South Tama boys varsity head coach Dustin Peska (right) stands with his former coach and mentor Larry Fletcher (left) ahead of the team’s Feb. 11 game against Perry. Fletcher has served as a volunteer assistant with Peska’s boys program since he took on the position in 2018. Fletcher was celebrated during the game for 50 years of coaching at programs in Nebraska and Iowa. – Photo by Darvin Graham

It would be difficult to find anyone in the Tama-Toledo community that has more passion and dedication to the game of basketball than retired South Tama County teacher and coach Larry Fletcher.

Fletcher recently celebrated 50 years coaching both as a head coach and as a volunteer assistant in recent years.

The coaching journey began for Fletcher as a 22-year-old fresh out of college at Wayne State in Nebraska. As the head coach for the Walthill Blue Jays in western Nebraska, Fletcher helped the team to a runner-up finish in the Class C Nebraska State Tournament in 1976.

A year later, he and his wife Denise relocated to Hartley, Iowa where they both worked as teachers and Larry coached the boys varsity basketball team for the Hartley-Melvin Hawks.

Fletcher led the Hawks for 10 years until he and his family moved one last time to Toledo in 1987. As the head coach of the South Tama County Trojans, Fletcher brought the program to its highest peak in the mid-90s and walked with the team through low points where wins were hard to come by.

South Tama’s Larry Fletcher coaches the Trojans during the 1994 3A boys state basketball tournament at Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines. Fletcher’s 1993-94 and 1994-95 teams made two of only three appearances the program has ever had at the state tournament. Fletcher recently celebrated 50 years coaching as a head coach and, most recently, a volunteer assistant for South Tama. – Photo provided

Two of South Tama’s three boys basketball state appearances came under Fletcher’s leadership in 1994 and 1995. The 1994 team finished third in Class 3A, defeating Forest City in quarterfinals before falling to eventual state champion Johnston in the semifinals. The Trojans rallied after their semifinal loss however and gutted out a 75-73 win over Kuemper Catholic in the consolation round to take third place.

STC alum and former assistant boys basketball coach Todd Rosenberger was a player on South Tama’s 1994 team and remembers Fletcher’s work in running efficient practices and making sure the team was prepared for their opponents on any given night.

“We had a lot of raw athletic ability but also good team chemistry,” Rosenberger said. “And I credit Coach Fletcher a lot for that. He did a good job of balancing the different personalities and attitudes that come with high school kids.”

A few years removed from the 1994 and 1995 state tournament runs, Fletcher and the Trojans wound up on the opposite end of the spectrum, finishing the 1997-98 season with a winless, 0-21 record.

“Something I’ve said several times about that period with the team is that we’ve been to the penthouse, but we’ve also been to the outhouse,” Fletcher said. “We had one year where we never won a game. Winning is contagious, but sometimes losing is too. But credit to the underclassmen who came back after that winless season. They worked their butts off over the summer and ended up winning something like 10 games the following season.”

Larry Fletcher takes a moment to reflect as notes on his 50-year career are announced during a South Tama home game earlier this season. Fletcher, who has been retired from head coaching since 2003 and from teaching since 2010, has remained as a volunteer assistant to an array of South Tama basketball programs for the past 19 years. – Photo by Darvin Graham

Fletcher remained as the head coach at South Tama until 2003 when he decided to step down following the graduation of his youngest child.

Family has always played a key role for Fletcher throughout his coaching career. He credits his wife for being a constant support to him throughout his career.

“Denise has been to a lot of basketball games and sat in a lot of bleachers for the 30 plus years I was a head coach,” Fletcher said. “It’s not easy being a coach’s wife. I would think almost every coach might say the same thing. Of course it’s not all bad. There were years that I was able to coach my son and we were fortunate he was with a good group of kids at the time and we had good teams. And that experience is something I’ll always cherish.”

Although Fletcher was resolute in his decision to move away from head coaching, he said it was always his intention to continue helping out with the program as a volunteer wherever there was a need.

