High school athletes have four years to compete in the sport that they love, but that does not mean that their impact on the game has to end with graduation. Moore High School head slowpitch softball coach, Steven Peeler, says that coaching has been his opportunity to be near the game.
“Once your time as a player ends, you want to find a way to stay close to the game you love,” he said. “I have been fortunate enough to have found my way to be around it for 21 years. I enjoy the relationships I have made with both players and coaches the most.”
Along with serving as the head coach of the Moore slowpitch softball team, a position he has held for five years, Peeler is also an assistant coach for the fastpitch softball team.
Throughout his career, coach Peeler says that his way of coaching has continued to evolve with the help of those around him.
“All of my assistants from the last 16 years as a head coach have helped influence me to become who I am today,” he stated. “Without them, I know I would not have had any success. Everyone has their own style of coaching the fundamentals and most of the time everyone is basically doing the same things to get better. In the later part of my career, I have tried to focus on the motivation side of our sport. I feel Mike Bianco is someone I have followed the most and appreciate his way of reaching his players.”
During his time coaching, there have been a lot of memorable moments that Peeler has enjoyed with his teams.
“On the field, I have had success with our teams here at Moore High School in both slowpitch and fastpitch. We even had a chance at a state title two seasons ago and hope to get another chance at it. Highlights off the field have been seeing the great men and women some of my players have become. I hope I was a good enough example to help them to become who they are today.”