TO: THE CHAPARRAL BASEBALL COMMUNITY
FROM: JERRY DAWSON
DATE: 8/19/2010
It has been my sincere and honest pleasure to serve the Chaparral High School baseball community as its only head varsity baseball coach, beginning in the 1973-74 school year. It is with a great deal of personal difficulty that I need to announce my resignation from that position effective 8/19/2010. It has always been my belief that the head coach must be the hardest working individual in the entire program. For me that included throwing five days a week of batting practice, hitting fungos 6 days a week and basically doing 90 percent of the field maintenance.
During that time, in an attempt to continue to coach, I have undergone two knee surgeries, one shoulder surgery, a knee replacement and most recently a rather complicated ankle/foot surgery. The ankle/foot surgery, quite simply, did not go well. After 5 months of rehab and 14 months of recovery time, I have been advised that it is as good as it is going to get, which isn't very good. I have always believed that when the time came that I could no longer do the job in the manner that I thought necessary for it to be done right, that I would not continue. I do not think it appropriate to accept less from myself than the standard I believed necessary for the program to continue to succeed and prosper.
I have recommended that Sam Messina be named as my replacement. I have total confidence that Coach Messina will continue the tradition of excellence that we have established over the years. He has worked in our program for the past three years and knows all the young men that will be involved. He has coached baseball for over 20 years at the high school level and served as a head coach for 11 of those years. I encourage you to welcome and support Coach Messina in every respect. He and I have done everything we could think of to make this as seamless a transition as possible.
I want to personally thank every player, parent, coaching staff member and friend who have been a part of Chaparral Baseball through the years. I will always be a Firebird at heart and always be Chaparral Baseball and its players' biggest fan. Thank you for the support, respect and involvement. I know I speak for the many baseball men who have helped along the way, ie. Mark Miller (35 years), Herald Schade (29 years), Charles McAdoo (20 years), Ron Davani (5 years), Garye LaFevers (3 years), etc., that it has truly been our pleasure and a labor of love on our part. If I can ever be of service please do not hesitate to contact me.
Respectfully -
Jerry Dawson
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