PETE MAYNARD…. HIS LEGACY LIVES ON IN SOUTH CHARLOTTE

Pete Maynard began his coaching career during his freshman year at Memphis State University at the age of eighteen. He coached football at the powerhouse Christian Brothers School and then moved on to Catholic High in Memphis. After a stint in the Air Force during the Korean War, where he learned to love boxing, he went on to win the Mid South Golden Gloves boxing title at the age of nineteen.

After the completion of college Pete took a sales job that brought him to the Charlotte area. The love of coaching was always in his blood. In the late fifties’ Pete pieced together a group of eager young neighborhood boys to start the first semi-organized football team in the Charlotte area, the Assumption Raiders. They played their home games on the old Armory field on Central Avenue. Pete applied for a Pop Warner charter and was assigned a team. Soon after this, the ball was rolling and other organizations formed throughout the city. Programs such as MARA (Matthews) were formed, Police Athletic League began. Trinity, Starclaire, Plaza, Derita, C.Y.A.C, Broadmoore, all followed suit. By the late seventies, in just about every neighborhood in Charlotte, you could find a team to join.

Legendary gentlemen like John Shamp at Park Sharon, Tom Hart, Richie Dest and Bo Isola at St. Anne’s and families such as the Laymans and the Marstons helped solidify this program. At South Park there were men like Gene Whelchel who was not only a coach, but supplied equipment for every youth organization from Bocock Stroud Sporting Goods. Across town a strong organization, Winterfield was developed by BV Belk.  The Registers, Ramonos, Eichorns and  Keanes were all great supporters of Pop Warner football. There were important individuals such as Captain Sam Killman and coach Dick Williams at East Mecklenburg High, who let Pete’s youth teams play their home games at his stadium and sometimes under the lights; a genuine thrill for twelve year old kids.

At the high school junior varsity level, there were two men respected by many, Jerry Healy and Randy Belk at Charlotte Catholic, receiving players who had played for Maynard that were already prepared for high school level football. All of these coaches and families were molding young men to love and respect the game.

“Pete had a passion and love for life. He was fiercely loyal to everyone he called family or friend. He brought passion to his teams that few others could bring. He was highly respected and loved by everyone.” says, Jerry Healy, current principal and coach at Charlotte Catholic.

Throughout his career, Pete was privileged to coach with and for some of the finest men in Charlotte. His long time assistant and friend, Lou McClelland helped Pete for twenty-two years. He also coached many years with his cousin, Sonny White, a legend in North Charlotte.

 “He had one of the sharpest football minds and one of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever known, and we miss him everyday.” White said.

Pete mentored many young men who have become successful in their lives and leaders in their communities. Bobby Austin who played for Pete, began his infamous coaching career at EMI. Austin is now teaching the same values and fundamentals he learned from his mentor as the head baseball coach at Weddington High School.

 “I played for Pete for two years, he was not only a great coach, motivator and teacher but he also genuinely cared about every kid. I still use the life-long motivational tools coach Maynard instilled in me to communicate with athletes at a much higher level today.  He took the coaching seriously, you learned the sport well and his teams were always very successful. I am eternally grateful that this man came into my life at the age of twelve.”

One player he coached, Keith Watkins, loved the game so much he became one of the top high school officials in the state. Another top referee in the Charlotte area whom Pete coached, Mark Estep, is now a very successful real estate developer.

“Pete was a man who symbolized the phrase; it’s better to give than to receive. I’m a better person because I crossed Pete’s path.” Estep said.

 In the early seventies Pete had the honor of coaching with the legendary Jim Oddo, the winningest active coach in North Carolina high school history. At this time, Pete was the president of the athletic association at Charlotte Catholic High and was instrumental in bringing Oddo to CCHS as head varsity football coach.

“Whenever Pete came into a room, the room lit up with life!  No matter what the situation was Pete made something good out of it. Pete loved football and anyone who played for him became a part of his family.” Oddo said.

“The men who are now in their forties and fifties who played football in that era will remember Pop Warner as some of the best times of their lives. I will never forget waking up early on a fall Saturday morning, tired from the infamous “kill the man with the ball” in the end zone of a Friday night Charlotte Catholic game, and the smell of chili cooking for the games’ concession stand; putting my pads on, even though I knew I would not play for hours and staying out at the East Meck stadium all day long. Football was a way of life for the Maynard family. Thank God we had a loving and understanding mother who also loved the game.”  Mike Maynard said.

Pete Maynard, coaching the EMI midget team, won four Optimist Bowls equivalent to winning a city championship today, a feat no other coach has accomplished.  In the thirty seven years of coaching Pop Warner, he never had a losing season. Pete never cared about the stats or the championships; he focused on the well being of the kids he was coaching. He used football as his platform to help build strong character in these young men. “Every year he would pick up a group of kids from underprivileged neighborhoods, pay their entry fees, buy them new cleats and uniforms and help their families in any way he could. He just wanted to give something back to the kids who may not have had a chance to be associated with organized sports. If he could keep a young boy off the streets for three practices a week and all day on Saturday, he thought he was making a difference, and he was. To this day, some of those young men still call my mother’s house to thank him.” Mike Maynard said. 

Pete became a very successful businessman, a fantastic husband and father, and a very special grandfather. After he hung up his coaching cleats, he attended every grandchild’s event he could and you knew he was there. He was notorious for his sideline rants at officials and sometimes at other teams. “I think he still holds the record for getting thrown out of four gyms, a twelve year old baseball game and two eight year old soccer games, as a fan! We always respected his point of view because we knew he had forgotten more about any sport than most of the young referees ever knew.” Rocky Maynard said.

 Mike adds, “But he touched a lot of lives through sports and I remember his memorial service when hundreds of ex-players, coaches and friends stood in the rain for hours outside the crowded St. Matthew chapel to pay their respects to the family. He would also be the first one to “fill the hat” that was being passed around for the charity. He gave countless hours and dollars to any program that his kids or grandkids were associated with.” The Park Sharon Organization thought enough about this fan to dedicate a field in his honor after his death in 2003.

There were many great coaches and fathers helping to better young men’s lives at the onset of Pop Warner in Charlotte, too many great men to mention. None were more influential than Pete Maynard. His sons, Rocky and Mike have carried on his coaching legacy. Coaching their own children and nephews at Park Sharon, AAU and the YMCA, teaching the fundamentals and values they learned from their old man. And rest assured, not caring about stats or championships. As his son Mike may put it best, “Many people enjoyed and appreciated my “Pops” and if I can be half the father, husband and coach he was, than I can be satisfied with my life. He was one great man and everyone who knew him, loved him!”

In this day and age when youth sports are being marred with unruly parents and “win at all cost” coaches, it is a testament to the fathers and volunteers of the era when Pop Warner Football was about having fun, teaching fundamentals and molding a young man’s life. “It sure helped mold mine.”