‘Hounds stalwart McFarland talks long career at Curbstone Coaches
BEAVER TOWNSHIP – For six decades, J.R. McFarland has been a fixture in the Wilmington Area High School athletic department.
After playing football and running track for the Greyhounds while in high school – he graduated from WAHS in 1971 – then earning NAIA, Division II All-America laurels as a three-year letterwinner at linebacker for the Taylor (IN) University Trojans, he returned to his alma mater in 1978. Now for the past 48 years, has dedicated his life to teaching and coaching, building three of the school’s programs into some of the most respected throughout the state of Pennsylvania.
Call him a throwback and he will smile because all he has ever had was his players’ best interest at heart.
“I participated in sports in both high school and college, wanting to get into teaching because I loved sports and being around the kids,” McFarland told the Curbstone Coaches during Monday’s meeting at Avion Banquet Center. “I had a couple great opportunities, first as the head volleyball coach at my alma mater then as the head girl’s track coach in 1984, adding head coaching duties of the boys team in 2006. It has been a fun run because of the dedication of the players that I have coached over the years.
“I had several role models, but between my high school football and track coach Ray Cebula, and Tom Carlson, an outstanding coach who came to Taylor from the University of Nebraska when I was there, they were two role models that I really looked up to and from whom I learned.”
McFarland became the girls volleyball coach in 1978 and for the next 21 years, guided the Greyhounds to a 277-65 (.810 winning percentage) overall mark with 13 league championships.
On the track side of the school’s ledger – he was named assistant coach in 1978 before taking over the reins of the program, a post he has held since 1984 – his teams have won 22 league titles and six District 10 crowns with multiple players becoming state champions and state medalists.
In 2006, he added head coaching duties of the boys program and since that time, along with producing multiple state individual champions and medalists, guided the Greyhounds to four region championships, a District 10 title and the 2008 state crown.
As he approaches his golden anniversary season as a coach, being called a throwback coach is the nicest compliment one can give him when they refer to his longevity at the school.
“I have been blessed to have a great, supportive wife, great assistant coaches and quite honestly, great kids who were committed to the programs that I coached,” McFarland said. “They worked hard, matured and were goal driven. It wasn’t because of me, it was because of them.”
He notes that while track has pretty much remained status quo over the years, volleyball has gone through some changes.
“There were a lot of things I didn’t change in volleyball,” McFarland said. “The game, however, did go through some rule changes, and it was a result of the trickle-down effect starting at the Olympic level on down to college, to high school and eventually the middle school level. There was rally scoring, the net serve no longer a net serve that counts, with calls that used to be made, no longer being made with the hands. The game is more player friendly with matches 25 points now instead of 15. Track and field really hasn’t changed much.”
He isn’t a huge fan of where scholastic sports is heading.
“I have said this for years, I don’t like the direction of scholastic sports because there’s a push to get the kids to the next level,” McFarland said. “There is a small percentage of kids that get to that next level and we are pushing them to get that full scholarship, which is quite rare. We are teaching kids to specialize instead of being multi-sport athletes.
“I haven’t liked that direction for a long time. When I coach a young boy or girl, I coach them for one reason and that is I want them to be the best athlete that they can be. I am not talking or concerned about the next level. If things fall into place for them, college coaches will find them, but I want them to have fun, I want them to enjoy their high school years and want them to play as many sports as they can because that will make them better overall athletes.
“That, unfortunately, is going against the grain right now, and I understand that. Very few go to the next level and probably a lot less than that finish four years of college where they play that sport all four years.”
Next Monday, Ethan Faulkner, Youngstown State’s first-year men’s head basketball coach, will serve as guest speaker.