Final season for Bob Jones softball coach Kent Chambers
Bob Jones Softball Coach Kent Chambers will step down after this season (Record Photo/Lindsay Vaught)
MADISON- Bob Jones softball coach Kent Chambers will relinquish his coaching duties after this season. He will continue teaching at the school. Chambers teaches pre-Calculus. He has been at Bob Jones for 30 years and has been softball coach since 1988, 28 seasons.
He announced his decision to step down in a tweet on March 11. Messages of congratulations and gratitude began pouring in from students and former players.
“I’ve known it for a while,” Chambers said. “The only other people that knew were Mrs. Lambert (Bob Jones principal) and my wife. I waited as long as I could to announce it but Mrs. Lambert is getting close to starting the search for a replacement so I wanted the players to hear it from me before somebody told them they are looking for a new coach.”
Chambers said that he will continue to serve as assistant athletic director and will have a hand in selecting his replacement. The new coach should be in place by the time school is out in May in order to work the team camps in June.
Under Chambers Bob Jones has not won any state championships. Their best finish was third in 2010, a team led by Jessica Offutt who went on to play softball at Mississippi State.
In the early years Chambers coached volleyball and girl’s basketball. Chambers will coach his 1500th softball game later this season.
“We would like to win a state championship but its also important to teach the kids to show class in all they do and all my teams have done that.
I set a goal to get to 30 years as a coach and that would be it. My mind and heart wants to keep doing it because I still love the game and I think I am still effective but my body says its time.”
Chambers has plenty to keep him busy. He grew up in the farming community of Eva and still lives there.
“We have a vegetable garden and my wife has a flower garden. I’m going to buy a new lawn chair and watch as many games as possible with no pressure and no stress. I also want to make sure they get the best coach possible.”
Softball has changed dramatically in the years Chambers has been a coach. Originally played as slow pitch some schools like Bob Jones went to fast pitch. By 2002 all classifications were playing fast pitch.
