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Bellarmine Magazine_Fall2012

JiM SPALDiNG “DAD WAsn’T JusT A CoACh oF sPoRTs; he WAs A CoACh oF lIFe AnD hoW To lIVe IT by exAmPle.” remembers him taping small, ticket-stub-sized pieces of paper to his desk in neat rows, prioritized and organized. He helped found the Great Lakes Valley Conference, now the most powerful in NCAA Division ii. He chaired the Division ii Tour- nament selection committee. He worked to bring the Division ii elite eight to Louisville. He rarely made headlines for doing so. But his death was big news to thousands whose lives he touched. over the past two days, his family heard story after story of people who got part of a scholarship after meeting with him, or who benefited when Spalding “stuck with” them even if they weren’t playing well in their sport. Lauren Just told the family that Spalding asked her five times to coach the women’s golf team until she finally just gave up and said yes. That kind of determination continued to show itself even as his disease progressed. Last summer, the family took its usual trip to Nolin Lake and Jim told them he wanted to dive in the lake. it took a lot of figuring out, but they finally figured out a way to let him do it, and in he went, diving off the back of a pontoon boat face-first, then having his family haul him back onto the boat. He was not one to shy away from diving in, regardless of the obstacles. fall 2012 37


Bellarmine Magazine_Fall2012
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