Community Sports Leader Series: David McClurg

North County Sports Magazine's Community Sports Leader Series features local people who demonstrate how sports can be used to help young athletes learn life lessons. If you would like to contribute a profile on a community sports leader, please send the article in a word document to ncsports@PositivePlaceSD.org

Coach David McClurg Teaches the Lessons of Life
By Max Duncan McArthur

In his over 20 years of teaching, to include 18 years at the R. Roger Rowe School in Rancho Santa Fe, Coach David McClurg has
created a family within the institution. As his players and students have moved on in school, life, and business, a trend seems to show
itself over and over again at Rancho Santa Fe. The kids, now prominent men and women of the community, return to be a part of what was once so
special to them.

"The most gratifying aspect of my job is the relationships I have built with my students over the years," Coach McClurg admitted in honest reflection. "A good many of whom come back here to teach, coach, or simply guest speak. I find it so special that in helping to
prepare these fine young men and young women for the world, I have also found some of the strongest friendships I have known in my own life. Kids that I coached fifteen years ago, five years ago, we spend time with each other's families, we go camping, and even play some hoops once or twice a week. That is what I really cherish." And the coach can still play, believe it. Running full court for
hours on end with players half his age, Coach McClurg is famous for being the best conditioned player on the floor. But more than that,
far more than that, he is famous for always being there when he is needed.

"I am 25 years old," former Rancho Santa Fe standout and University of Iowa football player David Bradley began laughingly. "And Coach McClurg is, well, older than that. But I can tell you without question, that he is one of my best friends, and that he always will be. If I ever need advice or help, in any area of my life, Coach is the first call I make. He always has time to help, and I've found that he always has a lesson to teach. I have probably learned more from Coach McClurg than any other person I know."

As I found these sentiments to be shared among dozens of former players and students alike, I began to understand what the coach had
meant when he had talked of "his family" at the school. "Over the course of my life," former Rancho Santa Fe standout and starting 3
at UCSD Sam Higgins thought, "I have compared every coach I have ever had to Coach McClurg. Without fail, if you walk into the gym on a Sunday you'll find "Coach" crossing over a guy half his age, knocking down the jumper, and telling the guy on him all about it. We joke with him about his age all the time, but he is still the first guy you want on your squad. His passion for basketball is unrivaled, but more important is his personality, and the fact that we love hanging out with the man who has kept us all so close over the years."

Part 2 will be published on Thursday.