Interview with Kevin Lovings
Kevin Lovings is a husband, a father, a teacher, and a catching coach. Kevin coached for 32 years, 11 of those years at the college level. He’s currently an assistant for the baseball team at Sunset High School in Beaverton, Oregon and teaching physical education. He is retiring after this school year.
Below I have written most of what we talked about but you can listen to the full podcast HERE.
Q: You’ve mentioned to me that you spend a lot of time having conversations with high school students on school choice. Can you talk about that?
A: I help guide them with the transition post high school for making a career choice. I like to start those conversations early. We usually ask if they want to play baseball in college and if so we set them up with a plan. I believe those conversations should begin early and not late to allow the transition to be easier. They’ll be uncomfortable at times but necessary. A lot of young people don’t realize how fast it goes by. We had the theme “the blink of an eye” in a speech by a senior at graduation. If they get excited about something then that will get them committed. Having an early vision and a plan is exciting when it works out for them.
Q: How do your athletes handle the transition from high school to college?
A: It depends on how well their career goes whether they decide to go on to play. We have 2 men we have going on to play in college. We’re stressing with our experiences coaching at the college level to balance academic and athletics, and take time for yourself. At the college level, it’s like a job. Being realistic, continue to be where your feet are. Whether you’re playing sports or not, day by day, there will be a lot of growth the first year. Mom and dad won’t be there and you’re doing things on your own so embrace the process. This is a new routine you’re going to go through.
Q: When you coached at the college level, how did your athletes prepare for life after graduation?
A: Coaching at the D3 level is very academic. It was amazing even for me coaching there. I was surprised because we had practice and these guys were bringing the mindset on whatever project they’re working on. We worked on finding that balance and realizing the work load with freshmen. Sophomores and up they found the balance. Freshmen, depending on how structured their high school was, they might struggle with the work load.
Q: Coaches make a huge impact on young players lives. What has been one of your favorite moments as a coach?
A: Seeing a path coming to fruition with an athlete. Having good connections with former athletes 5-10 years down the road. When they understand why you were they way you were as far as discipline and expectations and so forth. My job is to get these guys get ready for varsity play as quick as possible. We have them write them down a “why” card for something to hold them accountable to. This is why I’m playing. If we have a young man tell us they’re not sure they want to play, we say let’s revisit your “why”. You’re not aligned with your “why”, you’ve gotten distracted. If a young man is still committed to their why in their senior year, I’ve done my job. I’ve helped them understand the importance of being where your feet are. Embrace the process. Failure isn’t always automatic it’s chaotic. When you see that end result, when they are actually fulfilling their why, is extremely fulfilling. Second is when you’re invited to weddings. When your players are calling you for life advice, just to keep in touch or sharing those important moments. Those are breakthrough moments and I hope to continue to have many more of those. Those are the ones that stand out more than any accomplishment as a coach.
Q: How was your path with high school coaching versus college?
A: I started coaching in 1991 student teaching in Salem and found my way up to Portland. Coaching was a great door for me to get my first teaching position. I was 9 years as a head coach prior to going to Pacific University. I got an opportunity to go to Sunset, coached there for 5 years and a coworker of mine was a head coach at Pacific and was a PE teacher at sunset. I was working with the catchers in 2000 and fell in love with the environment. It was a good break to work with more mature young adults. I resigned from the head coaching baseball job in 2003 and was hired as an assistant at Pacific. I spent 11 years there and our head coach at Sunset had decided to retire at the same time my son was going into high school. This was a great opportunity to go back to the high school. I’ve been there ever since. My son graduated high school in 2018. Although I’ve retired from teaching but I’m not retired from coaching. I’ll still be there.
Q: You’re going through a transition in life yourself. What are your thoughts on retirement?
A: Summer break is here. That’s the one question I get asked. It’s funny, you always ask everybody else, “what are you going to do?”. I’m still active in the baseball community. I’ll keep busy with that. I think it will all hit in September. For right now, summer break is summer break so I’m already locked into that routine of having that two and a half months off. I’ll keep busy. I think with the covid situation and having to work remotely from home, I kind of got used to that. The retirement window was near but I think I’ll find enough things to do. I’ll be busy at least the first few months with projects in my wife’s list of things for me to do.
I feel satisfied when I did what I’m supposed to do. My mindset is that you should always be looking forward to the next best thing in your life. Everything you’ve done up to that point makes that transition easier because you set the table for the next step. Life isn’t about being comfortable. Sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to define comfort. Transitions in life are good, having perspective on those things early are better. Coaching is my identity and I take pride in that. It’s not who I am but it’s something that I do. Take pride in that being a part of your character. It allows me to be successful and find grit because of this badge that I proudly wore for this part of my life: athlete.
Transitioning out of sports is also tough for parents. Even parents are losing that social clique when their kid decides not to play, they feel like they’re losing something.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is recently done playing a sport?
A: Enjoy your journey. Enjoy the time with your friends and what you really gained from it. Just be happy with playing the game and the memories that you have. It’s about the stories you’ll have at your 10 year reunion. It’s not really about you, it’s about the guys that you played with. It’s all about creating the memories.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who is currently playing a sport?
A: The same thing. We have a smaller amount of kids that want to go on and play in college. Be committed because you don’t want to have any regrets. You don’t want to look back and have regrets. No regrets. If the game were to end tomorrow, how would you feel. If you worked hard, you could say you left it all on the field. Be committed to what you’re doing. Don’t look back on your life and regret that you cheated yourself. That you didn’t give it your best. You don’t have to be the best but you can give it your best effort.
If you have any more questions for Kevin, please leave comments below or contact me. If you or someone you know is struggling, please call the Suicide Hotline. It’s toll free and available 24/7 at 800-273-8255.
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