“I always thought that I would try to help out in another way,” Fletcher said. “And I didn’t want to be an assistant or a paid person. I thought if there was a coach, whether it be at the middle school or high school level that needed some help, I could certainly be there for that. It turned out to be more than I thought, and that’s okay. When you’re a retired person you can choose how you devote your time.”

Coach Larry Fletcher huddles with his players during a Walthill High School game in 1977. Fletcher began his coaching career at Walthill High School in Nebraska before moving to coach the Hartley-Melvin Hawks and ultimately the South Tama County Trojans in 1987. -- Photo provided

Over the past 19 years, Fletcher has stuck with the South Tama basketball program helping out coaches on both the boys and girls side of the game and at the middle school and high school level.

“He’s a great teacher. He really teaches the game to the kids,” Rosenberger said. “I really admire the passion that he still has, even as a volunteer. And he remains passionate. Even though we’ve been losing so much lately, he’s stayed committed to working on the success of the program. Most people would want to just move on, but he’s remained and that’s been a real asset to the school and the basketball program.”

Over the past four seasons, the South Tama boys team has gone on an unprecedented string of down seasons, compiling a total record of 3-85.

South Tama teacher and coach Nathan Doran played under Fletcher during the 1997-98 and the 1998-99 seasons that saw the zero wins to 10-win season turnaround.

Several years later Doran returned to South Tama as a teacher and with a coaching endorsement quickly found himself being asked to step up and fill a coaching vacancy with the 8th grade basketball team.

South Tama volunteer assistant and retired coach and teacher Larry Fletcher confers with coaches Dustin Peska (right) and Nathan Doran (left) following a regular season boys varsity game at the STC Roundhouse. Since his retirement from head coaching in 2003, Fletcher has filled an advisory role for several different coaches and teams within the South Tama system. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d end up coaching basketball when I came back to South Tama,” Doran said. “But I got asked to help out with the 8th grade team and when I started, I had no clue, nothing. Then one day I’m there at six in the morning and Fletcher comes walking out of his workout in the gym and kindly offers to help me out if I needed it.”

For Doran, it was the first time really interacting with Fletcher since his high school playing days years earlier.

“I met an entirely different guy that day,” Doran said. “He was all about helping. His mannerisms and just everything he did was to help me be a better coach. That was huge to me. And I see that every time he comes to one of our practices now. It’s a joy to have Fletcher at practice.”

Doran himself has gone on to coach at multiple levels within the South Tama basketball program. In the mid 2010s he led the boys varsity team for a few seasons and is now serving as an assistant with another STC alum-turned head coach Dustin Peska.

Similar to Doran, Peska also played on Fletcher’s teams as a high schooler and recently concluded his fifth season as head coach of the Trojans varsity team.

Coach Larry Fletcher with his dad during the Class 3A state tournament in 1994, one of two state appearances he helped lead the Trojans to over his career. -- Photo provided

“He’s been a mentor for me, really,” Peska said, speaking about Fletcher. “He’s been through it, you know, 50 years. Having him there to ask questions and get feedback has been crucial. Then there’s his dedication as a volunteer. He spends a ton of time breaking down film and helping us with the x’s and o’s. He takes the time to do those things and enjoys doing it.”

Peska said one of the most valuable characteristics he’s observed from Fletcher who most recently has been helping with the high school boys teams, is an understanding of the South Tama community.

“Having somebody that understands what Tama is all about and what Tama is, has been crucial from a coaching standpoint,” Peska said. “Not anybody can just come in here and teach and coach. He knows the kids and the community and the families here and that goes a long way.”

Fletcher, now in his 70s, has been retired from teaching since 2010 and when he’s not helping with the basketball programs during the winter spends a lot of his free time helping as an organizer with community groups like the Kiwanis Club or most recently as a member of the South Tama Facilities Task Force that helped push the recent Middle School Bond Referendum across the finish line with high approval from local voters.

Rosenberger said he valued and observed the breadth of the time that Fletcher has donated, not only to the school but also within the community as a volunteer working with different boards and projects.

“He’s very low-key about everything he does around the community, which is a crazy amount of time,” Rosenberger said. “He never asks for anything in return and has been a great example in that way.”