Coach Peter Oley
I am originally from the New York suburbs in a town called Irvington right alongside the Hudson River. I was lucky enough to be coached by legendary Irvington High School track and cross country coach Peter Oley. He passed away in 2009, and although it's been 11 years since his death, the enormous effect he still has upon me is immense. Because of Coach Oley, I not only excelled in running throughout high school (and was able to compete in college) but still very much enjoy running to this day. I became a coach and a teacher mostly because of him; and like many great coaches, Coach Oley just didn't teach you about splits, pacing, and conditioning, but about life, more importantly.
I loved this man. He was at my wedding nearly 22 years ago and I still remember the gift he (and my other coach - Coach "Mo") gave me - a program copy from the Glenn D. Loucks Games (for those not familiar with this high school meet, it's the New York equivalent to the Arcadia Invitational in California). The reason this was such a thoughtful gift was that somehow in my senior year of high school I was lucky enough to win the boys' 3200 meters race (9:20). In this program were the names of all past champions by year for each event. There on the "3200M Boys Champions" page was my name and then the year "1988". Plus, included was the actual scratch sheet of paper where Coach Oley had written out my splits during the race, which was bookmarking that page (I closed in 62 my last 400m, I believe!). To think he had kept this scratch piece of paper after 10 years (1998 I was married) was both amazing and moved me profoundly - But that was Coach Oley. While many past winners had run faster times than mine and had more impressive running careers after high school (for example, Alberto Salazar had won the race when he was a teenager), that day in early May of 1988 was a magical moment for me. Not only because I ran a great race and won, but more so because my coaches believed that I could do it.
But like with all athletes, you don't always have your "Loucks Games" moments and fall way short of your goals. And that was when Coach Oley really shined. Coach Oley never got angry at you if you didn't perform well. In fact, I know I would feel bad if I ran poorly because I felt like I had let this great, kind, and generous man down. Coach Oley saw each of his athletes as people first and competitors second. He treated you like family and had a heart big enough to pump certainty, success, humility, humor, and integrity into the veins of anyone who was fortunate to be connected to him either as a student, athlete or in the community. There will never be anyone like Coach Oley, in my opinion; but I'd also like to think that we were all changed for the better because of him. We may laugh a little louder, smile a smidge wider, hug a tad tighter, and believe in ourselves a bit more because of what Coach Oley showed us daily in simply how he lived his life.
Articles and Info About Coach Peter Oley
NY MileSplit article after Coach Oley's death
NY Times Article of Coach Oley in 1998
The Peter K. Oley Trail Network
Good Citizenship Award Recipient
New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame (2008 Inductee)
Tell Us About Your Coach
I've told you about my former high school coach and now MileSplit AZ wants to know about yours. There are so many great coaches in Arizona and we want to hear from you about as many of them as we can. Send us a short video clip, write us an email (do both) about what your coach means or meant to you. This can be a past or present Arizona high school track and/or cross country coach. Please send this to us by next Friday (May 8th) to dza@milesplitaz.com.
Please include:
- Your full name
- Email subject line: My Coach
- Name of the high school team you were on or are on
- Coach's name
- What your coach means or meant to you.
We will share all of these with you in an article or articles that following week (May 11th-15th)...
And shhhhh! Don't tell your coaches you're doing this - let's make it a nice surprise for them.