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Show Coach Hicks to retire SMI f'K"' . ftl! ; . V ?&''-! By KEITH DUNCAN CLEARFIELD - Most retirements retire-ments are sentimental things and the one that took place at Clearfield High this year is no different. Coach Kenneth Hicks has decided de-cided to call it quits, a decision that emotionally will not affect him but a school where he has spent the past 18 years of his life. The senior high school is 24 years old and it says good-bye to an athletic mentor who has seen at least three-quarters of all it's cherished cher-ished athletic years. Hicks will stay on at Clearfield High as a teacher. " Perhaps there are some now who will not hear of this announcement who when they do, will be shocked. shock-ed. Not having Coach Hicks in Falcon Fal-con athletics will not be an easy thing to get accustomed to. Hicks came to Clearfield in 1968, after six years with three different junior high schools. That initial year he assisted Don Jensen with football and also served as the head golf coach. In 1970 he found himself as the head baseball coach, replacing Ward Sawley. From that season forward, the school's baseball fortunes for-tunes were in the hands of Hicks. He has continued to mentor in football foot-ball from the day he arrived. During his tenure, Hicks helped bring five region baseball championships cham-pionships to the school. There were also three seasons in which his spring teams finished third in the state baseball tournaments. In addition to all of that, he was the part of at least three football region crowns. "For my family, coaching has n always been a year to year thing , from the very beginning. When , Darrell (Hicks' youngest son) gra- i duated this past year, we thought it , was time to say good-bye. , "Perhaps the baseball program j was slipping, in fact I know it was. The kids who were coming up needed more opportunities to play ( during the summer, and basically needed someone who would be KENNETH HICKS there to back them year 'round. "But I had reached a stage in my life when I felt I needed to spend more time with my family and other things and less time helping kids get prepared through the summer. "Cut and dried, I just reached a point where baseball wasn't fun anymore. It wasn't bringing the kid out in me like it used to be. The evaluation said it was too much like work and no fun, so we decided to hang it up. "I also felt like Clearfield's program prog-ram would be left in good hands with Coach (Ray) Meibos coming up. Coach Meibos is doing the things it takes to bring back the prosperity Clearfield baseball once had. He's a good man, maybe the finest baseball assistant in Utah for the past couple of years," said Hicks. - The Falcons will miss the coaching expertise Hicks brought them, but perhaps the vital link he brought that coaching staff over the years, that will have to be replaced re-placed is Hicks complete unselfishness. unself-ishness. No one was able to describe that better than former Clearfield coach, John Flint. Hicks didn't want to begin comparing com-paring any of his past teams, but cited the baseball team in 1977 that had Robbie Richeson and Rod Neville aboard as one that was "truely interesting." He remembers remem-bers games where Richeson and Neville were the only outfielders because of their tremendous speed, thus leaving an extra man to play infield. "The title coach meant something some-thing to me and I'll cherish that as long as I live." |