M-A names field for Coach Parks M-A names field for Coach Parks (October 19, 2005)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

Once a coach, always a coach.

Ben Parks, the legendary Menlo-Atherton High School coach, was honored Saturday, October 14, at a special event christening the school's athletic field "Coach Parks Field." Local politicians, and former students and colleagues paid tribute to him at the dedication ceremony held on the field between the Bears' junior varsity and varsity homecoming games.

In a thank you speech peppered with acknowledgments to former players, mentors and family, Mr. Parks paused mid-sentence and barked at a noisy section of the bleachers, "Pay attention up there!"

With a flinty gaze trained on the troublemakers, who snapped to attention, chastened and alert, he quipped, "I'll see you after practice."

Mr. Parks coached wrestling and football at Menlo-Atherton, served as the high school's vice-principal for two years, and was a conditioning coach for 49ers Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and Jerry Rice, among others. He retired in 1999, ending a 31-year career. Currently, he is caring for his wife, who was partially paralyzed by a stroke.

Speakers at the field dedication painted a picture of a tough disciplinarian who inspired players with his own work ethic and his generous heart.

"This field is just a down payment on a debt we can never repay," said Marc Rogers, the M-A alumnus who organized the field dedication.

Until he was 61, Coach Parks raised money for the school by running one mile for every year of his age on his birthdays. State Controller Steve Westly, who graduated M-A in 1974, said he remembers student athletes would go out in shifts to run with Coach Parks and come back exhausted after a couple of hours, "looking like whipped puppies."

Racial violence closed down Menlo-Atherton's campus more than once during the early 1970s, said Mr. Westly, recalling when Coach Parks patrolled the hallways with a baseball bat, sending students back to their classrooms.

"It may not have been the most politically correct thing to do, but he held this school together," Mr. Westly said.

Former M-A principal Eric Hartwig said he first met Mr. Parks after he retired.

"Imagine my surprise when, day in and day out, coach was on this campus," Mr. Hartwig said. "He was working full time while telling everyone he was retired. In my 32 years of teaching, I've never met another man like Coach Parks."

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