Stewart hangs up his whistle
Longtime NPHS track and field coach calls it a career
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

THOMAS GASE/Acorn Newspapers IT'S TIME TO RELAX- Mike Stewart spent the better part of three decades coaching track and field at Newbury Park High.

At the same time Newbury Park High said goodbye to many of its students at graduation, the NPHS students said farewell to a longtime track and field coach.

After coaching the Panthers boys' and girls' track and field teams on and off for the past 30 years, Mike Stewart is retiring from coaching to focus strictly on teaching. Stewart will still get to instruct young students in athletics, as the 59-year-old will also teach physical education.

"It has been in the back of my mind to retire from coaching for a while now," Stewart said. "I think times change and society changes, and I think this school needs somebody a little younger than me to coach now."

Newbury Park athletic director Josh Eby said he wished Stewart the best, adding he was sad to see him leave coaching.

"This was just my first year as athletic director, but it was still great to work with Mike," Eby said. "He was extremely neat and organized, and he is a big advocate of track and field in Southern California. I'll miss being at the track meets with him."

Stewart said one of the factors in his decision to leave the coaching ranks at Newbury Park was the long days spent on the track preparing for meets.

"I would get to the track around 6 a.m. to set up everything, and not leave until the paperwork was done at around 11 p.m.," Stewart said. "There is so much to do. You have to keep all the stats on the team and check everyone's eligibility, and we had 180 people on the team this year."

Although some days called for a lot of work, Stewart said the majority of his memories are good ones.

When Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" was beginning its run on the Billboard charts in the early 1970s, Stewart was getting his teaching career started at NPHS.

In 1974, Stewart became the boys' assistant coach before taking over the head coaching duties of both track and cross country in 1975. He would maintain those positions until 1982.

"Back then everything was very different. It seemed as if everyone was looking for a track and field coach," Stewart said.

"This was before Westlake High opened up, and Newbury Park was overcrowded. We had around 2,200 kids, but one less building. I mean, we had kids sharing lockers, if you can believe that."

Some of Stewart's best memories came in his initial years coaching.

"Some of those early teams in the late '70s- like the 1976 and 1977 team- were really fun to coach," Stewart said. "Back then athletes were willing to do anything to win, and the enthusiasm on the team was great."

In 1983, Stewart left Newbury Park to coach at Moorpark College as an assistant on the women's team.

In 1991, Stewart returned to NPHS to once again be the boys' head track coach. He stayed in the position until 2000. Finally, Stewart coached the girls' track and field squad for the past two years.

Stewart showed his broad range of teaching by coaching every track and field event in his tenure at NPHS.

"My favorite events coaching were the so-called 'skilled events,' like the high jump, long jump and hurdles," Stewart said.

"It was different from coaching long distance running events because you would correct a kid on one little thing, such as a way he or she holds his hand or uses their legs, and it would make a world of difference and you would see major improvement."

While coaching the Panthers, Stewart had 46 of his athletes go to CIF championships and six of his teams win Marmonte League titles in either track or cross country. He has coached standout NPHS athletes such as Denise Ball, Jenny Kenyon, Dawn Anderson and Patrick Dolan, as well as Patrick Alami and Amanda Lee for the past few years.

He has been at Newbury Park long enough to have coached some kids' parents.

"The first couple times I coached somebody's son or daughter it was a little weird," Stewart said with a laugh.

"The parents would come up to me and tell me how much I meant to them, and I would feel stupid for not knowing them. I figure I haven't ever coached somebody's grandson, so I'm getting out before that's a possibility."

Stewart almost didn't get a chance to say a proper goodbye when he was hit by a car while riding his road bike in 2002.

"It was in Oxnard, and I was in the bike lane when this guy hit me with his car," Stewart said. "I broke my back and broke my leg, so I was out about a month. It was a little scary, though, and I realize that I could have easily been dead, so I'm thankful."

Although Stewart is saying goodbye to coaching, he plans on teaching for another three years so he can retire officially at the same time his wife does.

Since Stewart prematurely retired from coaching in 2000, he says this retirement will be easier to adjust to. Still, Stewart knows there are some things that will be impossible not to miss.

"I'm going to miss the kids and the energy around them while competing," he said. "But the thing I think I will miss the most will be seeing the kids improve and the feeling they get out of that."