Papa Honeck is 'Coach of the Year'
Editor's note: As the Lady Trojans head to Hutchinson for the State basketball tournament, we thought it would be fitting to reprint this article written this past July about Hillsboro High School principal and head basketball coach Dale Honeck, who, in our opinion, deserves the Coach of the Year award.
We say "Congratulations and Happy Birthday!" to Honeck, who turns 61 Thursday. Asked how old he felt after Saturday's sub state championship win over Hesston, Honeck paused a moment, then smiled and said, "30!"
For Honeck, this is the first time in his coaching career he has led any team to a 20-win season, and the first time he has taken any team to a championship tournament.
We say, it couldn't have happened at a better time, or, in our opinion, to a finer coach.
Go Trojans!
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Word that The Principal had been selected to be The Coach brought a groan from demanding sports fans in Hillsboro, who want to return to the dominant days of Lady Trojan high school basketball.
People asked, "Does The Principal know anything about coaching basketball?"
They wondered, "Does The Principal even know where the whistles are?"
After the girls' summer basketball skills camp ended Friday, these questions have been answered.
Yes, Dale Honeck knows about basketball. He played college ball, and coached for 18 years, college and prep.
And, yes, Honeck knew where to find a whistle.
With each tweet! he shared more and more of his hardwood wisdom, and as he did, The Principal none of the players really knew morphed into The Coach they'd all been hoping for.
Making Honeck coach was a good decision, said senior-to-be player Lora Andrews.
"All we'd seen of him was as the principal," she said. "This is a different side of him. He knows his stuff. He's cool."
Honeck is the Lady Trojan's third basketball coach in as many years. Andrews was not looking forward to learning another new system.
But when the camp ended Friday, Andrews was smiling.
"Now that we know what's coming this basketball season, we're definitely excited," she said. "Definitely."
After a few days worth of three-hour camp sessions, The Principal was awful sore as he rested in his office chair.
But The Coach in the sweat-drenched Trojans T-shirt was definitely excited as well.
"We had good numbers and we got a lot of things done," Honeck said. "It was a great week."
For five days a gym that even in the morning seemed too hot and muggy to pass a ball through, 18 Lady Trojans learned firsthand what the superintendent, school board, assistant coaches, and former players already knew:
Without a doubt Honeck is the right person for the job.
"We have somebody that has a lot of experience coaching and who knows how to work with young people," USD 410 superintendent Gordon Mohn said.
"He brought the stability and leadership that we need, at the right time."
The search for a new coach began in April, when Melissa Stenfors resigned after a 12-10 season, her first.
Stenfors had had a tough act to follow. She replaced Becky Carlson, who took Hillsboro to the Class 3A state tournament in 2001 and had kept the Lady Trojans perennially at the top of the polls.
To make the situation more difficult for Stenfors, Carlson had moved to Iola where she coached her team to the Class 4A state crown.
As it turned out, none of the new teachers hired by the district were basketball coaches. Despite the full-court pressure, the new coach would have to be selected from within.
Hiring Honeck went against an unspoken policy that administrators should not coach, Mohn said.
Foremost in Mohn's mind was making sure The Principal could also be The Coach without shortchanging either time-consuming job.
But in the end, the decision was a no-brainer, Mohn said.
School Board President Rod Koons agreed. By the time the interview with Honeck was over in May, he was ready to take the court himself.
"It was just awesome, unbelievable," Koons said.
"I knew he had some basketball background, but I had no idea where he had been and what he had done."
Meeting for the first time with his players in June, Honeck showed them press clippings from his former life in basketball.
Among the articles was a photo of the giant high school arena in Marshalltown, Iowa, where he was a three-sport letterman. There also were articles about his career as a college athlete at Wartburg (Iowa) College.
Honeck's coaching odyssey began in 1968, when became a graduate assistant coach at the University of Virginia, earning his master's degree.
Honeck held two coaching positions, at College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City, N.C., and Southwest State University, in Marshall, MN.
That's where he met Mary Peterson. They were married, in 1975. Tired of seven years of difficult college recruiting, Honeck left Southwest State and for a high school coaching position in North Carolina.
Two years later, in 1983, he returned to Iowa for two difficult seasons at dismal Muscatine High.
After 18 years of coaching, Honeck hung up the whistle.
At 45, the Honecks moved to Wilcox, AZ, where Mary's mother was dying of cancer. Honeck taught history at Wilcox High until 1991. While there he studied for his administrator's certificate at the University of Northern Arizona.
The principal's career began in 1991, when Honeck became the principal at Hugoton High. He stayed there for 10 years, before coming to Hillsboro.
The Honecks have two girls, Amy Jones, 28, of Winfield, who is married and two children. And Kate Honas, 23, who was recently married and lives in Ellis.
His grandchildren call him Papa, Mary said.
At 60, Honeck says he has a much better perception of basketball and life.
"Truthfully I feel like I'm at the best time in my life to be coaching," he said.
Kelli Chisholm, a fourth-grade teacher at Hillsboro Elementary School, is one of Honeck's assistant coaches.
"He's impressive, more than impressive," Chisholm said. "He's intense, but not overwhelming."
Fellow Assistant Coach Dennis Boldt predicted that Honeck would be a tonic for the troubled team.
It took Honeck no time at all to earn the respect of the players at camp, Boldt said. By the end of camp, players had no problem accepting Honeck in his new role.
"He went from Principal Honeck, to Mr. Honeck, to Coach," Boldt said.
Before basketball season begins Nov. 14, what should his players call him?
"I'd want them to call me coach, actually," Honeck said.
— GRANT OVERSTAKE
