Shadle’s Hester steps down

Mark Hester has resigned after 15 years as football coach at Shadle Park. He was third-longest tenured coach this year in the Greater Spokane League.

Hester said in a prepared statement that he was stepping down to give someone else a chance to lead.

“I was here for 15 years and that was plenty of time,” Hester said by telephone. “It was a great opportunity here. I enjoyed working with the kids, being around my assistants and had great support from the administration and student body.”

Hester had a career record 121-130 as a head coach at Sedro Woolley, Liberty (Issaquah) and Shadle (51-85) over 27 seasons. His Sedro-Woolley teams qualified to state three times, reaching the state finals in 1983 and semifinals in 1986. At Shadle he made five postseason appearances, including a state qualifier in 1999, with state play-in games in 1996, 2003, 2004 and last season.

“In 1999 we won the league title coming off a team that had not won a game the season before. That was pretty gratifying,” Hester said.

But the Highlanders had struggled to a 13-37 record the past five seasons, including 1-9 this fall as parental pressure mounted.

“That was frustrating, no question about it,” Hester said. “I think it is a great league and has gotten even more difficult to coach in. The job’s a big job now. I thought about it for a while, talked it over with my family and just came to this conclusion.”

Shadle activities coordinator Tim Trout said that there is no timeline for replacing Hester. He said they want the new coach to be in-building – “that will be a challenge in these budgetary times,” he said – and is seeking a pool of candidates from which to choose.

“I appreciate the 15 years of effort Mark has put into the program,” Trout said. “As you know, coaching is not an easy thing to do in this technological age. He’s worked really hard to support the program and kids. The character of the man is awesome.”