Hammond resigns in Bigfork

The Daily Inter Lake

BIGFORK - Nate Hammond has turned in his resignation as Bigfork High School teacher and Valkyries head basketball coach.

Hammond, who has been a part of the Bigfork coaching staff for the past eight years, and his wife Kari have decided to move closer to family.

"I'm planning on moving a little further east and getting a little closer to my parents.

"I plan on just working with my dad," Hammond said.

The decision didn't come easily, he said.

"It's hard. I'm going to miss the coaching aspect of it, especially. I really enjoyed the kids here at Bigfork.

"We've got some great kids coming back. That's tough to leave. We had a great JV team this year and some real fun younger kids to work with. It's a tough decision," he said.

"But that isn't why you make those decisions," he added.

"We want to try to get a little closer to some more family. My wife and I are both from Eastern Montana," he said.

After a 3-17 start in his first year, Hammond amassed an 84-67 record in seven years as head coach of the Vals.

Bigfork has claimed trophies at the last three Northwestern A divisional tournaments. The Vals were divisional champions in each of the last two years and placed fourth at the Class A state tournament in 2007.

"It's been fun. I've been fortunate the community and the administration have been very patient with me," he added.

"People were patient and it was nice. I definitely got lucky coming to Bigfork and coaching in Bigfork," Hammond said.

For their part, the Bigfork administration is sorry to see him go.

"Nate is part of the cream of the crop of this school," said athletic director Shannon Smith.

"It's going to be a huge loss. Not only will the school feel his loss, but I think the girls will. He did a good job handling a lot of fun personalities - and making them come together as one," he said.

"We'll try to find a replacement that will be very capable," Smith added.

There is no timeline, though, for finding a new coach, he added.