WILLIAMS: Shopping for Dad at Oakmont
Last year, I thought I had the perfect plan for a Father’s Day gift as I was traveling to Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., for the final day of the 2016 U.S. Open.
Many Mahoning Valley sports fans will never forget last year’s Father’s Day as one of the most special nights in their lives. About an hour after the Open ended, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors faced off in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought came to an end with a spectacular finish.
Hours earlier, I was following Warren JFK graduate Jason Kokrak on his final 10 holes at Oakmont. Minutes after he left the No. 18 green, I stopped him for a quick interview.
On my way back to the Media Center was the U.S. Open’s auxiliary gift store. Perfect — the son who can’t hit a golf ball straight to save his life was going to find his my golf-loving Dad a special polo shirt.
Things didn’t go exactly as I had hoped. Eric Fender, Springfield High School’s boys basketball varsity coach for the past eight seasons, probably can relate. Last week, we spoke about his decision to step down as the Tigers coach after his father, Tom, told him he was retiring from coaching.
Tom Fender has been one of the Valley’s most successful basketball mentors, first as varsity head coach at Austintown Fitch then as an assistant to Poland’s Ken Grisdale when Eric and his brother Chad were players.
In 2009 when Eric took over the Springfield varsity, Tom left Poland to become his son’s assistant.
Full disclosure: Even though the Fenders are from Poland and my family lives in archrival Canfield, I’ve enjoyed watching and covering the Fenders. Eric’s mother, Holly, was my stepdaughter’s (Beth Rapp Miller) fifth-grade teacher. Holly and my wife, Janet, were teaching colleagues in Canfield schools. Eric and our daughter (Amanda Williams Craig) were born about a week apart.
The news that Eric was stepping down was a bit of a surprise. It’s not from lack of success — he earned his 100th career victory the same week he turned 30. His Tigers won five Inter-Tri County League titles.
Fender’s decision is because he’s found it impossible to replace his dad.
“I’ve been lucky — my best assistant coach was my Dad,” he said. “You want some one like that around you as much as possible so you can absorb that experience.”
What Eric has learned is that no successful head coach does it alone.
“You need to be able to trust someone, have someone to rely on,” he said.
Eric planned to remain as head coach but when Springfield advertised for a varsity head coach as well as assistants, “nobody applied for the assistant positions.”
With two other assistants walking away, Eric decided to not re-apply as head coach. He called stepping down the third hardest decision of his young life. Getting married to Carolyn and starting a family top the list. Their son, Tate, will be 2 in August.
“I cherish this time,” he said of family time.
This story doesn’t have a sad ending — Fender intends to coach again. In the meantime, happy retirement to his Dad, one of the Valley’s top mentors.
Back to 2016 and Oakmont’s auxiliary gift shop: I zipped to the shirt department and was crushed. Except for one style, the only polo shirts remaining were sizes small or 2XL or 3XL.
I stared at the one style that had medium, large and extra large — hot pink.
Another shopper pulled one off the rack, held it up to his chest, looked in the mirror and then hung it back up.
“I’d never wear it,” he confessed shaking his head. I’m pretty sure my Dad would agree. Time for Plan B.
Some of us are luckier than we realize. My parents recently celebrated their 67th anniversary. My wife lost her dad, a physics professor at Duke University, in 1980. Twelve years earlier, her mother was a victim of the Hong Kong Flu pandemic.
One of my wife’s fond memories of growing up in Durham, N.C., was of her Dad taking her to Duke basketball games at Cameron Stadium. A University of North Carolina graduate, she’s a rare Tar Heel who doesn’t hate the Blue Devils.
“Duke put food on the table,” she’ll quickly point out.
I abandoned my shirt plan and instead bought several U.S. Open hats, a golf towel, golf balls and other souvenirs to give to my Dad and sons-in-law. There was no time to check out the main store for a better selection — a story needed to be written and a magical night in the newsroom was on deck.
No matter your favorite sport or color, Happy Father’s Day to our readers. Here’s hoping your plans work out.
Tom Williams is a sportswriter at The Vindicator. Write him at williams@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @Williams_Vindy.