GREAT FALLS — Five new members were inducted into the Montana Coaches Association hall of fame Thursday at the 58th annual MCA clinic held at C.M. Russell high school.
Cary Finberg (Dillon, Columbia Falls - basketball), Rob Lott (Ennis, Sheridan, Twin Bridges - football/basketball/track), Ricknold Thompson (Helena Capital - soccer), Brian Kavanagh (Cut Bank - basketball) and Wayne Beddow (Wibaux, Missoula Hellgate - football/basketball/track) were all honored.
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"Very honored to be inducted, especially with the group I was inducted with," Finberg said following Thursday's ceremony. "I knew some of (these) guys for a long time, and just very proud of what I accomplished and what the other inductees accomplished."
"I was just blessed," Lott said. "I had a lot of good players, and apparently I did good enough that I didn't get fired. So I lasted a long time."
"Maybe it will soak in here pretty soon, not used to being a hall of famer," Thompson said. "But that's alright, it's kind of cool."
"I was thinking, 'Geez, I hope I don't have to give a speech,'" Kavanagh joked. "No it's good, it just makes you look back and sometimes you go along and you forget about some of the great things that went on when you're coaching, and all the kids that come through."
"It was a surprise honor," Beddow said. "It's one of the things when you get into the career — into the profession — I don't think you ever think about the end result, where I'm going to end up. It was a super special day when I got the announcement."
All five said that their supporting staffs were who allowed them to achieve this induction.
"Had great kids, great parents, a great community support, and things worked out," Finberg said.
"It's kind of weird that my names going on the board, but it's all because of my teams and my assistant coaches," Lott said. "I kind of accept the award on behalf of them."
"People don't give high school kids as much credit as they should," Thompson said. "I wouldn't be here if it was not for those (girls he coached in soccer), for the support system at Capital high."
"It's a great profession," Kavanagh said. "It was a lot of fun doing it and fun to look back on all the kids I got to deal with and all the other coaches was just an honor in itself."
"There are a lot of them that came before you, and there's certainly going to be a lot more that will come after," Beddow said. "I just feel especially honored because of that."
The clinic wraps up Friday in Great Falls.
