Davies

FREEPORT — Garrie Davies is back in the game at Freeport — and he's bringing some of his old friends with him.

Davies, 63, who guided the Yellowjackets boys basketball team to the WPIAL' playoffs 18 times in 22 years before resigning in 2004, has returned to guide the program again.

Actually, he never left. Davies has been a teacher for 40 years, the majority of the time in 11th grade English at Freeport High.

"I see the kids all the time," Davies said. "When the job came open, some of the players and their parents asked me if I was interested in applying. They wanted me back and I was touched by that."

Davies missed a year of coaching and came back late in his career because of health issues. Longtime assistant Mike Beale, a Freeport graduate who played for Davies, eventually took over the program.

Beale resigned the post three years ago, but he is returning as Davies' varsity assistant.

"My kids were small and I wanted to spend more time with family," Beale said of his decision to resign. "When Coach Davies asked me to be his assistant again, I agreed immediately.

"We were quite a tandem before. We had a lot of success here and we want to do it again," Beale added

Like Davies, Beale is a teacher at Freeport High. He has two sons in the district's elementary basketball program.

"We're around these kids in school quite a bit," Beale said. "Coach Davies and I are quite a 1-2 punch that way."

Freshman coach Ron Grove is a former head girls basketball coach at Freeport. Rich Macura is the other varsity assistant. Both are Freeport graduates.

Health hasn't been a problem for Davies of late. He runs five miles every day.

"I still have a lot of energy when I go into that gym," he said. "We have 24 junior varsity and varsity kids involved in open gym right now. I'm encouraged by those numbers."

Davies succeeds former Butler boys and Slippery Rock girls varsity coach Gene Rodgers, who was 15-27 in his two years at Freeport. The Yellowjackets, who were 9-13 last year, have three starters coming back.

"Once I got out (of coaching), I gave up the right to be judgmental about any program or any coach involved in it," Davies said. "My only goal is to get each player in the program to be his best self.

"Be his best self as a basketball player and be his best self as a person. If we accomplish that, everything else will fall into place."

Beale said the bond coaches and players form is "truly unique."

"It's exciting having the chance to work with these kids," he said. "You want to win games, of course, but you also want to make a positive impact on their lives.

"Every coach on this staff cares deeply about this program. We want to revitalize it."

"You coach basketball, you better be passionate about basketball," Davies said. "Our whole staff is that way. Coach Beale and I always ask each other the same question: What are we going to do today to make Freeport basketball better?"