[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 126 (Monday, July 19, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                   IN HONOR OF COACH BOBBY L. WRIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 19, 2021

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor, commend 
and extend personal congratulations to my friend of longstanding and my 
brother in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Coach Bobby L. Wright. 
Coach Wright, the beloved and renowned former Head Coach and Athletic 
Director at Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama, recently 
retired after 44 years as a highly respected coach, mentor and 
consultant. A retirement celebration was held in his honor on Friday, 
July 2, 2021 at Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia.
  Bobby L. Wright graduated from Buena Vista High School in Marion 
County, Georgia in 1970 and from Fort Valley State College (now Fort 
Valley State University) in 1974. The following year, he began his 
stellar teaching and coaching careers at Carver High School in 
Columbus, Georgia serving as the Head Coach for track and Assistant 
Coach for football and basketball. In 1977, he was recruited and hired 
across the Chattahoochee River at Central High School in Phenix City, 
Alabama where he taught, coached, and chaired the Health and Physical 
Education Department. There, for 12 years he served as an Assistant 
Coach under the tutelage of famed Coach James Redd before taking over 
as the Head Coach.
  During his impressive 32-year tenure as Head Coach for the Central 
High School Boys Varsity Basketball Team, ``The Red Devils'' he amassed 
an incredible record of achievement: 4 State Championship game 
appearances; 8 semi-final appearances; 26 playoff appearances; and 
winning 8 region titles and 23 area titles. Coach Wright had a 671-221 
won-loss record with his 600th win being against archrival Auburn High 
School in 2017. Concurrently, he served as the Defensive Coordinator 
for the Central High School football team for 26 years, including in 
1993 when they won the Alabama State High School Football Championship 
title. In addition to that, Coach Wright served as the school's 
Athletic Director from 1998 until his retirement earlier this year.
  Aristotle once said, ``Educating the mind without educating the heart 
is no education at all.'' Coach Wright was an educator of both. He is 
rooted in the belief that children need tough love as well as 
encouragement. As such, he was known for his discipline-first approach 
when coaching basketball, football, and track. He used this firm 
coaching style to motivate the athletes under his direction to do their 
best and met them with laughter and support even if they missed the 
mark.
  Coach Wright has received countless awards and commendations for his 
achievements and accomplishments as a coach and educator, including a 
resolution on January 21, 2021 approved by the Phenix City Alabama 
Board of Education honoring his long and exemplary service to the 
Phenix City School system. But none is more impressive than his 2014 
induction into the Alabama High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
  Coach Wright has accomplished much in his life but none of it would 
have been possible without the grace of God; the love and support of 
his wife of almost three decades, Carolyn; his family, students and the 
communities in Georgia and Alabama, to which he has given so much.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 people 
of the Second Congressional District, in extending our sincerest 
appreciation, our heartfelt congratulations and our best wishes to 
Coach Bobby L. Wright upon the occasion of his retirement after an 
outstanding 44 years impacting the lives of the countless people he has 
touched.

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