Coach Scott Moomaw wouldn't have been the coach of Hamilton High School for the past 9 years if it weren't for one of his sons asking him to help coach as a volunteer back in 2010. According to Coach Moomaw, who has a triathlon background, his son wanted to join cross country but only if his dad helped out. Dad said yes and the rest is history.
Growing the team
In 2011, Coach Moomaw had an opportunity to take over the program and he took it from 13 total athletes to over 70+ this past season.
Coaching philosophy for success
In order to build the program, Coach Moomaw incorporated swimming, ultimate Frisbee, pasta dinners before meets, and treating every student-athlete equally no matter if that athlete was his fastest runner or towards the back of the pack. In his tenure as head coach, Coach Moomaw looked to have a balance of making it fun for the kids, but keeping the competitive edge.
Top Moomaw quotes
Coach Moomaw has a few quotes he is known for. One of them is "Cut the corners not the course." This means that on a cross country course you should never cut the course, but run those tangents and make the race as short as possible by running the corners tight.
Another Moomaw quote is "You are what you put into it." This is where he gets his athletes to understand that not only running, but in the classroom and relationships that the amount of time you put into that discipline, person, or subject is exactly what you are going to get out of it.
To go along in that same vein, Moomaw also says "Education is first, sports second." While it's great to be a top athlete, one needs to also be a top student to have more doors open for him/her in the future.
Proud Moomaw
After speaking with Coach Moomaw, it was clear that he loved his team; and although it seemed it was time for him to make a change to focus on family and his day-to-day job (he is not a teacher), he still was a bit torn with this decision. He was very proud of what he had built in terms of the numbers the program had grown to, the character-quality of teenagers he has had on the team, the number of athletes that had continued to have student-athletic success in the collegiate ranks, and the tight-knit group of young people who had become great friends over the years because of the Hamilton cross country and track and field programs.
We wish Coach Moomaw all the best in his future endeavors and we know he has left Hamilton High School in a great position for future success in cross country and track and field.
Full Interview