BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
The late Martin County Middle School girls coach Pam Maynard would have loved seeing the 15 games and 12 teams battling it out Saturday in Warfield.
It’s fitting that the tournament was named in her honor: Pam Maynard Memorial.
Coach “Pammy” was a light for Martin County sports. She coached me and many others throughout her years.
It’s hard to put into words what she provided for the basketball players that had the privilege to call her “coach.”
Pam, her mother Jean and brother Moose were at every high school game in my sports career. Pammy was my middle school coach, PE and health teacher, and high school JV coach.
Jean would greet you in the breezeway in front of the trophies from behind the concessions. She could make a mean pot of chili and didn’t take lip from no one. Moose was always behind the scorer’s table announcing line-ups and keeping score.
Pam was in the gymnasium and had already been setting up for the game for two hours prior.
I’m sure you knew all three of them if you played even a day of basketball at Sheldon Clark High School.
After high school, I played sports at Alice Lloyd for a season.
Due to financial hardships, I picked up officiating basketball games. Guess who was the first face I saw when I walked into the gym for a Martin County game?
“Always late, huh McCoy,” Pam said, laughing. She told me to go grab a hot dog at halftime. She knew me so well.
It was refreshing to see her working games even after her retirement. She provided me with a sense of comfort when I was being yelled at.
It was absolutely heartbreaking when she passed. The woman that had helped mold my playing career had left this world after doing what she loved. She had returned home from a basketball trip.
I thank her for letting me play ball in the middle school gym even after the bell rang, for always asking what I had been doing in life every time I saw her, and for giving me memories I can forever hold on to.
Coach Pammy’s reach in sports is beyond comprehension. But her way of making you smile is what is most memorable for those blessed enough to have known her.