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In
a three-decade plus career of coaching at
Trinity Lutheran School, Richard Crouse
guided the Royals to numerous victories in a
wide range of sports. But
his legacy goes far beyond the wins.
He shaped many lives as a teacher, coach and
athletic director at Trinity from 1965 to
1998, and as a long time member of the board
of directors of the Lutheran Sports
Association in Illinois in helping it grow
into holding state championships in cross
country, volleyball, high school basketball,
grade school basketball, grade school
basketball, cheerleading and track and
field. In
addition to his coaching duties at Trinity,
as athletic director he was a founder of the
Little Six Conference and oversaw the
addition of opportunities for students in
the school's athletic program including
basketball, softball, baseball, track and
field and volleyball. "Richard
genuinely enjoyed setting things up and
creating an atmosphere for kids to
participate," said former Trinity coach
Fred Harm. 'He wanted to see them have
a chance to compete and do well within an
organized system, and as a coach I
appreciated that." "One
thing that I always remember about Coach
Crouse was his approach to and respect for
the game," said John Cooksey who played
at Trinity and after a stellar prep and
college playing career coached at Kaskaskia
College and is now coaching at Harry S
Truman College in Chicago. "Our
teams had struggled when I was younger but
in my eighth grade year we were pretty good
and fired up to get some revenge against the
teams that had beaten us before. "But
Coach always told us that you win with
class, you lose with class and it's
something that has stuck with me. I
saw the way he conducted himself and I've
tried to be the same way." While
he was seeking his 200th career victory in
boys basketball at Trinity during the
1984-85 season his composite total at that
time was over 500 with 156 more wins in
junior varsity basketball and 171 more in
softball. "Over
the years it all seems to balance out,
especially at a school our size," he
said of his then 15-years at Trinity.
"You win a lot one season, then things
get turned around the next." His
earlier years at Trinity produced such
seasons as 20-4, 20-3 and 19-3 but under the
old one-class system the Royals often ran
into much larger schools in the postseason. However,
it was after the 1985 season - in which
Trinity won a Class S Regional in Southern
Illinois Junior High School Athletlc
Association play - that the Royals took part
in the first championship tournament in the
nation for Lutheran schools after receiving
an invitation for the inaugural event. "We
didn't really know anything about it [the
tournament]," said Richard's son
Andrew, who played on the '85 team.
"But Dad thought we should go." Trinity
teams and athletes were frequent
participants in the LSA series which began
to offer more tournaments, and in 1990 the
Royals, coached by Richard Crouse won the
girls Lutheran State basketball
championship, the first of three for the
school. "He
had gotten to know the people who ran the
tournament and joined the board of directors
who oversaw all the events," said
Andrew Crouse. "In 1990 the
volleyball tournament was moved to the
Collinsville-Edwardsville area and Dad was
chairman of it for seven years." The
LSA celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015
and Richard Crouse, who spent 20 years on
the board was on hand. "In
30 years, I think he missed three
tournaments," said Andrew Crouse, who
is currently a member of the LSA
board. "Even after he retired he
stayed involved, and so was my mom
[Karen]. Dad made a lot of friends
there. Active
in the congregation at Trinity Lutheran and
in the Southern Illinois District of the
Missouri Synod, Richard Crouse was a long
time golfer and member of the Tuesday Night
Men's League at Colonial Golf Course.
In 2001 he scored a hole-in-one on No. 12. "The
more I reach and coach, the more I realize
how lucky I was to have a coach like Richard
who did things the right way," said
Cooksey. "As an adult I can look
back and now see the impact he had on me as
a student and as a person in general." Upon
his retirement the gymnasium at Trinity was
named Crouse Gym in his honor, in
recognition of Richard's 33 years of
dedication to the school. Coach
Crouse passed away in June of this year at
age 80. llist@morningsentinel.com
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