Boyceville grad inducted into WBCA Hall of Fame

By Cara L. Dempski

SPRING VALLEY — Spring Valley basketball coach Rob Bosshart has occupied a seat on the coaches’ bench for 29 years. For the past 27, he has been the head coach.

Despite his long tenure, his appreciation of the game is still strong, and on September 24, Bosshart was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“I’m humbled to have this opportunity,” Bosshart said. “It was a thrill to be selected.”

You would think that 29 years coaching would burn someone out, but Bosshart’s love for the game is obvious when you speak with him. It is equally obvious that he plans to coach as long as he is able to.

Starting out

Rob Bosshart graduated from Boyceville High School in 1982. While a student there, he was a three-sport athlete, playing on the football and basketball teams and running as a sprinter in track. Bosshart attended UW – Eau Claire and graduated with a degree in education.

His coaching career started in Boyceville when he served as an assistant to coach Frank Dummer during the 1985 – 1986 season. He then served as an assistant coach in Spring Valley for two years before stepping up to head coach.

“There’s something I enjoyed about coaching basketball,” Bosshart said of teaching younger players the game.

He said he was glad to have been offered a position in Spring Valley after graduation since it was close to his family. His mother Lois and sister Julie live in Glenwood City, and his brother, Chris, lives in Red Wing, Minnesota. Bosshart teaches business education at Spring Valley high school.

Receiving the honor

Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association executive director Jerry Petitgoue contacted Bosshart in February 2016 to inform him he had been selected as one of the organization’s hall of fame inductees. Bosshart stated he is humbled to have the opportunity to be included in a group that includes so many people he looks up to.

The WBCA chooses 11 coaches, six boys basketball players, six girls basketball players, one assistant coach, three friends of basketball, and one referee for its annual hall of fame class.

Coaches can be selected from retired or active coaches. A retired coach cannot have served less than 15 years as a head coach in Wisconsin, and must be retired for at least one year before he or she is eligible. Active coaches cannot have been a head coach in Wisconsin for less than 20 years.

Those who are nominated but not immediately inducted remain on the nomination list indefinitely, and anyone wishing to nominate a coach can obtain the paperwork to do so on the nomination page of the WBCA website.

Coaching

“I love this game,” Bosshart said. “I love that I have had kids go on to play in college.”

The Spring Valley coach said some of the things he tries to impress on all his players are the lessons that can be applied to the world at large. He wants his teams to know the value of hard work, commitment and teamwork.

“We’re playing the game of basketball, but learning bigger things,” Bosshart stated. “We try to teach what you can do to accomplish things.”

Bosshart wants each of his players to grow into strong, positive young men, and seems happy about his role in helping them. He expressed pride in the program and players he has worked with over the years.

One such player is on his team currently: his youngest son, Dylan. The sophomore has taken some flak from teammates in the past because he is the coach’s son. Bosshart said Dylan has proven himself to his teammates by working just as hard as they do to earn their respect.

Coach Bosshart said he is grateful for the support of his wife of 31 ½ years, Sally. He knows it is not always easy being tethered to the school and athletic schedules, but he finds comforting in getting home to someone who can distract him from practice or a game.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like being the spouse of a coach,” Bosshart said. “But she’s very good about getting me back to reality.”

In addition to Dylan, Sally and Rob Bosshart have two other sons, Tyler and Kyle. Tyler graduated in 2009 and works as a physical therapist, and Kyle graduated in 2012 and is working as an engineer in Winona, Minnesota.

The whole family has been supportive of Bosshart’s tenure at Spring Valley, and he said he is grateful for it.

“It’s been awesome to be a part of something like this,” Bosshart stated. “Every year parents ask me if I’ll be back again next year, and I tell them ‘if they’ll have me back.’”