Przystas Helps 'Shape' Fitness for Future
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 20, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Scott Przystas had plans earlier this week to “crash” a Grand Haven schools party with vegetables grown in his classroom’s hydroponic garden. It may be winter outside, but in his physical education class, it’s time to harvest.
But the Michigan chill doesn’t mean his students – ranging from Young 5’s to fourth grade – will be restricted to the gym for the next three months. When they return in 2017, they’ll head outside and give snow-shoeing a try.
Teaching includes a lot more than daily dodgeball or rolling out the basketballs for Przystas, a member of the MHSAA Multi-Sport Task Force and this fall’s honoree as Michigan Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the state’s chapter of Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE).
The task force over its first few months has determined that the message on the many benefits of participating in multiple sports must be delivered to students and their families long before these students reach high school and even junior high – making passionate educators like Przystas especially key. He passes on a perspective that “PE is the most important thing we can teach kids, how to be physically active for life” while teaching students at Grand Haven’s Mary A. White and Rosy Mound elementary schools.
“That’s our goal with the elementary PE department in Grand Haven, to make it relevant again,” Przystas said. “Because it’s really easy in our profession (to say) here’s the ball kids, do you want to do. But it’s not gratifying at all. It’s not satisfying to the kid or the teacher.”
Przystas brings the MHSAA task force a wealth of experience as a coach – he’s in charge of the high school’s girls cross country team, serves as freshman coach and varsity assistant for girls basketball and leads the middle school track & field teams. But he also provides an important voice for physical education, an area the task force considers crucial to growing interest in playing many sports instead of specializing in one – which studies have shown can lead to chronic injuries when playing that one sport while leading those children to become adults who are less likely to be physically active and fit. He is in his eighth year in the Grand Haven district and has taught in nine buildings at the elementary, middle, high school and alternative education levels.
“Scott has been instrumental in leading changes to the PE program in Grand Haven,” Mary A. White principal Valerie Livingston said in a report for the Grand Haven Tribune. “His excitement about life-long fitness and nutrition is contagious in the school. Under Scott's direction we have students who look forward to smoothie bars at lunch and are excited to see our new tower garden grow.”
Many teachers
Przystas’ philosophy is deeply-rooted in the positive experience he had growing up in Gladwin, a much smaller community than Grand Haven located north of Midland and Mount Pleasant.
His father Ronald – who formerly worked at the Lansing State Journal and Cadillac Evening News before becoming a reporter, editor at later publisher at the Gladwin County Record – died in a car crash in 1996. But he left his then 10-year-old son a love for sports photography – Scott minored in journalism at Michigan State University – and also plenty of familiarity with athletics. A track & field meet hosted by Gladwin Junior High School bears Ron’s name.
Sports provided an outlet during that tough time. During middle school, Scott would go from a basketball game to hockey practice that same night, filling his time with those sports, golfing and a variety of other like activities.
A few years after his dad’s death, Przystas became a manager for the Flying G’s boys basketball varsity coached by Kirk Taylor, who had gotten to know Ron well over the years. Ron had made sure Kirk understood the importance of Gladwin beating county rival Beaverton – they play for a trophy dating back to 1937 – and so it was memorable when Scott, as a senior during the 2005-06 season, scored a career-high 25 points to help the Flying G’s beat the Beavers despite the fact he really wasn’t a scorer as much as a solid all-around player.
“Scott was part of the best group of captains I have had here at Gladwin in the past 23 years,” Taylor said. “One of his co-captains was quiet and out-worked everybody. Another of his tri-captains was very direct with players. Scott was a little of both, but he always delivered the message with the most positive manner.
“I did not know that Scott would become a teacher and/or a coach, but I did know that he would be very successful at whatever profession he chose.”
Przystas made the all-Jack Pine Conference second team as a senior in 2004 while also earning all-league honors in golf and serving as a pinch-runner in baseball for a couple of seasons – but that was just a start on his athletic endeavors. At MSU, as he was studying toward a degree in kinesiology, Przystas played on the practice scout team that daily took on the women’s basketball team as the Spartans prepped for multiple NCAA Tournament runs. He knew he wanted a career in sports, and that experience got him interested in coaching. He also participated on the MSU triathlon club team, which got him into endurance sports.
