COULEE CITY – Graham Grindy knew he wanted to get into teaching since he was in high school, but the idea to begin a career in coaching didn’t spawn until he was in college.

While playing basketball for Skagit Valley Community College in Mount Vernon, time spent coaching a youth Amateur Athletic Union team sparked his interest in coaching, something he’s still doing to this day at Almira/Coulee-Hartline High School.

“When I was playing in college, I got to coach a fourth or fifth-grade AAU basketball team,” Grindy said. “It was a team of kids that couldn’t necessarily afford to pay for it, but the county got together and paid for these kids. They picked a couple of guys from our college team to coach, and it got me hooked a little bit. I was like, ‘Man, I really enjoy this a ton – working with these kids and giving back.’ That’s really, for me, why I enjoy coaching.”

After his playing career was over, Grindy attended Eastern Washington University knowing Eastern was “a really good school for teachers,” meeting his wife along the way and eventually settling in Coulee City where he got a student teaching position. Having grown up in a small town himself in Concrete on the west side, Grindy knew what he was getting into when moving to Coulee City.

“Sometimes small towns are tough to fit into if you’re not from that small town, and I’m just so appreciative of the experiences that I’ve had and getting to know and meet the people that I’ve been able to along the way,” Grindy said.

Now in his 14th year of teaching, currently educating fourth and fifth-grade students at Coulee City Elementary, the intricacies of both teaching and coaching have seemed to blend together.

“In my opinion, in order to motivate a kid as a teacher, or on the court, or on the field or whatever it is, you have to find that thing that makes them tick, and with each kid it’s different,” Grindy said. “Once you find that, then you can build on that and it keeps going and going. I think the two parallel so well, and that’s why so many coaches are educators.”

Having been at the helm of the Warrior basketball program for a decade and the softball program for six years, Grindy’s squads have seen success both on the court and on the field; the Warriors qualified for seven straight 1B Boys State Basketball Tournaments from 2015-2022, placing in six of those seven seasons including three top-three finishes; in softball, ACH has reached the 1B State Softball Tournament in five of his six seasons, winning back-to-back state championships in 2018 and 2019.

“He’s done a great job with (coaching),” ACH Athletic Director Brandon Walsh said. “He cares about the kids and really invests in the kids. He’s a great teacher of the game, whether it’s basketball or softball, and it obviously shows in the results his teams have had. More than that, it’s because he invests in the kids. For every great coach, there’s 100 other people who know the game just as well. But if you can’t make those connections that Graham has a knack for, then you may not be as successful.”

Some of his standout moments through his coaching career have been improving from a six-win team in 2014 to entering the 2016 state title game with an undefeated mark, winning those back-to-back state titles in softball and an exciting double overtime state title game against Sunnyside Christian on the hardwood.

“I’ve got lots of memories,” Grindy said with a laugh.

Grindy began coaching the Warriors on the court 10 years ago, and took over as head coach of the ACH softball team in the 2017 season after being an umpire for state playoff games in both baseball and softball. While the two sports are entirely different from a preparation, game plan and an in-game standpoint, there are some things that the two sports share.

“(In) team sports, you have to be on the same page as your teammates no matter what,” Grindy said. “Play for each other.”

Through all the years of coaching, the most rewarding aspect for Grindy has been the relationships with players even after they’ve graduated.

“The relationships that I’ve been able to build at the time, and then when they come back to town you still have that with them,” Grindy said. “You’re all in the trenches together and you all compete – times are good and times are bad, but in the end, everybody comes through it together.”

Even with nearly a decade-and-a-half of coaching experience, Grindy said he still learns new things with every season.

“I’m still figuring it out,” he said. “When I say it’s been 14 years, and that can seem like a long time, it does not seem that long. I’m still learning with every team, there’s always something new to learn. That’s probably why I like it because it’s refreshing in that way.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.