Coaches work with 12-40 kids per season and much of that time is spent working on physical stamina and strategy.

But somewhere along the way, coaches impact their young charges in ways that aren’t measurable on the field or court.

Sometimes those impacts last a lifetime. And though a coach never really knows when he or she will have that kind of affect on a youngster, they approach every relationship like it will be for the long term.

For me, that was the overriding theme of Saturday night’s Hall of Fame banquet at East Wake High School.

Two of the three inductees were coaches. The third, a star athlete in the 1980s, left competitive sports behind after college and entered government service.

Coach Turk Dedrick’s impact on players and coaches alike was obvious from current coach Jimmy Williams’ remarks. He described Dedrick as a man who was much more than X’s and O’s. He was also a mentor, not only to the players he coached, but to coaches, like Williams, who came along after him.

And Dedrick was always willing to do something to help someone else.

That kind of approach to life instills loyalty beyond the pale.

Coach Miriam Strickland’s role in the lives of her players was evident in the number of former players in attendance at Saturday night’s banquet.

Strickland’s presenter, former Eastern Wake News sports editor Don Fuller, asked all the former players to stand and it was clear to me they were proud to have played under Strickland.

Two of Strickland’s players from her days at Vaiden Whitley High School sat at the table where I dined and they recounted a few stories about the woman they called “Strick”. That was a name I hadn’t heard in years, but it’s just the kind of term of endearment that good coaches often end up with.

One of the ladies came from Virginia Beach to attend the event.

The third inductee, Rodney Dickerson, wasn’t a coach. But he asked one of his former East Wake coaches, David Spain, to present him to the crowd.

Coach Spain has been out of coaching for several years now, having embarked on a career in the pharmaceutical business.

But Coach Spain meant enough to Rodney that the two have kept up with each other over the years. And when Saturday night came around, it seemed perfectly natural that Spain was the man who inducted Rodney into the Hall of Fame.

With the advantage of hindsight, it’s easy to see how a coach has pushed an athlete and maintained high expectations for a youngster.

And it’s easy to see how keeping those high expectations force young people to work hard to achieve them.

In the case of all three inductees at Saturday night’s event, the role of coach played a crucial part in their selection.

Two of them lived it. The third benefitted from it.

And, though it’ll be a year before the next Hall of Fame inductions, I hope you’ll figure out a way to attend. This area’s sports history is filled with some superb athletes and coaches and it’s a tradition we should celebrate fully.