{"id":18134,"date":"2011-12-24T06:04:18","date_gmt":"2011-12-24T11:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/?p=18134"},"modified":"2011-12-26T00:20:26","modified_gmt":"2011-12-26T05:20:26","slug":"crestview-honors-ray-etzler-by-naming-gym-after-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2011\/12\/24\/crestview-honors-ray-etzler-by-naming-gym-after-him\/","title":{"rendered":"Crestview names h.s. gym for Ray Etzler"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Former Crestview boys' basketball coach Ray Etzler speaks in front of a sign showing the name change for the Crestview High School gymnasium. (Jan Dunlap\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CONVOY \u2013 To many Crestview graduates and fans, Hall of Fame Coach Ray Etzler is already an institution. But on Friday, Coach Etzler became a part of Crestview itself as the high school gym was renamed Ray Etzler Gymnasium to honor his accomplishments in 28 years of coaching.<\/p>\n

Etzler noted how lucky he was to have been able to return to his home community and coach so many of the Convoy area\u2019s basketball players.<\/p>\n

On hand for the dedication ceremony were some of Etzler\u2019s illustrious colleagues, including fellow Hall of Famers Al Welch of Wayne Trace and Bob Seggerson of Lima Central Catholic, as well as Frank Minnig, who coached at Van Wert and Delphos, and Dave Evans, the former Lincolnview coach whose Lancers were state runners-up in 1996 and state champions in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all we want to bestow a great honor on a great man,\u201d said Bob Motycka, a 1968 Crestview graduate and a former basketball player under Etzler.<\/p>\n

A large sign with the words \u201cRay Etzler Gymnasium\u201d was revealed on the wall of the gymnasium during the dedication, while a bronze plaque that will be displayed in the hallway outside the gym was also unveiled.<\/p>\n

During his part of the dedication, Motycka listed many of Etzler\u2019s coaching accomplishments, including a career record of 445-171 in 28 seasons, none conference championships, 16 sectional titles, five district titles and a regional championship.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the person most unimpressed with his accomplishments was probably Etzler himself. \u201cI stand here with a great amount of humility,\u201d Coach Etzler told the large crowd that showed up to honor him between the junior varsity and varsity games Friday evening. \u201cI\u2019m overwhelmed by what\u2019s happened here in the last month \u2026 and this special honor that you\u2019ve given me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Etzler, a deeply religious man, gave most of the credit for his success to a higher power, noting that it was God that gave him \u201cthe ability to coach and work with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI must say I\u2019ve been truly blessed in many ways: blessed to have been able to come back to my home community,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Veteran coaches who stood with Etzler (right) include (from the left) Bob Seggerson of LCC, Al Welch of Wayne Trace, Frank Minnig of Van Wert and Delphos Jefferson and Dave Evans of Lincolnview. (Jan Dunlap\/Van Wert independent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During an interview session following the presentation, Etzler again said he felt overwhelmed by the honor given to him. \u201cI\u2019m very humbled by it; sometimes you feel undeserving.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said he felt the honor wasn\u2019t his alone, but should be shared with all the coaches, players, cheerleaders, statisticians, and trainers, as well as the fans who rooted for Crestview during his coaching years at the school.<\/p>\n

Etzler also had compliments for his colleagues who came to honor him for his coaching successes. \u201cWhen you played against teams that they had, you\u2019d better be ready or you\u2019d go home with your tail between your legs,\u201d the former Crestview coach said. \u201cWe were always a better team the next game (after playing their teams).\u201d<\/p>\n

Etzler particularly thanked his wife, Colleen, and mother-in-law, Helen Bagley, for the support they have given him during his coaching years. \u201cI had a great supporting cast at home,\u201d he noted, adding that his wife \u201cwas a very, very supportive person \u2026 (someone) irreplaceable in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said his mother-in-law was so supportive she even attended games when he was in high school.<\/p>\n

Etzler also acknowledged several other people who had a big impact on his life. Those included Marlin Thompson, a mentor who was the first guy he knew to ever go to college, and several of his early coaches.<\/p>\n

Although he had a very successful career as a coach, Etzler said there were two highlights that stood out from the crowd: being able to coach all three of his sons — Doug, Andy and Dan — and to have a team go to the state tournament.<\/p>\n

He also said he didn\u2019t feel the support was the same today for coaches who might want to do the same thing he did. \u201cThe support for long-term coaches, I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s the same today,\u201d Coach Etzler noted.<\/p>\n

Doug Etzler, who also played for the Ohio State Buckeyes in the late 1980s and early 1990s and now coaches at Teays Valley High School, said he was glad for his dad. \u201cIt\u2019s a great honor,\u201d he said, adding that his father \u201cwas more of a teacher and leader of men that played basketball, (who also) prepared us for life after basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching was just a small part of it,\u201d Doug Etzler said, adding that his father was \u201ca great man, a great leader; I\u2019m so lucky to have a dad like this and to play for him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAVE MOSIER\/independent editor CONVOY \u2013 To many Crestview graduates and fans, Hall of Fame Coach Ray Etzler is already an institution. But on Friday, Coach Etzler became a part of Crestview itself as the high school gym was renamed Ray Etzler Gymnasium to honor his accomplishments in 28 years of coaching. Etzler noted how lucky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 07:20:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}