I AM A
STEWARD NEWS
STEWARD :
BRUCE SECREST
With his booming laugh and his enthusiasm for all things blue and gold , Director of Athletics Bruce Secrest is a dominating force on Steward ’ s campus . His history goes back 14 years with the school — after 20 years of coaching at Commonwealth Christian School , Mr . Secrest first came to Steward as a mathematics teacher and basketball coach before starting the school ’ s baseball program in 2003 . Read more about how he plans to continue growing Steward Athletics :
ALUMNI : Thank you for choosing Mr . Secrest to be your featured faculty or staff member in this edition !
What is your favorite aspect of being director of athletics ?
The thing I love most is getting to be involved in the lives of so many young people , many of whom I wouldn ’ t have been involved with otherwise . Now I really get to oversee more teams and focus on growing each of our student-athletes as part of our overall program — I really enjoy getting our teams where they need to be and helping students find success in athletics .
What was it like founding Steward ’ s baseball program ?
It ’ s a really neat story — when I came to Steward , Brad Hendrick ’ 05 and Cameron Scales ’ 08 ( who had previously attended Commonwealth Christian ) followed me here to play baseball . From there , I met the Wauford family , and Jonathan Wauford ’ 07 and J . T . Wauford ’ 09
( pictured ) became interested in playing baseball . Before I knew it , I had about 10 boys who were interested , which is more than I thought I would get . That first year , we had a tough season , but we ended up playing in the state tournament , and the program just took off from there . I ’ m so grateful for that first group of young men for sticking with me because they truly laid the groundwork for what was to come .
What are your personal goals and your plans for the future of Steward Athletics ?
Just as I want to enhance our program , I want to grow every year as a coach . I want to learn and improve because I feel that when coaches stop growing , our children will stop growing as well . In that vein , I want to provide a means for all of our coaches to grow each year and give them whatever support they need . If we all move forward together , our kids will do the same .
8 | The Colonnade