04/23/2024
Reappearing briefly here for a personal hat tip to my dad (Coach Stan Narewski) for retiring after a coaching career that spanned five decades. I’ve always admired my father for all the success he’s had across ALL the events he’s coached in his track and cross-country career (more on that in a moment). But I’ll always be amazed by the impact he had on his athletes' and other coaches’ lives. Throughout his career, Dad worked hard to keep his athletes on a path to success beyond running: motivating, challenging, and helping them wherever he could. I’ve also watched him talk for hours with other coaches both young and old to lend a listening ear, offer advice, or just catch up.
Oh, and don’t forget all the stories. Stories that made people laugh. Stories that could make people cry. But stories that always entertained and usually had a had a helpful lesson coming right behind it. While I have heard many of the “famous stories” a number of times, I’m still getting new stories thrown my way whenever we hang out today.
In that vein, I do have an ask. We are collecting congratulations and "Thanks You's" from anyone Dad has influenced over the years. The plan is to compile them all into a video and/or small notebook. So, if you’d like to share your favorite “Stan Narewski story,” your favorite story about Coach Stan, or just a quick thank you, send a video or email to [email protected].
Oh, and a quick bullet list of the coaching success Dad has had over the course of his career.
- Over 300 All Americans
- NCAA Men’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year
- NJCAA Men’s Outdoor Track and Field National Championship Team
- Five Runner up National Championship Teams
- 5 Time National Coach of Year Awards
- Head Coach for Three USA Paralympic Teams
- Had 7 athletes break 30 minutes for 10K in a single season
Congrats to you, Dad, for a great career and “hammering the nails” all the way to the end.
