There are countless coaches at Erie, but Brandon Havard stands out from the rest. The five years he has worked here, Havard is the head track and field coach and the cross country head coach. While in school he is a health and physical education teacher as well. 

It’s crucial to stay on top of all of the many duties these jobs require like lesson planning for his classes and training and coaching his athletes. “Planning ahead, being organized, that’s the best way to manage both,” Havard comments. “If there is a time where I can’t be at practice, I’ve hired great assistant coaches who can handle things for me.”

In college, Havard ran track and field but his main event was pole vault, “I was a division I pole vaulter in college,” Havard adds. Although he loves all field events in track and field his favorite event to coach will always be pole vaulting, as it was his favorite event when he was a student. “Even though I ran all the other things, and did all the other things, definitely track and field is my favorite, and pole vault is the thing I love in particular.” 

Just like Havard, his students and athletes always have to make sure that they are staying on top of their schoolwork to be able to participate in the many sports that Havard coaches. Havard mentioned, “I preach that to all of my athletes that we need to take care of business over here on the school side first, so that we are able to take care of business on the track or [the] court.”

It’s hard to keep track of the long to-do list’s many high school athletes have, so Havard always makes sure to help his students and athletes keep up with their schoolwork as well as helping them learn and grow as people. Aden Arnold, a student here at Erie, stated, “Havard has helped me learn from my mistakes and grow past them as a student and as an athlete.” 

Many students at Erie are extremely grateful for the support Havard has given to the Erie community. For the time he has been there, he has always set high expectations and standards for all of his students and athletes helping them strive for the very best possible. The students at Erie hold the same expectations for Havard, hoping he will continue to raise his students and athletes up for many years to come.