Outside of my immediate family and a hand full of friends, Coach Raff was the most significant influence on the outlook and values attained thru my teenage years. No teachers, professors or other coaches even came close.

There was no reason for me to think I had any talent for running. I played Little League and planned to play baseball in school. Then in the spring of 9th grade, Raff came to the middle school and talked in gym class. He was loud and enthusiastic and talked about the proud history of Holly track and field teams. He also talked about the opportunity to find unknown talents given the variety of events available in the sport. All he asked was that you at least come out and give it a try.

That first impression and inspiration convinced me to give it a try along with many others that eventually found they had untapped talent. His ability to convince people to try provided the wealth of talent that was the foundation for many successful Holly track and cross country teams.

Every kid is different, and Coach Raff made sure he knew each kid and what made them tick. I don’t know if his passion was as much for the sport as it was for making sure that every kid that went out performed to their potential. For me personally, I had a lot of talent, but not a lot of confidence. I always thought everyone else was better. Raff knew this and for the 4 years I ran track, he perfectly balanced throwing clipboards at me in anger with an arm around my shoulder and a few quiet words of encouragement.

Raff also knew I loved football, but that running was my real “opportunity.” Although he never told me what to do, he skillfully armed me with the facts that eventually lead me to make the very difficult decision to quit football and run cross country as a junior. This was fateful. By my senior year, I still thought everybody else was better, but he had convinced me that I worked harder and was mentally tougher than the competition. This was my mental advantage that resulted in a high level of success. I believe every kid that ran for Raff left Holly convinced hard work, discipline and mental toughness lead to positive results.

Everyone mattered to Raff. At the start of the season, every single person documented their goals and was expected to work toward those goals. Most striking to me of why this mattered to Raff came through observing his development of a kid named Mark Corliss. Mark had significant physical disabilities and wanted to be team manager. However, to be team manager Raff thought it was important that he compete to understand what it meant to run at Holly. I recall that Mark was a distant last place in every race. He improved dramatically, met the tough goals he set and gained the respect of everyone on the team. He was appointed team manager the following year, but more importantly he went on to get a degree and become a successful educator and highly respected track coach for a major high school in Wisconsin. Mark clearly had hidden talents that Raff saw and developed.

It wasn’t about sports. It was about people. If you ran track or cross country at Holly, you got to know people that had been on the team before your time through stories. Coach Raff would talk about their athletic accomplishments, but he always mentioned their character and what made them memorable. It was always with sincere interest that he followed their lives. He knew if they had attended college or got married, where they were working and if they were doing okay. These discussions helped develop a sense of team and belonging.

When I graduated, I know Raff networked and lobbied for me to get an athletic scholarship at the best college possible. He would show up for some of the meets at MSU where I ran and although we would talk about running, he would always ask if I was taking care of myself, making friends and thriving in the other aspects of college life. He knew that it wasn’t all about sports.

Certainly these things have enhanced my life as I am sure my opportunities would have been more limited had Raff not influenced me to find and develop my talents. Plus the values of developing people, fostering team work, having discipline and being mentally tough have proved beneficial in many aspects of my life. Now that we are into our late 40s, I think we have all realized that this is really what we got out of running track and cross country for Coach Raffin and why a scholarship fund is so appropriate.