One of my greatest role models as a young man was Roger Dupaix, my football coach. I did not start playing football until my junior year. Prior to that time, I knew nothing about the sport. In the spring of my sophomore year, I approached coach Dupaix and asked about playing football for him. He was very kind but also very honest. "I never cut a player and anyone can walk on to the team," he said, "but you will need to be disciplined and work very hard if you want to have any fun at all."
As the months went by and I survived the summer camps and two-a-days, I developed an appreciation for the game, lasting friendships and a profound respect for the man who was my coach.
Coach Dupaix rewarded hard work and treated us boys with the respect he would give his equals. I see definite traces of coach Dupaix in myself. I will always be grateful.
Last Tuesday, Doug Robinson featured coach Dupaix in his column. It was hard not to get emotional remembering all the things that make him such a great man. Considering the thousands of young men who, like me, he has helped to shape, it is almost a footnote that he is also the winningest coach in state history.
Marshall Hendrickson
Skyline Class of 1999
Spokane, Wash.