TONASKET – Glenn Braman says he’s looking forward to a new stage after resigning as Tonasket’s varsity basketball coach last week.
The fifth-year coach, whose team snapped a 49-game Caribou Trail League losing streak in what turned out to be his next-to-last game as the Tigers’ coach, wasn’t interested in a public rehashing of all the reasons he decided to step down. Instead, he’s focusing on his next steps.
“I’ve been coaching one way or another for the past 17 years,” Braman said. “There will be things I miss, especially preparing and putting a game-plan together and giving the kids a chance to compete. I really enjoyed doing that.
“The best thing about coaching is the relationships I developed with the kids over time. Part of this is that I really want to have more time to do that with my own sons (ages three and one).”
Most of what led into Braman’s decision to resign had to do with the parts of running a basketball program that didn’t involve the actual games or coaching the kids. Conflicts off the court took their toll, and while he declined to address those specifically, he felt that a lack of support from some corners undermined the program.
“Overall I had a lot of support,” Braman said. “Most of the parents, players, past players, coaches in the league, other people at camps, people not even associated with our program expressed support for what we were doing.
“But it doesn’t take much non-support from a small group to really make those negative feelings pretty persistent. I tried to resolve those issues to the best of my ability. I wasn’t successful in winning that support, and I wasn’t going to be able to change that. I felt like I exhausted every effort to make it as positive as possible.”
Braman said he was pleased that during his tenure a solid youth basketball program had taken root.
“People like Bryce Leep and Kory and Stephanie Schertenleib have put a lot of effort into the youth program,” he said. “They have taken a ton of time in developing a true program here that didn’t exist five years ago and deserve a huge thank you.”
Braman added that he intends to stay close to the game through work with summer camps and Extreme Basketball Training, a program that would still allow him to work with kids on a more individualized basis.
“The thought of working with kids in more of a one-on-one setting is exciting,” he said. “Each individual player brings different skills and areas to work on. When you have three coaches working with 35 kids, it’s sometimes tough to teach because you’re working to teach the whole program.
“It’ll be a good way to stay involved, sharpen my own skills, and find ways to contribute to the game.
“I don’t feel that being a basketball coach defines who I am as a person,” Braman added. “I think I have enough belief in myself and what I’m doing that not being a hoops coach doesn’t change who I am.”
