Recognizing Retirement of Hoover High School Coach Jerry Goodpasture

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Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to recognize the longtime North Canton Hoover High School softball coach, Jerry Goodpasture.

After a long and successful tenure at the helm of the Hoover Vikings, Coach Goodpasture announced his retirement last week.

Starting as the team's pitching coach over two decades ago, Coach Goodpasture helped Hoover win its first two State titles in 1998 and 1999 before taking over as head coach in 2005. He then led Hoover to not one, not two, not three, four, or five, but six Division 1 State championships, including four State championships from 2011 to 2014.

Coach Goodpasture's coaching prowess cemented the Vikings as a softball powerhouse, and as a result of his success, he is a three-time Hall of Famer. He has been inducted into the Hoover High School Athletic Hall of Fame, the Ohio Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame, and the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Coach Goodpasture will be remembered not only for his impact on the young athletes he coached on the softball field but also for the students he taught in the classroom for 30 years.

As one of Stark County's most successful high school coaches of all time, Coach Goodpasture's legacy will forever live on in the Goodpasture Stadium, the Hoover High School softball field named in his honor.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Coach Jerry Goodpasture on his incredible coaching and teaching career. I know the entire Hoover community is grateful for his years of dedication, and he will be greatly missed this upcoming softball season. I wish him the best of luck in his new chapter, and I thank him for making Ohio's 13th District the Birthplace of Champions.

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