Keep on Coaching
February 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A few weeks ago, I finally got my first chance this season to watch a friend coach his basketball team. After guiding some others at the lower levels, this is his first time running the varsity – something he wasn't sure he wanted to do with a 1-year-old just learning to walk, but a challenge he ended up taking on to the benefit of all those involved.
Simply put, he’s good. I've seen a lot of teams and a lot of coaches over the past 15 years, and although I wouldn't know much of what to do if I were walking the sideline, I felt pretty qualified in telling him I was impressed – even if he didn't buy that I was offering an unbiased opinion. The best news is he’s gone from not sure about this a few months ago to talking about next season.
We know, at least anecdotally, that coaching continues to get more challenging. The time commitment has grown substantially to make running a program a year-round endeavor in a lot of sports at a lot of schools.
That commitment – especially for coaches with children of their own – was a main reason referred to in a New Haven Post-Chronicle story Saturday that noted 23 football coaching openings in Connecticut at one point this offseason. That state has 146 football teams – meaning roughly 15 percent will have new leaders this fall.
And that got me thinking about my friend, about how glad I am he’s given this a shot, and how I've seen so many others either not do so, or not stick around long despite having some pretty nice success.
A study published last winter in Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine – a product of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association – noted some predictable results of a study that sought to determine the biggest challenges faced by first-year high school coaches.
The toughest according to the study was balancing the demands of coaching and teaching, experienced by nearly half the respondents – 98 percent of which coached high school teams and 81 percent of which are teachers.
The next six reasons all were noted by at least 30 percent of those in the study – personal fatigue, securing community support, securing and caring for facilities and equipment, parental contact, keeping non-starting players motivated, dealing with schedule interruptions and motivating athletes to achieve consistent, peak performance.
Nothing there is earth-shaking, and most if not all of these challenges are faced by high school coaches regardless of how long they've been in the field. But I got a little more perspective from some of the 32 items that ranked as least challenging to the first-year leaders – keeping in compliance with state and league regulations, dealing with substance abuse issues, teaching sport skills and creating a positive team atmosphere – things that seem most important, and yet appear to be easiest to do. I’m not sure what that tells us – but I think it tells us something.
Click to check out the entire three-page breakdown of the study, plus the researchers’ recommendations to remedy some of what first-year coaches face.
Giving back to Saginaw
I love reading about high-level athletes – like a star-studded group of alums from Saginaw – giving back to where they got their starts.
Pittsburgh Steelers star LaMarr Woodley made a big impact before the start of this school year by donating $60,000 to cover all participation fees for athletes in his former school district. The Saginaw News’ Hugh Bernreuter writes today about how Woodley (Saginaw High), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jason Richardson (Saginaw Arthur Hill) and former Oakland Raiders standout Stu Schweigert (Saginaw Heritage) have combined to give more than $865,000 back to their home communities.
Bernreuter also mentions the non-monetary contributions of the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green (Saginaw High) and former Indianapolis Colts receiver Blair White (Saginaw Nouvel).
Click to read more about it.
Quote(s) of the Week
While rifling through more papers on my desk, I found an article from the Washington Post from Sept. 2011 titled “How high school sports save our schools.” I was drawn to it in part because I spent more than a decade in a newsroom, and it was a piece by a reporter covering education who instead of reporting on school boards and the like, delved into the importance of interscholastic athletics to education as a whole.
He spoke of how participation continues to grow even as resources dwindle, and of data supporting that extracurriculars like sports are more effective than academic classes in teaching leadership, teamwork, time management and “other skills crucial for success in the workplace.” Later, he mentioned a study noting that those who participate in extracurriculars earned more a decade later.
Click here to read the entre piece. These passages struck me most.
“Coaches might be the only faculty members still allowed by our culture and educational practice to get tough with students not making the proper effort. They have the advantage of teaching what are essentially elective non-credit courses. They can insist on standards of behavior that classroom teachers often cannot enforce because the stakes of dismissing or letting students drop their courses are too high. …
“Students do better in activities they choose. If we provide more of them, led by committed adults … that can make a difference. We know the bad news about education. Dropout rates are high. Achievement scores are stagnant. But sports participation is going up, despite pressure to cut it back. Let’s cheer about that and look for a way to draw in more students.”
Houtteman Taking Senior-Year Swing at Adding Finals Title to Family Golf Legacy
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2025
The name Houtteman is not listed among the famous father-son golfers in the history of the PGA like Nicklaus, Woods and Love.
At least not yet, anyway.
