Ed Thomas Legacy Clinic

Saturday May 10th, 2014
Aplington-Parkersburg High School Auditorium
5 Speaking Sessions from 9:00-11:00 and 12:00 - 3:00 with Lunch included
Register Online or download the Registration Form
Clinic Schedule

History
Ed Thomas was a high school coach and teacher that spent his entire life in Iowa. After graduating from Tri-County High School (What Cheer) and William Penn College his coaching career spanned from 1972 to June of 2009. He got his start teaching and coaching at Northeast Hamilton of Blairsburg. In 1975 Coach Thomas moved to Parkersburg where he eventually was the football coach, boys track coach, athletic director, and history and government teacher. In 1991 the two school districts of Aplington and Parkersburg joined and became one district. Coach Thomas continued his duties as Activities Coordinator, Boys Track Coach, history and government teacher, and probably became best known as the A-P Football Coach.

During Coach Thomas's career he had many accomplishments. He was a past president and a very active member of the Iowa Football Coaches Association. He was selected to the Iowa Football Coaches' Hall of Fame. In 2005 he was named NFL High School Coach of the Year. His Parkersburg and A-P football teams had only 1 losing season during his long career, he coached 2 state championship teams, his teams qualified for the state playoffs many, many times, and 4 of his former players had NFL careers.

Coach Thomas unfortunately suffered an untimely death approximately 1 year after an F5 tornado destroyed half of Parkersburg. Coach Thomas was fatally shot in the Aplington-Parkersburg School weight room on June the 24th, 2009.

Motivation for this Clinic
Coach Thomas's accomplishments, awards, and earned recognition are too many for them all to be listed here. Coach Thomas's #1 lifetime accomplishment was probably never formally recorded anywhere prior to this. Those that really knew him know well his greatest accomplishment was his ability to create meaningful relationships with people.

Coach Thomas was also a man of great vision. He had a special way to visualize the way he wanted things to be in the future. Then he would work his tail off to make those visions become reality.

One of the Ed Thomas Family Foundation's goals is to continue the legacy of Ed Thomas. The idea of this clinic comes from one of Coach Thomas's visions of starting a clinic where the goal would be to teach what's most important in working with young people. A coed clinic where coaches would not exchange X’s and 0's, drills, nor plays. This would be a clinic where coaches share methods they use to teach what Coach Thomas called, “Doing what's Right.”

Today this concept is probably best described as teaching young people character. In continuing the legacy of Ed Thomas the basic philosophy of this clinic is, IF YOU IMPROVE THE CHARACTER OF A YOUNG PERSON, YOU WILL IMPROVE THER ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. To take that 1 step further you could say, "If you improve your character you will improve your performance in every area of your life."

The Ed Thomas family foundation looks forward to this clinic becoming a place where coaches can meet and share their methods of teaching those qualities that make better athletes and better people. The Foundation hopes this initial 2013 Clinic can create enough interest and excitement so that the clinic can grow and become an annual event for coaches and young people in the future.

Conclusion
Over the years many coaches met with Coach Thomas to get his offense, defense, quick huddle, or a play or two. He was always willing to share whatever he knew. He never forgot all of the many coaches that had helped him along the way. In retrospect, it probably didn't matter that much the offense, defense, or the plays that Coach Thomas ran. What other coaches should have taken from him is the way he treated people. That is the key to getting the most out of people and that's what this clinic is about.

Speakers
Learn more about the Clinic Speakers by reading their bios.