Coach Derrick Pringle’s Focus Is Being A Winner On And Off The Court

Coach Derrick Pringle works with area youth to develop skills on and off the court.
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By Gail Wood

little caesars logoFor Derrick Pringle, it’s never just been about the final score or the hurrah for pulling out a win.

It’s never just been about the won/loss record. Although throughout his 17 years of coaching basketball – from YMCA youth basketball to head women’s coach at Grays Harbor College and now the new head boys’ basketball coach at Shelton High School – he’s always been driven to win.

That’s just not the primary reason he got into coaching in 1998 after serving 20 years in the Army. For Pringle, a high school All-American linebacker and an all-state performer in track growing up in Washington D.C., coaching is about mentoring. It’s about shaping and influencing lives.

“It’s about the all-around student athlete,” Pringle says. “What we want to do is prepare them for life.”

Coach Derrick Pringle works with area youth to develop skills on and off the court.
Coach Derrick Pringle works with area youth to develop skills on and off the court.

Basketball is a tool and a lure to accomplish that. Besides teaching the basics and talking about shooting techniques and defensive positions, Pringle also talks about accountability.

“What we want to do is prepare them for life,” Pringle shares. “We want these kids to go out into the community and give back and be a part of something.”

To accomplish that, Pringle attaches life lessons to basketball. For example, part of the entry fee for a one-day basketball tournament this summer was a pair of used, but in good-shape, sneakers from each player plus a packet of new socks. It was a sneaker shoe-drive for homeless kids. Randy Hedin-Baughn, a policeman in Tumwater, helped Pringle organize the tournament which drew four teams.

“Randy came up with the idea,” explains Pringle, who works full time for the Department of Social and Health Services. “It’s a way of helping these kids on the street. Give them hope by giving them some socks and a decent pair of shoes.”

On August 23 and 24, Pringle will again host Hoopin’ For Life, a two-day basketball tournament that mixes hoops and hope. Since 2000, Pringle has used the tournament to raise the awareness for bone marrow donor registration. Last year a representative from the American Bone Marrow Donor Registry attended, signing up local donors. The tournament’s mission is to raise awareness of leukemia and other blood cancers and the need for bone marrow donors. The tournament raised $2,800 last year.  The event will be held at the South Sound Sports Center in Tumwater.  Call  360-556-4342 to register your team.

Pringle runs the DAP Hoops program, combining a love or basketball and his Christian values.
Pringle runs the DAP Hoops program, combining a love or basketball and his Christian values.

Pringle feels if one person’s life can be saved because of this tournament then it will be worth it.

Over the years, Pringle, in addition to coaching school teams, has been the director for DAP Hoops, a youth basketball program in Tumwater. DAP is an acronym for Discipline, Attitude, Positive Performance. It’s a Christian based program that shares the gospel through mentoring and basketball. The goal of the program is to help bring players and families closer together and assist them in becoming better student-athletes, having a positive influence on their community.

Pringle, who works with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, shares his Christian faith at Bible studies with his teams. “I tell people that when they open the door, we’re going to give them the Good News,” Pringle says. “Last year, we did a big family prayer. Prayed for all the kids to have a good year.”  With seven teams last year, he worked with over 70 kids.

“It’s cool to see what happens,” Pringle smiles. “Some kids come back and say to me ‘Coach, I want to know more about God.’”

As a non-profit, Pringle, who coached the Grays Harbor College women’s basketball team for four years, said he barely makes enough money with the entry fees to pay for the building rental next to the driving range in Tumwater where he trains players ages 4-years-old up to college. “God has blessed us to be in this building for two years,” Pringle says.

As someone who’s coached everything from YMCA youth basketball to Evergreen State College to  Grays Harbor Community College and now, in the coming school year to Shelton High School, Pringle is living his dream. Pringle’s path began as an assistant coach for the youth basketball teams his two children played on and has grown into a passion and career.

Pringle will start the 2014-2015 school year as the new head boys basketball coach at Shelton High School.
Pringle will start the 2014-2015 school year as the new head boys basketball coach at Shelton High School.

“God has blessed me,” Pringle states. “I can say that I really enjoyed the opportunity that coaching college gave me.”

His time in the military – he retired in 1998 as a sergeant – taught him about the importance of teamwork. He believes it taught him that you can’t always take things on alone. But a unified team can “conquer all.”

“It’s a matter of playing together,” Pringle explains.

And now, as the boys’ basketball coach at Shelton High School, he hopes to return that program back to success with winners on and off the court. As always, he’s looking forward to the challenge.

 

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