Flathead coach Raeth retires
By DAVID LESNICK
The Daily Inter Lake
When track practice at Flathead High School began this week, somebody was noticeably absent.
Bob Raeth, who has been a coaching fixture in Montana for 47 years, was not assisting the shot putters and discus throwers like he has for so many years. He decided the time was finally right to retire.
“I’m going to miss stepping on the turf and the area of the shot and discus rings,” he said.
“It’s been a real honor. I have crossed paths with a lot of young people over the years.”
Raeth started coaching at Great Falls C.M. Russell. He was the weight event coach in track and was also on the sidelines for football and on the mats for wrestling for the Rustlers.
He left CMR to coach for three years at Whitefish.
From there he moved to Flathead.
“Bob Raeth is a quiet giant that has been a cornerstone coach at Flathead since the early 80s,” Flathead activities director Bryce Wilson said.
“He always demanded the most from myself and with every student-athlete he has ever coached. He is one of the best teachers of technique you will ever find and passionately has helped countless athletes become quality young men.”
Raeth, who won the Montana High School Coach of the Year honor for football in 1998, is a National Boys Assistant Coach of the Year finalist this year for the National High School Athletic Coaches Association.
He was a finalist for that same honor in 2015.
The NHSACA says all nominees are evaluated for their longevity, championship years, winning percentage, service, honors and membership by a board of directors.
The NHSACA has named eight national finalists in 19 different categories. The winners will be announced at the National Coach of the Year Awards banquet at the NHSACA national convention in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, June 23-27.
According to the NHSACA press release, the finalists will be asked to make presentations that will look at the elements of their programs that created a successful environment for their athletes.
“No one has ever been more deserving to be a finalist as a National Boys Assistant Coach of the Year than coach Raeth,” Wilson said.
“He has spent countless hours working with our athletes throughout the years. He is always looking to improve his own knowledge so that he can make every athlete better.
“The conversations with coach Raeth since becoming the athletic director are some of the best conversations about coaching that I have had in my 28 years in high school athletics.”
The other finalists with Raeth are Dave Brinks of Michigan, Bill Cook of Iowa, Bryan Coventry of Wyoming, Jeff Hester of Kentucky, Kim Nelson of South Dakota, Claudia Schoellkopf of North Dakota and Greg Warneke of Nebraska.
“The biggest honor is that I have been able to be involved in high school athletic programs for that amount of time,” Raeth said.
“This is as critical time in athletics as there ever has been. You teach respect, responsibility and hope they realize that athletics are bigger than your own individual efforts.”
Raeth was a low hurdler in track and also wrestled and played football in high school in Brownton, Minnesota.
He graduated from St. Cloud State.
“(Flathead head) coach (Dan) Hodge convinced me that as an assistant I could help in the track program,” he said.
“It’s been a joy for me to see the young people compete and the way they have matured through the years.”
Raeth’s son and daugher were standout athletes at Flathead.