by Carrie Moritz, Gazette
His football games had a nearly perfect winning streak for 30 years. His record boasts of a State Championship runner-up, a 24-game streak in nine-man football, and 23 games won in a row in 11-man football. And now, he can add member of the 54th class of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame to that record.
Former Garretson High School teacher and football coach Clarence Kooistra remains humble, however.
"I give all credit to the teams- it's all about them, and the community," Kooistra said. "I owe it to all those people."
Kooistra was the Garretson High School football coach for 30 years, leading 300 games from the 1970's to the 1990's before retiring from coaching in 1997 and teaching in 1998.
After serving for four years in the Marines during the Vietnam war and obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree at Sioux Falls College (now University of Sioux Falls), Kooistra began teaching in Coleridge, NE. It wasn't long before he moved back to the area and started teaching in Garretson.
He taught high school social studies, geography, and government before moving into the guidance counselor position. During his 34 years of teaching, he impacted many lives and guided many kids through their teenage years.
In an interview with the Gazette, Kooistra spoke of the impact of community involvement. He mentioned pep rallies, which were held every Friday for K-12. Oftentimes, the whole community would be involved. He remembered doing one rally while standing on a beat-up car on Main.
"It was all for the kids," he said, pointing out how much the students got involved in the pep rallies, doing skits and having the band play. He wished the school could still hold the pep rallies that often, but realized it probably wasn't feasible anymore, because there are more games and sports than there used to be.
Participation was the name of the game for Kooistra. He noted that he expected his athletes to attend practices without fail and expected them to be good leaders. Once, his team got in trouble with an initiation, and "it was bad," he said. "But I was tough with the kids so we didn't usually have too much issue with that."
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