Coaching has never been about the wins and losses or the X’s and O’s for Dwight Gingerich. No, for the 1981 Eastern Mennonite University grad, it’s always been about something bigger.
“I mean, it’s like being in the classroom,” Gingerich said. “You’re teaching. I think that ultimately, it’s about developing people of character who love and want to follow Jesus in life and that it shows in their relationships with other people and that it makes a difference in how we live.”
But if Gingerich wanted it to be about the wins and losses, especially the wins, he’d have plenty of them to fall back on…711 to be exact. On Dec. 11, the Hillcrest Academy (Iowa) head coach picked up his 700th career win, a 63-26 victory over Rivermont Collegiate. According to Jeff Johnson of The Gazette, with the win, “Only five men in state history have accrued more. Unlike Gingerich, the five ahead of him got victories at multiple schools.” All 708 and counting wins have come while Gingerich has been at Hillcrest Academy.
“I think for me hitting the milestone was not something that I necessarily spent a lot of energy thinking about,” Gingerich said. “It was more just a byproduct of continuing to prepare and do as well as possible in games, and there it was. But of course, something like that does not happen without all those players and assistant coaches along the way.”
Gingerich picked up his first win over 40 years ago: a November 3, 1981 45-31 win over Shellsburg. It took him a little less than nine years to hit the century mark but after win 100, he was rolling. He hit 200 in 1994, 300 in 2000, 400 in 2005 and 500 was 2010. His next milestone win came in 2014 and this one had more than one significance. It was not only his 600th win, but it came while his son, Eli, was the team’s leading scorer for that game, dropping 16 points in the Ravens win.
But much like Gingerich’s attitude toward the wins, Hillcrest Academy’s Director of Athletics, Chris Nachtingall, explained that Gingerich means so much more to the school than just basketball.
“Well, obviously he brings so much to the school outside of just the basketball piece of it,” he said. “It’s not just about him, it’s about the program. It’s about how do we create something that lasts? Obviously he’s proven that he’s been able to do that over the course of his 40 years as the coach. And so that’s how he coaches the teams and that’s how he lives, he lives it out that way, too. The program is bigger than him, and it’s not just about one person and obviously he implements that, but he also has a vision for that to happen.”
And while Gingerich left Eastern Mennonite, and Harrisonburg, more than 40 years ago, he still credits the university with helping shape what kind of coach he is and who he became as a person.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting how there will be something that might come up that takes me back to my time there as a player,” he said. “My internship was at Archbishop Carroll Catholic High School in DC, and that’s where I had my first opportunity to coach and I was on the staff there. So that experience then as an intern there was pretty instrumental in helping me progress, I guess, as a coach. But yeah, little things. I remember teammates that I had that I learned from, and there are times where I maybe share a story with our guys about something that happened there, and I think that those things relate to teamwork, selflessness, being there for each other as teammates. So I felt blessed to have had a range of experiences there, coaches, internship, teammates that I still feel like I’m benefiting from.”
Gingerich’s 2021-22 team just recently finished their season on Feb. 17, falling in the second round of the Iowa 1A-5 playoffs, 48-43, to Winfield-Mt Union. But, when November rolls around, chances are you’ll see Gingerich out there on the sideline coaching, mentoring and, most importantly, teaching, the game he loves…and doing it really well.
“I love to share that love for the game with them and enjoy teaching the game,” Gingerich said. “I really enjoy just seeing the growth and development athletically, and then also just the relationships as people through the years. It’s always been something I’ve enjoyed.”