The Whitworthian

Issue date: 11/13/07 Last Updated: 11/16/07

Media Credit: Nate Chute Seniors Matt Friesen and Curtis Flournoy bow their heads as Coach Bushey prays with the men's team prior to starting practice on Nov 2.

Sean Bushey’s office, a landlocked, windowless room in the basement of Graves Gym, is constantly shaking.

Situated directly beneath the basketball court on the main floor and across the hall from the clamor of the weight room, peace comes at a premium for the 2007 Northwest Conference Soccer Coach of the Year. As pounding footsteps sporadically joggle the ceiling against the din of the weight room music, Bushey works unaffected at his desk in the corner.

“I’ve got railroad tracks up there," Bushey said while pointing to the ceiling and the hallway. “It’s loud in here.”

Bushey’s life, like his office, never seems to stop moving. As the head coach of both men and women’s soccer, practices run back-to-back five days a week in the fall. Weekends are often spent on a bus with his athletes. While most head coaches have enough to worry about during one weekend match, Bushey stands on the sidelines for two in a row.

“There are a lot harder jobs out there,” Bushey said. “I could be working on the road crew, or as a machinist or something tough like that.”

He grinned.

“Although I will say that those [Division I] coaches who only have to coach one team and that’s their job – they’ve got it pretty easy,” Bushey said.

Whitworth soccer isn’t Bushey’s only responsibility. The 39-year-old coach and his wife, Cindy, have three children of their own. After Cindy’s sister died about a year ago, the Busheys became the guardians of a niece and nephew, as well.

Five children make for a loud household, he said.

“My wife sometimes has to take on extra burdens, and she really allows me to work,” Bushey said. “It puts added things to do, I’ll say that. But it’s part of life. It’s what God calls us to do.”

Still, filling the role of a father and husband can be difficult for the coach of two collegiate-level soccer teams, in addition to head coaching various age groups in the Region IV Olympic Development Program.

“In the fall, you miss things," he said. "My younger kids all play soccer, and you miss that. But you pray about it and work at [balancing everything]."

Bushey said his relationship with God takes priority over other obligations in his life. While he sometimes believes he could do more to use his coaching position as a Christian ministry, he does remain conscious of a higher calling than college sports.

“I try to lead by example, to show that there’s something bigger than playing soccer and that’s why we’re here,” he said.

Bushey admitted that balancing all these pulls on his time and devotion is tricky. Keeping the schedules, rosters, needs and nuances of two separate teams straight involves time, effort and a good deal of mental strength.

Are there ever times when he isn’t prepared for a team meeting?

“Monday,” he said. “We were so busy trying to get two teams ready to travel this weekend that we had no time to plan other things out.”

Bushey points to his fellow coaches, Matt Stueckle and Daman Hagerott, and the athletes themselves as the keys behind the soccer program’s success given his own delicate balancing act.

“The maturity level of the players meshes over bumps that could occur," he said. "They can lead themselves, so off the field, or on the field, there are no points of tension."

Now in his 12th season as men’s coach (and 11th with the women’s team), Bushey’s leadership at the helm of the two teams have paid dividends.

The men’s team entered this year’s Division III Tournament as Northwest Conference champions for the third time in the past four years. Not to be outdone, the women’s team set a Whitworth record for wins this season (17) to finish the regular season atop the NWC standings.

Bushey gives credit to his athletes.

“Certainly, you have to have athletic ability, but you also have to have the character to see it through,” he said. “We’ve seen that at Whitworth for a long time. The men have gained more trophies, but the women have battled through a lot to get to where they are.”

While both teams fell out of the NCAA D-III playoffs this weekend in the second round, Bushey said he never anticipates the off-season.

“I never look forward to the end of a season. I don’t need a break until it comes,” he said.

Men and women’s soccer teams continue to build on the past year’s successes. Bushey, the overall architect of the programs, manages to keep his focus on both teams simultaneously, even while fathering a full household and remaining an active member of the community.

Several honors decorate Bushey’s own trophy case. The NWC named Bushey Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2004 in addition to 2007. The same award was given to him by the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges in 1994 when he coached at Tacoma Community College, and by the National Associate of Intercollegiate Athletics when he coached at Evergreen State University in 1995.

“It’s nice to be recognized, but to get that award, you have to have student athletes who can get you there,” Bushey said. “I see it as my players putting me in that position.”

Aside from coaching, Bushey's master’s degree in physical education allows him to teach several kinesiology and physical education classes at Whitworth.

The “railroad tracks” thunder on all sides of his life, but Bushey’s prioritization and devotion helps to see him through.

Contact James Spung at james.spung@whitworthian.com.

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