By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL -Turner is retiring as athletic director at Normal Community and taking his talents to Maine South High School where he will serve in a similar capacity.
““It’s been a real good ride,” said Turner. “I learned a lot of good things from a lot of people along the way. Hopefully, we can take a little bit of that up north with us.
“I have a lot of loyalties with many people in the community and a lot of friendships. But I’ll probably always have that feeling that I’m an Ironmen, but at the same time I started out as a (Normal West) Wildcat. Unit 5 has been very good to my family.”
Turner said he’s proud of many things during his tenure.
“One of the most rewarding parts is when you see someone, who is in an environment that’s stressful and there able to take that environment and remove themselves from it and be with our athletic program for a certain part of the day,” added Turner.
“And then they’re able to expand on that through those two or three hours of the day and get the kick back from it. I can think of several situations where we’ve had kids who needed that.”
Turner also said sports are a learning experience.
“Athletics is such a great learning tool for how life works,” he continued. “The thing I’m most proud of is when kids come back and say ‘hey, I get it’ now.”
Seeing athletes have academic success also pleases Turner.
“The most proud part is how well our student-athletes have performed academically and done well athletically state-wide. Our student-athletes have gone on and done great things as doctors and lawyers and carried on a very high professional quality,” he added.
“The way we’ve been able to blend our academic success with our athletic success is the ultimate part of running an interscholastic program. That’s the most rewarding part.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at l[email protected].