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Richie Busby
Helena High School Athletic Director
Head Football Coach

Q: What do you love most about coaching football at Helena High School?

A: I would have to start with the community support. That starts with the county administration, the city administration, the school administration, the support from the fans and the parents have been tremendous. With any great program you’ve got to have support of your community.  It’s kind of a two-fold answer. One of the other things I love most about coaching here is the effort our kids play with each and every Friday night.

 

Q: What do you feel your students learn by playing the sport?

A: Any football coach will tell you that coaching football and kids that play football learn more life lessons from football than any other sport. They learn a lot from all sports, but football is a different animal. I think one of the great things about high school football is the kids learn how to deal with adversity. There’s so many things in football they have to overcome…so I think dealing with adversity is number one, it makes you tough. You have to be tough to be a great father and husband and a great person in the community. Everything we do in our program is to make them tough and help them deal with adverse situations.

 

Q: How do you try to inspire your team on a regular basis?

A: Hopefully my players would say that we coach them hard but we also love them. I spend as much time hugging their necks and telling them I love them as much as I do coaching them and teaching them what to do. I think a kid will do anything for you as long as they know that you care about them and you love them. We want them to be successful.

 

Q: How does it make you feel when your team brings home a win?

A: There’s so much that goes into winning a football game on Friday night. These kids work 11 months out of the year to win 10 ball games. There’s not another sport where you practice more to play a game and they play one a week for 10 weeks, so just to see the joy on their face and the fruits of their labor when they win a game to know everything they put in throughout the off-season, the summer and the week leading up to the game…it makes us feel great because we know they feel great about themselves.

 

Q: What sets Helena players apart from other high school football teams?

A: I think it goes back to community again. The one thing we benefit from here in Helena is our kids have played with each other growing up since they were in first, second and third grade. I think on Friday nights when games are tough and they’re in doubt late in the game I think our kids can turn and look each other in the face and know that face has been staring back at them for years in that huddle playing sports with them. It’s hard to put a price tag on that…They love playing for the city of Helena. The support and togetherness of our city, our kids feel that and understand it.