Anders Brooker
Hellgate HS, Missoula, MT
"If it's just about pr's, we've failed," expressed Anders Brooker.
Anders, the coach at Hellgate high school in Missoula, MT, views running as a tool to build quality student athletes and human beings.
"We all know that running is simple sport, but it has to be more than that. What are the reasons these kids are coming out for our team? It's not just to see who can be the fastest. Even the fast kids won't be the fastest eventually. We think hard about why someone has come out for Hellgate XC and think of a way to make it a positive experience for them."
For Anders, racing fast and winning are important, but they are only one element of creating valuable memories.
"We want to be great but I think if my kids' best memories are when they won, we've failed. It's about what he did with his teammates, the memories he made."
He learned those lessons himself from his father, a high school coach who found innovative ways to create and self-fund a cross country team.
"My dad wasn't the in-your-face kind of Dad, but he did start a cross country program at my high school. We would cut firewood to raise money for everything. It was fun for me and it left an effect on me watching my Dad develop that program. I can't tell you my high school PRs, but I can tell you what it was like cutting firewood with my teammates and jumping into the back of a pickup truck - those are the memories that stuck."
Anders has succeeded in creating a community of runners and a legacy of running memories at Hellgate High. One athlete wrote of coach Brooker, "Anders has created a culture that at-once demands your absolute greatness in strength and endurance, is full of passion and empathy , is wholly inclusive - but has an instantly obvious layer of endearing sarcasm, humor and so much FUN."