athletic Director for a couple of years and was the head coach of the boys for 17 years and went to the state tournament 10 times and brought home trophies five times, including a second-place one in 2005. As a head coach, Peterson won 323 varsity boys games. Peterson was the Valley girls head coach for five years and took the Vikings to state three times. He coached Valley teams for 31 years.
Peterson is proud of his southern roots in Arkansas, North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and the midwestern state of Wisconsin.
Always Wanted to Coach
Some people don't know what they want to do at a young age, others know early on. "I always lived to play ball," Peterson said. "I always had a ball in my hand. I had a huge family and a lot of great male role models, my dad, my uncles, a lot of guys I looked up to were my coaches...Bob Rockett, Sr, "I called him Mr. Rockett 'til the day he died. Jack Pearson really helped me. I can't even tell you what Bud Sanchez means to me - what a great friend. I just love him. Those guys are pretty cool. I thought 'I could do that'."
37 Years of Teaching
Peterson taught for 37 years, including 29 at Valley. He primarily taught sixth through 12th grades, including physical education, history, health, a little math, English and algebra.
Asked how much have students changed over the years, Peterson said. "Kids haven't changed, society has changed. The expectations have changed. Parents are worried a lot about being their kids' friends. Parents don't expect as much from their kids. It's great to love and be tender. We've dropped the standard a little bit. Kids are different because the expectations are different. Children will give you what they expect. As a society, we've lost a little bit of toughness, too."
Peterson said, "I don't know that there was a tricky part of teaching. I just tried to do the best I could for the kids. Some kids need different stuff. All students should not be treated the same. Mostly, what I hoped was that they had all the tools they needed. I told them, 'When I give you an assignment, I expect you to do your best at it.' I hope they feel we prepared them and that we cared about them. I hope they thought I cared. The discipline was important to me. You respect your instructor. If there ever was a problem, they can come and talk to me. I'd sure listen."
Peterson said the biggest problem facing teachers is "There's a shortage of teachers. You have to jump through a lot of hoops. The pay is better than it was. Teaching is like a ministry; it's a calling. No one teaches for the money. It was a good gig for me. It's better than not being in the forest working hard."
There have been several changes in high school sports over the years.
"There's a whole myriad of things that have changed. The class change is a mess. We need to go back to hard numbers. The 2B cutoff should be 180 to 85. You've got schools that had 61 kids suited up. Equipment is way better. Kids are faster, better trained. Some athletes may not be students of the game as they used to be. Some 15-year-olds are like grown men. Back in the day you'd play against teams that would run the I, veer, wishbone; everybody runs the spread now. Most teams are some kind of a Mike Leach offense. Some day everybody will be throwing on every down. Well, you gotta put your hand in the dirt and go forward. It teaches good life lessons. Football is a great game."
Challenges of Coaching
Coaching encompasses many challenges. "Getting kids to adapt to the 'we' as a 'me' is a big thing," Peterson said. "The best part of athletics is 'we're gonna do this together.' The greatest things you will do with your life, you will do with someone else. One of my favorites was the '96 foot team that won state. These guys still see each other and when they do, they throw their arms around you. They still love each other. You can't teach that. The most important thing is getting to fight for each other. I'm gonna give up myself because I don't want to let my teammates down."
Peterson said there's not anything he can say about himself that most people don't already know. "My heart's on my sleeve. I'm pretty transparent. I was so blessed that I got to do something that I got to do my whole life in a place where I wanted to do it. I'm really proud to be where I'm from. I'll miss not hearing the Valley fight song. That still fires me."
Asked if he's going to pull a Tom Brady and unretire, Peterson said, "About 25 guys have asked me that. My wife has given a lot. We want to spend time with our grandkids and our kids. Will I miss it? Oh hell yes, I'll miss it like crazy."
In closing Peterson offered, "My granny used to tell me, boy, you need to sweep your own porch and let people take care of theirs. Take good care of yourself, she was pretty smart. I wish I'd listened to her more."
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