On our TXA 21 Game of the Week we did a short tribute to one of our good friends, former North Crowley coach and teacher Ken Kershaw. Because of time restrictions the tribute was not as long as I was hoping it would be so what follows is the full text of what I was hoping to say...
Texas high school football lost one of its biggest fans and greatest supporters when Kenneth Kershaw passed away on April 19th of this year as the result of an automobile accident. Coach Kershaw was a Texan, born in Brownsville, and he was passionate about all things Texan, especially hunting, BBQ, and high school football.
Coach Kershaw earned a Masters degree from TCU in 1988 and spent his entire adult life teaching and coaching on the high school level, first at Fort Worth’s Western Hills, then on to Marble Falls in the Texas hill country. After that is was back to Fort Worth and stops at Pascal and Southwest high schools before finally settling at North Crowley in 1999.
He was a successful coach, helping to lead baseball and football teams to winning seasons…the ultimate athletic prize came his way in 2003 when, as an assistant football coach, he was part of the magical North Crowley run to the 4A DI State Championship..
Athletics was only part of the Ken Kershaw story though…a beloved and respected educator, he was named North Crowley teacher of the year in 2003 and 2004 and Educator of the year in 2005. His students marveled at how he knew the mascot for every high school in Texas, and how he could tell them about the best barbecue restaurants in any small Texas town…he pushed his students to excellence, and they loved him for it.
Coach Kershaw loved what he called “small ball” high school football on the 1A and 2A level..so its fitting that his family and friends are celebrating his life tonight at Waco ISD stadium where Bosqueville and Bartlett are squaring off in a “Battle of Bulldogs”.
Ken Kershaw absolutely adored the sport of Texas High School Football, so let me say this final thought in a way I think he would appreciate…On the scoreboard of life the points are not given for fame, money or possessions…rather they are earned by faith, the lives you touch, and the good that you do…by that measure Coach Ken Kershaw didn’t just light up the scoreboard, he blew it up. I know I speak for his wife Sara, his kids Kristine and Kurt, and countless other members of his family and his friends when I say Coach, you are loved, and you are missed.