He graduated from MSU and before the fall of 2009 latched on at Grand Haven. His first call was to Buccaneers girls hoops coach Katie Kowalczyk-Fulmer, and he was on her bench as an assistant for the program’s back-to-back Class A championships in 2012 and 2013 – while also for a time living in her basement before marrying his wife Renee.
Przystas also inherited the high school’s girls cross country program, which he coaches with Renee, and which has made the MHSAA Finals 17 straight seasons. In addition, he became the Lakeshore Middle School track & field coach – and he sees all of these as being related.
“At a Class A school like this, I’d like to say having most (students) participating in high school sports is because of the elementary PE teachers rocking it,” Przystas said. “Our numbers in cross country are up there (50-60 athletes the last few seasons), our numbers in track are getting up there, and the kids are seeing a familiar face and enjoying the process and sticking with it.”
Passing those lessons on
In addition to Taylor and Kowalczyk-Fulmer, Przystas credits his high school golf coach Ben Ball and Gladwin’s former girls varsity and boys subvarsity boys basketball coach Andy Miceli among those who helped shape his growing up. He also gained valuable experience during his student teaching as an assistant with the Bath High School girls under Craig Poppema, and retired longtime Grand Haven boys hoops coach Craig Taylor – Kirk’s dad – has provided plenty of mentoring.
Przystas – who has served a two-year term on the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports – teaches from a philosophy based on a pyramid. The bottom level is health and knowing how to take care of oneself, with the middle level physical literacy and the body’s ability to solve movement problems to avoid injury. The top of his pyramid is adventure, and that’s what he’s trying to deliver to his students.
But to do so, he also has to be able to relate and communicate with them.
“Scott makes it fun. He’s just very organized – and he connects with whatever age group, whether it’s kindergarten kids or high school girls,” said Kowalczyk-Fulmer, recalling how excited her 5-year-old son was to have “Coach P” as a teacher. “Freshman girls can sometimes be an interesting group to coach … but he never changes who he is. I’ll stand in the locker room after games and listen to the things he says. Just the quality of person he is, he’s a role model, he and his assistant Kelly Kieft. He’s just a good, positive role model for young people.”
Przystas noted how SHAPE America is pushing for the generation of children being born now becoming an “active” next generation, and as a newer father this hits home – and also helps fuel his desire to help.
He said it’s harder to plant that seed when students are older – but that’s where his responsibility as a cultivator at the elementary level comes in.
“I had a great childhood experience,” Przystas said. “That was the big thing. I fully remember all of the pickup games we had in our neighborhood, the outdoor adventures exploring, playing ping-pong on a chipped-up table.
“(That’s why) I promote to kids in middle school, elementary school, to go check out a lacrosse game. Go to swim camp. Be active this summer. Don’t just be sitting around. We’ve just got to get them outside more and have kids be active.”
PHOTO: (Top) Teacher Scott Przystas (kneeling) works with one of his elementary school classes in Grand Haven. (Middle) Przystas (back row, second from left) has been an assistant on two Class A girls basketball championship teams. (Top photo courtesy of the Grand Haven Tribune.)
Van Valkenburg Returns to Madison to Continue Dad's Pole Vaulting Program
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 8, 2026
Larry Van Valkenburg had two passions in retirement – coaching high school track & field and racing motorcycles.
In September, only a few months after completing his 25th season as the pole vault coach at Adrian Madison, Van Valkenburg loaded up his motorcycle and headed to Harpster, Ohio, a tiny, unincorporated city of 160 residents in central Ohio.
“He loved racing motorcycles,” said his son, Trevor Van Valkenburg. “Seems like an odd hobby for someone in their 70s, but he loved it. He hadn’t done it for a couple of years and said he wanted to give it one more shot.”
While at a race in Harpster, Van Valkenburg, 78, was involved in a motorcycle crash, had trouble catching his breath and tragically died.
“He took a very hard fall,” Trevor said.
This spring, after months of deliberations, Trevor decided to end his nine-year run as track coach at nearby Onsted and take over for his father as an assistant at Madison. For all intents and purposes, he’s coming home.
