Sittin’ Wasn’t For Litton Spontaneous Coach Took Unusual Route To North Central

What Bob Litton could have been thinking, as a newly retired guy lounging on his sailboat, nobody can know for sure.

But he certainly wasn’t thinking about coaching a gymnastics team, hundreds of miles away, at a school he didn’t know.

He couldn’t have seen himself, after a second serious heart surgery, poised to catch vivacious 16-year-olds for hours per day.

And in his wildest dreams he wouldn’t have guessed that the state’s coaches would select him as their association president.

Yet some bizarre dominoes have toppled in the last 11 years to bring Litton to Spokane and North Central, the high school that will host Friday’s District 8-4A meet.

As Litton, 66, sums it up: “A lot of things in my life have been spontaneous.”

Litton’s story, or the most recent chapter, began in the mid-1980s, after he retired as a health and physical education teacher at Marshfield High in Coos Bay, Ore., a school similar to NC’s size.

Litton started off as a fairly normal retired guy, living on his sailboat for one year. It was the sort of eclectic thing one would expect from Litton, whose employment career included stints as a rocket tester, casino worker at Harrah’s in Reno, and air-traffic controller for the United States Air Force in Moses Lake.

The direction of his life changed when he traveled to Spokane for a skiing trip with his brother.

Litton was reading The Spokesman-Review sports section and spotted news of a gymnastics meet at Mead High. Litton had grown to love the sport, although he had been 43 when he first coached gymnastics as a favor to Marshfield’s athletic director.

NC competed at the Mead meet, a fact that didn’t sink in until later, when Litton drove past the school. The school’s readerboard announced that 500 students had finished the semester with perfect attendance, and an impressed Litton started formulating a plan.

He met with NC athletic director Carl Schultz and asked to assist the gymnastics team. Schultz sent him to first-year coach Sherry Bowman, who agreed to having a second assistant.

“All I had to do was ask, ‘What do you want me to do today?”’ Litton said. “It was pure coaching.”

The Indians’ coaching corps dropped to one, Litton, following the season when Bowman wasn’t rehired and the other assistant moved. In much the same way it had happened at Marshfield, Litton was offered a coaching position for which he had never lobbied.

Litton took time deciding, figuring the gymnasts needed someone to commit to at least three years after having two coaches in two years.

His quadruple-bypass surgery in 1981 didn’t affect Litton’s decision. He had found a second home.

Since then, rival Greater Spokane League coaches have marveled at Litton’s stamina and motivation. When a tricky issue arises, the coaches often turn to Litton to issue logical arguments about their concerns.

“Bob’s motivating factor behind every issue he tackles comes down to the girls,” said University’s Stacey Heaton, the league’s most successful coach in the 1990s. “It’s about having the opportunity for these girls to compete in what they want to do … and what they’re good at. It’s not because he wants to pump up himself; he wants opportunities for these girls.”

NC, at a disadvantage against schools loaded with former club athletes, has finished 9-12 or better for each of Litton’s last eight years.

Litton visits grade schools in the spring to spread the word about NC gymnastics. He offers a two-week camp each June and gave the girls a free camp last July, barely three months after triple-bypass surgery.

“The doctor told me what to be aware of if I’m doing too much,” said Litton, a native Californian who competed in football and track at the University of Reno. “Then he said, ‘I’ll see you next year.”’

Litton’s two-year term as association president ends after the Feb. 20-21 state meet. During his term the group began state rankings and an academic all-state team. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DISTRICT 8-4A MEET Site: North Central. Time: 5:45 p.m. Friday. Format: Five rotations, 40 minutes apart. Awards scheduled at 9:30. At stake: Four teams, three all-around competitors (not on qualifying teams), and seven competitors per event (not on qualifying teams) advance to Feb. 14 regional at Southridge High in Kennewick. Defending team champion: University. Defending event champions: Tara Hulbert, U-Hi, all-around and uneven bars; Kacey Frederickson, Ferris, floor exercise.