{"id":22330,"date":"2019-05-13T13:55:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T17:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/?p=22330"},"modified":"2019-09-17T13:37:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T17:37:19","slug":"dave-bechler-honored-by-conference-and-state-wide-organizations-as-tenure-draws-to-a-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/2019\/05\/dave-bechler-honored-by-conference-and-state-wide-organizations-as-tenure-draws-to-a-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Dave Bechler Honored by Conference and State-Wide Organizations as Tenure Draws to a Close"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dave Bechler\u2019s extensive contribution to regional and state-wide athletics competition has been marked this spring by Blue Ridge Conference, Virginia Independent Conference and Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA). After 23 years as EMS athletic director at Eastern Mennonite School, Dave will pursue new professional endeavors at the end of the school year. See article.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDave\u2019s long tenure with these organizations ensured stability in those organizations while promoting both sportsmanship and quality athletic competition,\u201d said Kendal Bauman<\/a>, long-time assistant AD, former boys varsity soccer coach and physical education teacher. <\/p>\n

At the state level, Dave served on the VISAA Executive Committee for 14 years (2004 \u2013 2019), the state boys soccer committee for 13 years (2005 \u2013 2019) and the state boys basketball committee for 10 years (2009 \u2013 2019). He was also voted VISAA Athletic Director of the Year in 2013.<\/p>\n

At the May 6 VISAA executive committee meeting in Richmond, the group presented Dave with a clock and pen set. The gift recognized Dave\u2019s role as a founding director of the western region of VISAA in 1996. \u201cThat clock is pretty special,\u201d reflected Dave. \u201cThat\u2019s a group of colleagues I really respect and will miss. We\u2019ve accomplished a lot together.<\/p>\n

Dave was a \u201cvisionary and servant leader to his conference and the state-wide association,\u201d noted the plaque. \u201cWell done, God bless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Virginia Independent Conference and Blue Ridge Conference, both conferences in which EMS competes and which Bechler served as president from 2005 to 2019, presented Dave with a plaque (pictured) at their meeting on May 1. Among accolades referenced there:<\/p>\n

\u2013 #1 in all-time career wins (boys basketball)
\n\u2013 22 years as head varsity basketball coach
\n\u2013 341-291 career record
\n\u2013 Nine-time VIC Coach of the Year<\/p>\n

Recognition by colleagues<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this spring at a K-12 faculty and staff spring recognition celebration, long-time colleagues Kendal Bauman<\/a> y Jennifer Young<\/a> shared reflections about Dave\u2019s impending departure. <\/p>\n

Full of laughs, it was also a time to shed some tears. Anyone who has worked with or played as one of Dave\u2019s basketball players or pursued other athletics under his leadership knows that he has a soft heart. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been crying all week,\u201d Dave confessed, leading up to the faculty recognition. \u201cThis stuff is hard, but it\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enjoy a video<\/a> of colleague\u2019s comments. Video courtesy of Matt Weaver \u201986.<\/p>\n

Accomplishments listed in the video<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facility changes and program upgrades:<\/p>\n

Outdoor Facilities:<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Creating new athletic fields (softball, baseball, soccer)
\n\u2013 Dugouts (softball, baseball)
\n\u2013 Scoreboards (all fields)
\n\u2013 Soccer kick walls
\n\u2013 Ballards to protect fields
\n\u2013 Resurfacing the tennis courts
\n\u2013 Field maintenance equipment
\n\u2013 Outdoor concession stand
\n\u2013 Bleachers
\n\u2013 Athletic field maintenance including irrigation<\/p>\n

Indoor Facilities:<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Batting cage
\n\u2013 Basketball Shooting machine
\n\u2013 Weight room (2016)
\n\u2013 Gym renovations including replacing the rubber floor with hardwood, new lights, bleachers, and paving the gym parking lot (2009)
\n\u2013 Support for foyer renovation
\n\u2013 Floor system for side volleyball courts<\/p>\n

Sports Added: <\/strong>
\n\u2013 Softball
\n\u2013 Girls Soccer
\n\u2013 JV Tennis
\n\u2013 Golf
\n\u2013 Middle school sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball, Cross Country, Track)
\n\u2013 Swim Club<\/p>\n

Other Items:<\/strong>
\n\u2013 Hiring an athletic trainer
\n\u2013 JMU Concessions to help pay for athletic uniforms
\n\u2013 Transportation upgraded for athletic teams to mini buses and larger buses
\n\u2013 Continued support of the Athletic Booster Club
\n\u2013 Instrumental in getting the girls sports programs into the Blue Ridge Conference (2001), where they could compete for conference and state titles.
\n\u2013 Moved the cross country invitational from Eastern Mennonite University to Peak View in 2002 (oldest and one of the largest race in VA)
\n\u2013 Started the Menno (2004) & Flames (2016) Classic soccer tournaments
\n\u2013 Flames Tip-Off basketball tournament (1999)
\n\u2013 EMHS Volleyball Jamboree (2008)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this last point is probably the most important of all the things Dave has done,\u201d noted Bauman. \u201cHe has mentored approximately 45 middle school, 42 JV and 73 varsity coaches; that does not include assistant coaches. He has touched so many athletes through our coaching staff with the philosophy of competing at a high level, but maintaining excellent sportsmanship.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dave Bechler\u2019s extensive contribution to regional and state-wide athletics competition has been marked this spring by Blue Ridge Conference, Virginia Independent Conference and Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association (VISAA). After 23 years as EMS athletic director at Eastern Mennonite School, Dave will pursue new professional endeavors at the end of the school year. See article.\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[306],"class_list":["post-22330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-visaa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easternmennonite.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22330"}],"curies":[{"name":"gracias","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}