“It really is like coming home,” Trevor said. “I have crazy Madison ties that go way back.”
Trevor was a big reason why his dad began coaching at Madison. He was a high school sophomore in the early 2000s when he switched from baseball to track.
“When Coach (Josh) Powers took over the program in 1999, Madison didn’t have pole vault,” Van Valkenburg said. “Most of the schools in the 1990s had gotten rid of it. As a sophomore, I said if you have pole vault, I’ll run track. That is how my dad got involved.”
Trevor knew his dad had some background in pole vault.
“He was a vaulter in high school,” he said. “He always told us he had the school record. He vaulted in the 1960s where he would land in a pit of saw dust. As a junior, he broke his arm vaulting. He had a scar he would show us from time to time. His proud accomplishment was he came back as a senior and set the school record.”
With Trevor a senior, the Van Valkenburgs were part of Madison’s run to a Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association (MITCA) track & field team state championship.
“He ended up staying 25 years,” Trevor said, speaking of his dad. “He loved it.”
Pole vault is a tough event to learn – and teach.
“In my opinion, it’s probably the most complicated high school sport,” Trevor said. “There are so many variables, how long your pole is, what the wind rating is, the flex rating and you have to set up your steps. You can move the bar so you have to know where to put it. It’s almost impossible to do well without a good coach. There are too many things an outside person needs to watch and give you feedback on.
“I always tell the kids every time you focus on one thing in pole vault about 30 other things go wrong – and that’s fine. It’s a very complicated high school thing to do. If you don’t have a good coach, it’s really hard to be successful.”
Last year, Trevor’s son Noah was on the Trojans middle school track & field team and chose the pole vault as one of his events. His grandfather was able to coach him.
“I am thankful for that,” Trevor said.
Over the years, the elder Van Valkenburg coached numerous league, county and Regional champs. Trevor joined his high school friend, Kyle Cessna, at Onsted, first coaching the pole vault but later coaching distance runners and the Wildcats cross country team. Madison and Onsted were in the same league, the Lenawee County Athletic Association, for the last several years.
“Over the years my dad and I had plenty of good pole vault coaching and team battles,” Trevor said. “We were really competitive at first. Over time, that relaxed a little bit.”
Returning to Madison to coach was an emotional decision for Trevor.
“I’ve coached Onsted for nine seasons,” Van Valkenburg said. “It was kind of always in the back of my head that if my dad was ever done, I’ll go back to Madison. I knew he would hold on as long as he could. It didn’t end up the way we thought it would, but it finally happened and I’m back home.”
Another reason it is home is because his wife, Kathryn, has taught at Madison schools for more than 20 years. His younger son, Dominque, also attends Madison schools.
“When I’m here after school, my whole family is here,” he said. “My wife is in the building. My one son is getting out of elementary at 3:30, my other son is on the middle school track team.”
Larry Van Valkenburg was an ex-Marine who retired as an air traffic controller in 2011. His legacy will remain at Madison, mainly because he teamed with Powers and the rest of the coaching staff to form a powerhouse track & field program that won numerous league championships and made an impact at MHSAA Finals.
“Larry was a great coach,” Powers said. “Trevor is a lot like him. We are really happy he came back to coach.”
Trevor Van Valkenburg is the director of the Lenawee District Library, a system that has six branches and a bookmobile. They circulate more than 150,000 items a year. Each spring, he adjusts his schedule to allow for coaching. He feels at home at Madison – and the track & field athletes can take comfort knowing a Van Valkenburg is still coaching them.
“We’re pretty similar,” Trevor said. “I learned a lot of it from (my dad), so it makes sense we would be similar. We both are pretty laid-back people. We’re not going to scream in kids’ faces. I might be a little more drill-heavy instead of just practicing jumping over the bar. I learned everything I know from him.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian Madison track & field assistant coach Trevor Van Valkenburg stands at the entrance to the school’s track this spring. (Middle) At left, JaLonn Borders stands for a photo with Larry Van Valkenburg and Larry’s grandson Noah after breaking the school’s pole vault record during last season’s Lenawee County Championships. (Top photo by Doug Donnelly. Middle photo courtesy of Trevor Van Valkenburg.)