[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 23210-23211]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  TOM MANCHESTER INDUCTED INTO BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION HALL OF 
                                  FAME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, a person once told me that only silly people 
have heroes in their lives. If that is true, then this silly person 
rises today to congratulate and thank a hero in my life, my high school 
basketball coach, Tom Manchester, who is being inducted into the 
Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
  Coach Manchester is a native of Racine, Wisconsin, and played 
basketball and baseball at Wartburg College,

[[Page 23211]]

Iowa. Fortunately, for many of us northsiders, kids who grew up on the 
northside of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Coach Manchester accepted a teaching 
position at Logan High School and became the head basketball coach in 
1977. He coached from 1977 to 1997, and finished with a 224-209 record 
and many city titles and Big Rivers Conference Championships.
  I had the pleasure of playing for him starting in my sophomore year 
in high school in 1978 and finishing in 1981. I was a member of his 
team when we struggled to be competitive my sophomore year, and then 
saw the remarkable transformation the next 2 years when we won back-to-
back city championships, and also won our conference and became one of 
the top-ranked teams in the State of Wisconsin.

                              {time}  2015

  He must have seen something in me that I did not at the time because 
he plucked me off the streets and made me a starting guard my sophomore 
year even though it was obvious that I was wet behind the ears and 
qualified as a ``work in progress.''
  I will never forget one of my first games with Coach Manchester. I 
took the in-bounds pass to break a full-court press, asked for my 
teammates to clear out the second half of the court so I could break 
the press by myself, and then proceeded to dribble off my heel when I 
went between my legs on a dribble. The whistle blew when the ball went 
out of bounds. The buzzer sounded for a substitution. I ran to the 
bench assuming I was going to be replaced, only to have Coach 
Manchester ask me what I was doing. The substitute was for someone 
else, and he told me to get back out there and get used to making some 
mistakes because we had some learning to do.
  Basketball for Coach Manchester was more than winning and losing. 
Everyone likes to win, but I never had the impression playing for him 
that all that mattered was the score at the end of the game. He was 
always first and foremost concerned about his players, not only how we 
were playing, but how school was going and whether things were going 
well in our lives.
  For many of us growing up on the north side of La Crosse, which was 
considered the wrong side of the railroad tracks in town, presented us 
with some unique challenges and some choices to make. We could, if we 
wanted to, hang out on the street corners and run with the wrong crowd, 
getting into trouble and disappointing our parents, or we could find 
another channel for our energies and focus. That channel for many of us 
was in sports and in school, and Coach Manchester knew this. The gym 
became our safe haven and the team our extended family. There was no 
greater feeling of comfort and security than walking into that dark, 
cold, smelly gym on a weekend winter night for practice before a big 
game and having Coach Manchester check on our personal lives and get us 
prepared for the next contest.
  His wife, Jan, must have been very understanding to allow him leave 
from his family to spend as much time as he did with us kids. But we 
were not always alone. His young son Paul was the classic gym rat, 
dribbling and shooting off in another corner while the rest of us were 
practicing. Paul would later grow up to enjoy a spectacular high school 
career playing for his father at Logan, and then a terrific collegiate 
career at the University of Platteville and then the University of La 
Crosse. I cannot imagine the pride Coach Manchester must have felt 
coaching his son and watching him grow up to be the person he is today.
  It has been said that great teachers enjoy a form of immortality 
because their influence never stops radiating. If true, then Coach 
Manchester is immortal. That influence can be seen today in so many of 
us kids who had the pleasure to play for and learn from one of the 
finest coaches in the State of Wisconsin. I am glad the Wisconsin 
Basketball Coaches Association is recognizing that by inducting him 
into their Hall of Fame.
  I just hope Coach Manchester realizes the impact he has made on so 
many of our lives. Young kids need guidance. They need role models, 
people in their lives to teach them right and wrong and how to be good 
citizens. They also need from time to time a hero to look up to. I 
found one of mine, and whether it is silly or not, I do not mind saying 
that it is Coach Tom Manchester of Logan High School.
  I congratulate the coach and thank him for all he has done.

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