NewsAthleticsBasketball
Van Es to be inducted into Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame
Jan 5, 2009 12:00 AM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Longtime Darlington administrator and basketball coach Jim Van Es will be one of three new inductees to the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame this year. Nominated by 22 members of the first sixth-grade class he taught at Darlington 40 years ago, Van Es will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony on March 2.
“There are many words that can be used to describe Jim Van Es – father, teacher, headmaster, principal, assistant coach, head coach, friend, care giver. All describe a unique quality in Jim and the talent that goes with the title,” read the nomination letter. “But perhaps the one he enjoys the most is coach … it is [this title] that challenges him and enables him to instill in the lives of his players the drive and ambition to succeed, not at all costs, but yet through determination and purpose. It is his lifetime of achievements in this role that make him a perfect candidate for the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame.”
Many of Van Es’ other former students and colleagues, including Gordon Bondurant, Amanda (Hunt) Davidson (’78), Gloria Eberhart, Jim Hunter (’75), Bill Kelly (’71), Beth Kempshall (’80), Jim McCallie, Will Muschamp (’90), David Rhodes, Stephanie (Hunt) Stevens (’83), Jon Roebuck (’78), Todd Turner and Chad Warner (’94), also wrote letters on his behalf.
Van Es began teaching math and coaching basketball at Darlington in 1968, and throughout his tenure, he has demonstrated his versatility coaching boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball, varsity football, varsity baseball and junior varsity basketball.
“While Coach Van Es is most widely known for his basketball teams, I had the good fortune to play football and baseball for him in the late 60s and early 70s,” Kelly said. “He taught us then, as he does today, the value of hard work and fair play.”
As a basketball coach, he has led 11 teams to the state tournament and one team to the Final Four.
“His lifetime achievement is not limited to his success on the court, although there has been plenty of that,” Stevens said. “Jim Van Es’ lifetime achievement has been sharing his love for the game of basketball with thousands of young student-athletes, and inspiring them to live lives that matter.”
For his dedication to coaching, Van Es was recognized by Scholastic Coach Magazine with a National High School Basketball Coach Gold Award in 1989 and is a member of Franklin Select Circle of High School Coaches. He is a two-time Northwest Georgia Coach of the Year, and has also been recognized as Coach of the Year by the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club.
“Coach Van Es rarely had the most talented team, but he always had the hardest playing team. That is the best compliment you can have as a coach,” said Muschamp, defensive coordinator for the University of Texas. “I learned valuable coaching lessons from him in my three years playing varsity basketball that I still use today. His basketball knowledge is vast, but his personal touch is what makes him special … The success I enjoy today can be largely attributed to Jim Van Es. He taught us more than basketball. He taught us about life.”
Van Es holds a B.S. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a M.Ed. from the University of Tennessee. During his tenure at Darlington, he has received the Oscar Betts Master Teacher Award, the R.M. Yankee Teacher Award and been a two-time recipient of the James Douglas Brown Jr. Faculty Award. He has also appeared multiple times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
“For 40 years, Jim Van Es has poured out his life in dedication and service to the young men and women of Rome and Floyd County," Roebuck said. "In an age when coaches quickly jump from one school to another to chase the dream of higher pay and greater notoriety, Coach Van Es has planted his life at one school, and I, along with many others, am better because of it.”
Tickets to the awards ceremony are $30 and will be on sale through the Rome-Floyd County Parks and Recreation Authority beginning Jan. 10. The event will be held at Berry College's Ford Dining Hall.
“There are many words that can be used to describe Jim Van Es – father, teacher, headmaster, principal, assistant coach, head coach, friend, care giver. All describe a unique quality in Jim and the talent that goes with the title,” read the nomination letter. “But perhaps the one he enjoys the most is coach … it is [this title] that challenges him and enables him to instill in the lives of his players the drive and ambition to succeed, not at all costs, but yet through determination and purpose. It is his lifetime of achievements in this role that make him a perfect candidate for the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame.”
Many of Van Es’ other former students and colleagues, including Gordon Bondurant, Amanda (Hunt) Davidson (’78), Gloria Eberhart, Jim Hunter (’75), Bill Kelly (’71), Beth Kempshall (’80), Jim McCallie, Will Muschamp (’90), David Rhodes, Stephanie (Hunt) Stevens (’83), Jon Roebuck (’78), Todd Turner and Chad Warner (’94), also wrote letters on his behalf.
Van Es began teaching math and coaching basketball at Darlington in 1968, and throughout his tenure, he has demonstrated his versatility coaching boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball, varsity football, varsity baseball and junior varsity basketball.
“While Coach Van Es is most widely known for his basketball teams, I had the good fortune to play football and baseball for him in the late 60s and early 70s,” Kelly said. “He taught us then, as he does today, the value of hard work and fair play.”
As a basketball coach, he has led 11 teams to the state tournament and one team to the Final Four.
“His lifetime achievement is not limited to his success on the court, although there has been plenty of that,” Stevens said. “Jim Van Es’ lifetime achievement has been sharing his love for the game of basketball with thousands of young student-athletes, and inspiring them to live lives that matter.”
For his dedication to coaching, Van Es was recognized by Scholastic Coach Magazine with a National High School Basketball Coach Gold Award in 1989 and is a member of Franklin Select Circle of High School Coaches. He is a two-time Northwest Georgia Coach of the Year, and has also been recognized as Coach of the Year by the Northwest Georgia Tip-Off Club.
“Coach Van Es rarely had the most talented team, but he always had the hardest playing team. That is the best compliment you can have as a coach,” said Muschamp, defensive coordinator for the University of Texas. “I learned valuable coaching lessons from him in my three years playing varsity basketball that I still use today. His basketball knowledge is vast, but his personal touch is what makes him special … The success I enjoy today can be largely attributed to Jim Van Es. He taught us more than basketball. He taught us about life.”
Van Es holds a B.S. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a M.Ed. from the University of Tennessee. During his tenure at Darlington, he has received the Oscar Betts Master Teacher Award, the R.M. Yankee Teacher Award and been a two-time recipient of the James Douglas Brown Jr. Faculty Award. He has also appeared multiple times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.
“For 40 years, Jim Van Es has poured out his life in dedication and service to the young men and women of Rome and Floyd County," Roebuck said. "In an age when coaches quickly jump from one school to another to chase the dream of higher pay and greater notoriety, Coach Van Es has planted his life at one school, and I, along with many others, am better because of it.”
Tickets to the awards ceremony are $30 and will be on sale through the Rome-Floyd County Parks and Recreation Authority beginning Jan. 10. The event will be held at Berry College's Ford Dining Hall.
