Slamer leaving is a loss for Battle Creek

BILL BRODERICK

Often you can tell winners and loser by what is said on the scoreboard.
There's no scoreboard this time, but Battle Creek definitely is on the losing end of this move as longtime football coach Al Slamer has left the Bearcat football program to become the new  head coach at Holt High School near Lansing.
Slamer is a difference-maker in the city of Battle Creek  and whenever you lose one of those it is difficult to bounce back from.
He won his share of games on the field for Battle Creek Central, but his real value to the school and to this community is what he did away from the field.
He ran a clean program at Battle Creek Central where the players were respectful off the field. He was a leader among local coaches and due to his ties across the state, he brought the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association clinic to Battle Creek every year.
In high school sports, coaching is everything. And that is even more the case in football where you have 50-70 players on a team. If the leader of the group is doing his job, the rest of the team can be successful players on the field and successful men and women off the field.
I am happy for Slamer if he found a job that makes him happy.
But I am sad for the Battle Creek community, which is on the losing end of the scoreboard today.

Comments

[Kingpin]

The impact Coach Slamer's had on our sons through his football program cannot be measured. I could not have asked for a better man to have such a huge impact on my son's life.

Thanks to Coach Slamer for all he's done for our community. I wish him good luck with his new team...unless they are matched up with our Bearcats in upcoming state playoffs! (How weird is THAT to consider?)

[Tim Robertson]

Sad to see a good coach go. But perhaps it IS time for some new coaching blood in Battle Creek? 21 years in one post is long enough for a high school coach. Time for someone else to step in and make an impact.

[Gary O. Katz]

I have announced high school football for 10 years on local BC Accessvision Television and I can say Coach Slamer was one of the nicest guys I met from the coaching ranks. I know everyone cares about the wins & losses and a lot of times only judges someone by that. What I look for & saw was how his players went about what they needed to do on & off the field by showing respect & following his example and they did that. I would always ask him about his twin daughters and how they were doing and he would just give that proud father glow in talking about them. I think how a person is as a parent and how their kids turn out in society speaks volumes. He treated his players the same as if they were his own kids, always talking positively about them and teaching them about life off the field. I will miss seeing him on the sideline and having the chances too interview him and letting everyone hear what he had to say. Good luck at your new position Al and all of us at Accessvision will miss you.