VA I think every coach deserves the award for best coach.The time and effort these guys put in for our kids are greatly appreciated. Just to name a few and not necessary in any order are.
Coach Lee - Great Bridge 02/03 State Champs
Beach District Coach Wilson - First Colonial 26th season @ FC Coach Zell - Salem Coach S't Clair - Kellam Coach Hunt - Princess Anne Coach Morrison - Bayside Coach Shedden - Ocean Lakes Coach Conroy - Cox Coach Showe - Kempsville
fc v dad
Posts: 314 | Location: Virginia Beach | Registered: January 11, 2003
Sure every coach deserves the award. But one of the best coaches, who does the most with the least amount of talent is Coach West at Indian River. They might not be State Champs, but Coach West gets the most out of all his players.
Posts: 553 | Location: Chesapeake, VA | Registered: December 30, 2002
Although only a JV coach, Scott Fowler, formerly of Princess Anne, has contributed a lot of time and energy into the program at Norfolk Academy. He often devotes his spare time to field maintenance and spending extra time instructing his players. He has a great knowledge of the game and deserves to have an oppurtunity to be a varsity coach in the near future.
Posts: 191 | Location: VA | Registered: December 30, 2002
I agree with EK6. I was around coach Fowler for 3 years at PA and he is an outstanding coach. Not only with x's and o'x but with academics, one on one to players and his high ethical standards.
FieldBuilder
Posts: 304 | Location: Va. Beach, VA | Registered: December 27, 2002
Coach Pete Zell at Salem is a quality coach...he seems to have a curse vs Kellam (since he played there)...Salem usually struggles with Kellam...but the guy is really sharp...holds winter camps..and other assorted camps...works long hours for the improvement of the Sundevils team...
Posts: 6 | Location: va beach/fairfax, va | Registered: September 22, 2003
gmu-ece, i too agree that pete zell has matured nicely into one of the finer baseball people in tidewater. pete also has a good supporting staff that he works well with. although the "beach" district is blessed with 6 or 7+- quality coaches, i don't see towny townsend's name yet on this list ? towny has done more for the game of baseball in tidewater in the last 25-26+- years than anyone. from coaching the college and high school level, and more importantly the youth. (he is the pioneer of "aau" baseball) boo williams gets a ton of credit for his enormous efforts in aau basketball, and it is well deserved. towny's labor of love for the game of baseball is reflected in the tidewater area becoming the "hot bed" that now exists.
Posts: 135 | Location: va. beach, va | Registered: February 13, 2003
Towny Townsend - great motivator Vince Zebro - knows baseball as well as anyone Wiley Lee - relates to his players well Pete Zell - a hard worker and knowledgable
Posts: 3892 | Location: VB, VA | Registered: December 26, 2002
All the coaches listed do a great job as noted. I'll ad my observations:
Coach Townsend - always got the most out of his teams at Lake Taylor. They played w/ a lot of heart, although at times they may have not been most talented of teams they played the game hard. That tradition of preparation & hustle seems to continue at Greenbrier Christian. Congrats to Sean on his hiring to the Great Bridge JV job.
Coach West - like someone said before, he definitely gets the most out of his players of anyone on the Southside.
Coach Lee - great motivator, in a solid program. His results speak for themselves. Great Bridge sets the mark for others in the S/E district to follow.
Coach Zell - another motivator, who is doing a great job at developing his program.
Coach Spedden - one of the best at the beach in getting the most out of his talent. Several regional appearances over the last few years by doing the little things right.
Coaches Jones (Kellam), Conroy (Cox) & Hunt (PA) are fairly new guys in good programs. Each is a motivator & bring a lot of knowledge to their program along w/ a work ethic.
Coach Wilson - brings a wealth of knowledge along w/ a love for working w/ & teaching players about the game. Another coach who's program sets the mark for others to follow.
Not to slight any others, these are just the gentlemen that I'm familiar with. We are bless to have these coaches in our area & our kids learning from them.
Posts: 199 | Location: Virginia | Registered: December 26, 2002
Towny Townsend is the best coach in tidewater period! Coach Wilson is next. lee at GB doesn't make the top 5, he has been blessed with a lot of talented players. Towny would have been undefeated if he had the team lee had at GB last year! lee chased a lot of good players out of GB over the past five years. I guess he has recruited a couple good players in the last two years.
Posts: 17 | Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA | Registered: January 06, 2003
I think all the coacges that were named are very good coaches. But to say Towny didn't have some very talented players, would be an understatement. I know that 6 of his players are how playing college ball.Most of them will be starting for their teams as freshmen. As for coach LEE, I think he is a very good coach. He teaches his players how to play the game.You can have all the talent in the world, but if you can't get them to play as a team you won't go very far.
Posts: 83 | Location: CHESAPEAKE,VA..USA | Registered: January 23, 2003
Please note the original post: “Who are some of the best coaches down in the tidewater area nowadays?” I would like to point out that although Matt Sinnen does not hold the position of head baseball Coach at a local High School, he should also be included in this list of outstanding baseball Coaches. One need only look at some of the players Matt has nurtured in the Driller program, some now playing professionally. Does anyone not recognize the Tidewater Drillers? Matt has been involved with this program for many years now, and this program, in large part due to his involvement, has captured national respect and recognition.
Posts: 13 | Location: Virginia Beach, VA USA | Registered: January 08, 2003
If you are including AAU coaches you might want to include Gary Wright. I believe it was him and Matt that originated the Drillers and his players are now some of the top players in the area.
Posts: 20 | Location: virginia beach, Virginia | Registered: May 29, 2003
Gotta add this: Seems folks have forgotten a little incident last season involvng Coach Lee and one of his players during a game. Seems it was kept sort of quiet, but the young man transferred to Greenbriar this year. My info said he suffered a ruptured ear drum from the yelling directly into his ear. Let's not misunderstand my post, I know all coaches get a bit animated at times. Coach Lee has been a quality teacher of the game for some time and has fallen victim to his share of bad press. My inputs for best coaches are Jimmy Hunt, St. Clair Jones, and Pete Zell. These guys teach the game and, in my opinion, prepare the players for the next level. A few of the others mentioned have passed their prime and have been lucky enough to have others fill in for them or get the right transfers. Should be interesting to see how this season plays out for some of the coaches that supposedly have lost their assistants from previous years... Just my thoughts
Posts: 64 | Location: Virginia Beach, VA, USA | Registered: December 30, 2002