Regardless of how things unfold this weekend in the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at Ferris State University, Maple City Glen Lake's Michael Houtteman is going to feel a lot like Davis Love, III, did over the years with his father Davis Love, Jr., coaching him.
That’s because he’s coached by Lee Houtteman, who was fortunate enough to get tips from Davis Love Jr. on how to coach a son. As soon as the last golf ball of a stellar high school career enters the cup, the Houttemans will immediately switch from coach/student-athlete roles to father/son.
“It was always my impression of those two guys (Love Jr. and Love III) is they would banter back and forth and Dad would say ‘When we're coaching, I'm your coach, but as soon as we're done, I'm your dad.’ That was that was something he always preached," Lee Houtteman said.
He first met the Loves prior to joining the PGA when he was working at a golf school in Orlando, Fla. Houtteman was inducted into the Michigan PGA Hall of Fame last fall, and his playing accomplishments include winning the Michigan PGA Championship, two Michigan Senior PGA Championships and the Michigan PGA Match Play Tournament of Champions.
Lee Houtteman was also an 18-time qualifier for the PGA Professional Championship, and a 12-time qualifier for the U.S. Senior Open.
The Loves made a big impression on the Glen Lake 10-year veteran coach.
“Davis Love Jr. was incredible — the dad was a good coach and made an impact on how I tried to look at coaching my son,” Houtteman said. “When Love Jr. was coaching his son he said, ‘Hey, you got to hit the shot, and when you're not doing this, you got to practice,’ but then as soon as it was all done, they let it go, and then they were just father/son.”
Davis Love Jr. was one of the most respected teachers in golf. Love III notched his first PGA Tour victory in 1987 at the age of 24, his second season on the circuit. Love, Jr., died in a plane crash in Nov. 1988. Love III is just now returning to professional golf after having open heart surgery.
Michael Houtteman has his eyes set on winning an individual MHSAA Finals title this weekend. He also has high hopes of being named Michigan’s Mr. Golf, an honor bestowed annually by the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association. Houtteman was the individual runner-up as the Lakers finished 12th as a team at last year’s Division 4 Final.
He’s already got a taste of the PGA tour from watching his father play. Michael’s first takeaways, however, were not the level of play, or the ropes separating players from spectators, nor the television cameras.
“It was free ice cream,” the Lakers senior said. “The milk shakes were the best.”
Houtteman shot 68 to capture the medalist honor and lead his team to a Regional championship last week. Glen Lake’s Ben Romzek, also a senior, shot an 85. Sophomores Gabe Hazelton and Joel Martin finished with 86 and 87 strokes, respectively, and freshmen Karter Smith shot a 90 as the Lakers carded a 326 championship score.
This year’s Regional effort was the Lakers’ best performance under Coach Houtteman. They have high hopes for a top five-finish this weekend at Katke Golf Course. They finished third in both 2023 and 2022.
“If we just keep improving and can play where we swing freely, just go hit it and go find it, and maybe make a couple putts. I think it would be awesome if we can finish top five,” Michael Houtteman said. “We just need a solid finish.”
Houtteman, who won an individual Finals championship in tennis at No. 3 singles in the fall, was fifth as a freshman and seventh as a sophomore at Division 4 Golf Finals.
He is ready to put his best game forward this weekend.
“You are always gunning for that state championship,” said Houtteman, who is headed for the U.S. Air Force Academy in a few weeks to begin his NCAA Division I golf career. “I am hoping to put together a couple of good rounds, and we’ll see what happens.”
If he goes into the Final nervous, his Hall of Fame coach will be happy. Lee Houtteman is pleased if his golfers raise their hands when asked if they are nervous beginning tournament play.
“You got to be nervous,” the coach said. “It’s good. It’s healthy.”
The Lakers are thankful for the tutelage of their coach, whose experiences are rare for a program leader at the high school level.
“He’s definitely a very, very qualified coach compared to most schools,” said Micheal Houtteman, who has competed in Michigan Pro-Am golf tournaments with his father. “Having a person as qualified as my dad is definitely very helpful in the learning of how to not only play golf but how to treat the golf courses.”
“Dad was an unbelievable player and unbelievable coach,” he added. “It is awesome to have a dad and a coach in one, and it’s super helpful not only with my golf game but as my life coach.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Glen Lake’s Michael Houtteman putts during an event this season. (Middle) Michael Houtteman, left, and his father Lee take a photo with the team’s Regional championship trophy. (Top photo by Brian Frieberger. Family photo provided by the Glen Lake athletic department.)