Yesterday I got an opportunity to spend a little time with a man who had a great influence on my life. My high school track coach Dick Dotson. Coach was like a surrogate father to me and hundreds of other young men who ran track at Waterloo West High School in the 60’s and 70’s. “Dots” was boisterous, funny, bold and always entertaining. The perfect personality and persona for arrogant, insecure, pimple faced teenagers who thought they had the adult world figured out.  Just when you thought you had the answer to solve the greatest problem in the universe, Coach Dotson was there to let you know in front of all your teammates and friends. “Kid, you don’t know Jack!”

Richard Dotson was a great athlete in his own right, excelling in football, basketball and track at Waterloo East High School in the mid to late fifties and later as an All-American track star at the University of Northern Iowa in the sixties. Growing up on the east side of Waterloo gave coach Dotson heavy exposure to African-Americans, many of whom he developed rich friendships.  This evolved understanding of cultures and lifestyles outside of his own would serve coach well during his tenure at West High during the turbulent and explosive era of busing and integration in the Waterloo School district.

The hundreds of young blacks bussed into West High everyday must have looked like refugees to the white students and teachers. Being black and bussed into an all white school is like entering a foreign country, encountering a different culture with kids who practically spoke a different language. Coach Dick Dotson helped to ease many of the tensions because he worked as an interpreter for both sides. To a young African-American, coach Dotson was streetwise, personable, fair and always accessible. To a young white student, coach Dotson was streetwise, personable, fair and always accessible. In other words coach was the same to everyone.

It’s been nearly 30 years since Dick Dotson last coached at West High. Ironically, my class was the last one to compete for him. Physically, life has taken a tremendous toll on coach Dotson. 19 years ago, coach had a heart transplant. Eight years ago, coach had a kidney transplant and right now he is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for lung cancer. But like any battle worn soldier who has tasted more than his share of victory, coach still has the remarkable spirit that has carried him through his incredible life. Coach Dotson still has his fascinatingly quick wit and personality and he is living and cherishing every moment. And coach Dick Dotson is living proof you should try and make each day count, because you have a chance to make a difference in some one’s life…just like he did with this young, insecure, pimple faced teenage kid a long time ago.

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