At the Athletics Coaches Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening, coaches from across Spring ISD gathered to celebrate each other and to recognize the best among them.

Along with the usual awards, this year saw a pair of new awards handed out: Impact Coach of the Year and Influential Coach of the Year. Both awards were designed to recognize the coaches who make significant and positive influence on their teams, athletes, and the broader community. 

“As I go around and see our coaches at work and go to their games, I see that our coaches’ influence goes so much further than just athletics,” Derrell Oliver, Athletics Director, said. “They make impacts on the surrounding community in every way imaginable.”

Anthony Williams, the head football coach and athletic director at Dekaney High School, received this year’s inaugural Influential Coach of the Year. Oliver said that his impact in the surrounding community is significant, with student athletes at Dekaney heading up the charge each holiday season to collect hundreds of gifts and nonperishable food for local nonprofit organizations.

“This is more than a football coach,” Oliver said. “I’ve watched him with other coaches. I’ve watched him with athletes. I’ve watched him with parents. I’ve watched him with college recruiters. And his excellence applies to all of them. The impact that you make and the influence that you have can impact an entire generation.”

The night also saw another new category, the Platinum Choice Coaches of the Year. These three awards recognized the three coaches who took athletes to the state level of competition — Ty Hatcherson, Westfield Golf; Undre Martin, Dekaney Track; and Braxton O’Banion, Spring Track. 

“This year I see three plaques over there,” Superintendent Lupita Hinojosa said. “Next year we’ll have to get a bigger table. I know that we’ll have more athletes at state, because I know the work that our coaches do.”

Along with coaches from around the district, attendees included members of the Spring ISD Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees members Dr. Deborah Jensen and Vice President Winford Adams, Jr.

“Today, we’re honoring the people behind the scenes — the people who work their magic — who motivate and train and commit to our student athletes,” Dr. Hinojosa said. “It takes all of us to see our students, to believe in our students, and to pour into our students. And if we do those three things, I know our students won’t let us down.”

The winners of this year’s awards include:

• Impact Coach of the Year for Middle School, Female
  • Keisha Dyer, Claughton Middle School 
• Impact Coach of the Year for Middle School, Male
  • Michael Culbertson, Twin Creeks Middle School
• Impact Coach of the Year for High School, Female
  • Caylan Oliver, Dekaney High School
• Impact Coach of the Year for High School, Male
  • Derrick Lamothe, Westfield High School
• Cheer Coach of the Year, Middle School
  • Katrina Acevedo, Springwoods Village Middle School
• Cheer Coach of the Year, Middle School
  • Markeisha Lee, Spring High School
• Athletic Trainer of the Year
  • Susan Davis, Westfield High School
• Athletic Medical Director of the Year
  • Kirsten Schneider
• Newcomer Coach of the Year
  • Kieran Spence, Dekaney High School
• Coach of the Year for Middle School, Female
  • Tiffany Borens, Twin Creeks Middle School
• Coach of the Year for Middle School, Male
  • Gregory Sever, Bailey Middle School
• Coach of the Year for High School, Female
  • Tramecia Williams, Spring High School
• Coach of the Year for High School, Male
  • Billy Goffney, Westfield High School
• Community Outreach Award
  • Dekaney Wildcats
• Stepping Up to the Plate Award
  • Brandon Jackson, Claughton Middle School
• Influential Coach of the Year
  • Anthony Williams, Dekaney High School
• Platinum Choice Coaches of the Year
  • Undre Martin, Dekaney High School
  • Braxton O’Banion, Spring High School
  • Ty Hatcherson, Westfield High School