Each year, 12 former high school athletes and coaches in Alaska are honored for their contributions to interscholastic athletics around the state. To be considered for the Alaska High School Hall of Fame, nominees must not have been active in Alaska high school athletics for at least five years.
Former Kenai Central High School teacher Jim Beeson is one of this year’s inductees. During his 25-year career in Alaska, he coached the school’s football, track, and boys and girls basketball teams.
Beeson received a number of honors while in Kenai, including Alaska Coach of the Year. If teaching at Kenai has taught him anything, Beeson says it’s that great kids make average coaches look good.
“It’s just an indication of the old saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a kid,’ it takes a village to make a hall of fame coach," he said. "That’s what’s the beauty about working in Alaska, is your ability to impact kids and have an impact in some way is much greater than, in my opinion, what I’ve found in the Lower 48.”
Beeson began coaching in Kenai right out of college and says the community is one of the most supportive he’s ever worked in. He coached alongside other Alaska High School Hall of Fame inductees and says it's a privilege to be on the same level as people he looks up to.
“Winning can’t be the most important thing," Beeson said. "If you do things the right way, winning will take care of itself. I just hope people think that I had kids’ best interest in heart and did things that were good for kids.”
Just north of Kenai, Ward Romans was one of the first hires at Nikiski High School in the late 1980s. He taught there for over 20 years, and coached football, wrestling and most notably, varsity girls basketball. He also coached at Grace Christian School in Anchorage for 18 years.
During his tenure at Nikiski, his team won eight March Madness Alaska state championship titles, along with other accolades. Romans moved to Nikiski from Fairbanks and says it was one of the best decisions he and his family ever made.
“It’s very humbling, and I feel very honored because I’m representing so many people," Romans said. "All of my players over the 20 years I coached, all the fellow coaches that were on the staff with me and the administration at Niksiki and the community. I’m humbled by it to be able to represent Nikiski at the hall of fame.”
He says his favorite part about coaching was attending practices. Romans misses interacting with players and hopes to have distilled valuable life skills to all the youth he’s worked with.
“I hope that that’s what they came away with learning, is that commitment and hard work go a long way in bringing a joyful life,” he said.
Billy Strickland, the director of the nonprofit that started the hall of fame, says the committee's choice for this year’s inductees was challenging because of a high volume of nominees.
“These coaches put a lot of kids on a great path, and I think these athletes have gone on and really taken the athletic skills that they’ve spent a lot of time crafting, translating it to a hard work ethic, good teammates and kids that can persevere," Strickland said. "All of those are really what we’re about, and I think this group really spikes that for us.”
Strickland says the Kenai Peninsula’s new hall of famers are prime examples of that ethic.
“There’s some that you really pour through and determine whether or not they're at the level that warrants induction," he said. "Jim and Ward, they were the proverbial slam dunk.”
This year’s Alaska High School Hall of Fame front-runners will be inducted Sunday in Anchorage. The hall is currently home to over 180 high school athletes and coaches around the state.
