This is the fourth installment of my Mentors Blog Series. Today I honor Coach Vance Walberg. He is currently the Assistant Coach at UMASS, but he was the Varsity Boy’s Basketball Coach at Clovis West High School while I was in school there. He was also my PE Coach. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but a PE Coach CAN have a profound impact on someone. I was never a motivated PE student, but there was something about Walberg that motivated and inspired me. One thing you’ve got to know about me is that negative motivators have little-to-no affect on me. Walberg drew it out, he made you believe you could do anything and then you would do it. He was tough on his students, but in a positive way. He made the class come together, cheer each other on and he forced us to know all about Character Counts.
I remember him teaching us about TRRFCC (Terrific). This acronym is what enabled me to remember the 6 Pillars of Character Counts.
- Trustworthiness
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Fairness
- Caring
- Citizenship
If you dig up the dirt, you know he wasn’t perfect. But looking past anything negative, this guy I respect. He wrote a college recommendation for me to Pepperdine, where he later coached for two years. He was one of my mentors.
Past Mentor Blog Posts:
Andy Benton
Cheronn Foster
Jason Foster