CHAPEL HILL—The North Carolina High School Athletic Association announced today that two special awards are being established in the name of the late Pat Gainey, long-time coach who will be inducted into the NCHSAA Hall of Fame in April.
A native of Dunn, Gainey recorded a phenomenal record in women’s basketball at a couple of different stops during his coaching career and was a real supporter of women’s athletics. His overall record at Pamlico was an incredible 93-6, and he went from there to Taylorsville, where he coached form 1955-64. His women’s basketball teams won Western North Carolina High School Activities Association titles five times and at one point recorded 54 consecutive wins and a whopping 140 straight conference victories. His overall women’s basketball mark was 358-57. He also was an excellent baseball coach.
The Pat Gainey Coach Award will recognize excellence in character, achievement and coaching. It is designed to go to a varsity coach at an NCHSAA school who provides great leadership, who shows interest in his or her athletes on and off the field or court, is recognized as scrupulously honest, and has strongly supported an anti-drug and alcohol policy.
The Gainey Student Scholarship will recognize athletic achievement and strength of character. The 2006-07 recipient will be a senior female athlete with at least a cumulative GPA of 3.2, enrolled at an NCHSAA member school located within a county of limited financial resources as outlined by certain census figures. The scholarship recipient must posses a strong work ethic, demonstrate athletic success during the high school career and demonstrate respect for coaches and teammates.
Student scholarship recipients will alternate annually between a female athlete and a male baseball player meeting the established criteria.
The awards are made possible by a gift from Gainey’s daughter, Mrs. Berry Jo Gainey Shoen, who currently resides in Port Townsend, Washington.
“I am delighted to announce these awards to be given in my father’s name,” said Mrs. Shoen. “He loved North Carolina, and the many years he spent teaching and coaching there were the most enjoyable ones of his life. Dad would be pleased to be a part of the NCHSAA and especially its mission to avoid students having to ‘pay to play’.
“To achieve excellence, Dad believed that basic skills and principles must be mastered. These awards recognizing achievement in coaching and playing, as well as strength of character, reflect fundamentals at a time when people are inundated with choices. To my father, who lived a colorful life, the best and most memorable times were spent winning—with integrity.”
In the first year of the awards, the recipients will come from Alexander Central or Pamlico High Schools, where Gainey spent most of his career. Starting in 2007-08, the student scholarship award will be opened up to counties having a poverty rate for children 17 and under of 20 percent and over and the coaches award will be available for nominations from all NCHSAA member schools.
“We are really excited about both of these awards and believe these are great additions to the legacy of Pat Gainey,” said NCHSAA executive director Charlie Adams. “The recipients will certainly embody many of the wonderful characteristics that made Pat so successful.”
Nomination forms are available on the NCHSAA web site at www.nchsaa.org.
