Steve Feiden got quite a send off in his final season coaching at West Platte.
One of the two head coaches for the Bluejays track and field team resigned at the conclusion of this school year as his family is headed to Tyler, Texas.
His last meet at Rudolph Eskridge Stadium he witnessed the girls win a district title.
Two weeks later, in his final meet as a coach, the girls won the Class 2 state championship after winning Class 1 the previous years.
Feiden talked to the team prior to the start of practice when the season opened in hopes of getting the news out he was leaving, so it wouldn’t be a distraction late in the season.
“Everything this year was my last with the school and it was hard,” said the St. Joseph native who attended Central High School. “I did my best to be in the moment and sit back and let kids do it. I watch them perform and celebrate with them.”
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
West Platte track and field coach Steve Feiden, right, times the girls 4x400-meter relay during the Class 2 District 8 meet earlier this year. Feiden recently resigned as a coach. Next to Feiden is Nate Kendall.
Feiden oversaw most of the boys team, while Bailey Giger oversaw the girls but with most small schools, each coached both teams. Feiden worked with the sprinters and hurdlers and a state title run by Mikenna Peters in the hurdles helped lock up the Class 2 title.
Clint Spencer (throwers), Ryan Nichols (jumps) and Paul Thomas (pole vaulter/hurdlers) were also coaches for West Platte.
“I was very fortunate at West Platte,” Feiden said.
Feiden worked the past five years as an English teacher for West Platte, the only teaching job he had since earning his degree at Missouri Western State University.
He and his wife, Heidi, and their two kids headed to Texas for a new adventure, where Feiden will work with his brother.
The family moved to Texas this month but it was a move that was up in the air when the family first approached the children.
“They didn’t want to move, they like where we were and they weren’t on board,” Feiden said. “We let them marinate on it for a while and we came back two or three weeks later and we took a look at what it would look like and that is how it started. It is bittersweet. I love coaching and teaching and that will be the hardest. I’m also super excited to help grow the business and see the opportunities on that front. It was an incredibly difficult decision.”
The move to Texas, or the idea, started during a conversation while tailgating at Arrowhead Stadium.
His brother owns five oil/lube centers and hopes to double that in the next five years. The brothers will also continue to sell auto parts to more than 60 shops across Texas.
“I will still be teaching people and help them learn and improve skills, just not doing it in a classroom,” Feiden said.