After well over a decade of coaching duties at Bridgeport High School, Boys’ Soccer Coach Danny Hamrick has decided to step down.

 

“I just feel like it’s the right time. I’ve been at BHS as either assistant or head coach for 13 to 14 years and I feel it’s the right time for the boys to have someone else in their ear,” he said. “Things can get stale and need to get jump started a little bit.”

 

Hamrick said he has coached one sport or another since he was 19 years old.

 

“I started out coaching Little League baseball and did that for several years. I also coached youth football and when my son was born, I got involved in soccer. For several years, I coached baseball and soccer because he played both,” Hamrick said.

 

Hamrick and John Reese – BHS girls’ soccer coach – formed a travel soccer team together several years ago.

 

“When (Reese) went to Bridgeport as head (boys’) soccer coach, he asked me to come assist and I took the team over the next year,” Hamrick said.

 

The year Hamrick took over as head coach, his son Jesse was a BHS junior and member of the Indians soccer team. Bridgeport was then Class AAA.

 

The best part of Hamrick’s tenure was coaching his son for four years and seeing the Tribe make the final four during Jesse’s senior year.

“That’s probably the biggest bright spot for me,” he said.

 

Though that was the only year the Indians made it to the state tournament, Hamrick said coaching has had its rewards and leaves many good memories.

 

“Watching kids grow from freshmen to seniors – the transformation they go through from a little kid to a young man – is just amazing,” he said.

 

Hamrick said his coaching style is old school and he admits he has been tough on his athletes through the years.

 

“There were times I thought they hated me, but after they graduate, they come back around and tell me how much they appreciated it,” he said. “I always looked at it that I was part soccer coach and part life coach. I always wanted them to grow up to be nice young men.”

 

Still, he did plenty of joking around with his players - especially the freshmen, he said.

 

He takes with him some funny memories and there’s one that stands out from the others.

 

“I laughed so hard I could hardly stand up. It was when Andrew Funk was a senior,” Hamrick said. “We were at practice one day and everybody was warming up and kicking the ball around and Andrew was sitting on the bleachers. I walked over and said, ‘What’s up, Buddy?’ and he said ‘Coach, I hurt my knee.’ I assumed he had done it kicking the ball around without stretching and I always warned the boys not to do that. I was about to raise heck with him when he told me he hurt it at band practice. Here we were, knocking the heck out of each other playing soccer and it was at band that he got hurt.”

 

Hamrick said he has told the story a time or two and will likely laugh every time he thinks about it. Though he won’t be coaching any longer, he will always be a fan of the Tribe soccer team.

 

“I’ll be there to cheer them on. It’s been a hard decision to leave because I love the kids so much,” he said.

 

BHS Principal and former Athletic Director Matt DeMotto said Hamrick will be missed and that he was an asset to the school’s athletic programs.

 

“Coach Hamrick’s teams were always disciplined and hard-working. I never had to worry about Coach not having high expectations for his players on and off the field,” DeMotto said. “If he had a rule regarding his team, he consistently followed it. He was fair and tough and ran his program accordingly. He owned his decisions and those who wanted to become more disciplined and responsible young men were afforded that benefit. We wish him well.”

 

Hamrick is retired from Clarksburg Fire Department and works as a Harrison County code officer. He and his wife Lori live at Elk View Meadows in Quiet Dell. In addition to Jesse – who is currently a second-year law student at Washington & Lee – the Hamricks are the parents of a daughter, Lacara Hinebaugh.

 

Editor's Note: Hamrick is pictured with members of the BHS Soccer Team.