Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
DAVE HANSSEN
For Dave Hanssen, moving to Shawano was supposed to give him more time to enjoy the outdoors. It also happened to get him back into coaching.
Hanssen was hired as Shawano Community High School’s head track coach after Scott Smurawa stepped down following the spring season.
Hanssen, a coaching veteran who did not coach last spring, hopes to transition easily into the Shawano job with the help of the returning team members.
“If I can find some kids that are respectful and a hard worker, I’ll be glad to work with them,” Hanssen said. “And I’ve been very fortunate to work with individuals like that through my entire career. When you find kids that have a drive and sense to make themselves better, it’s easy to work with them.”
During his time at Watertown High School, from 1977 through 2013, Hanssen coached two state champions. Watertown sent at least one athlete to state for each of his 36 seasons.
It takes time for a program to get to that level, but Hanssen believes he can help his athletes improve, which will inch each and every one of them closer to greater success.
“How can you say someone did something bad if they took 99th place, but they improved by whatever? They had a personal improvement, and that’s the thing,” Hanssen said. “As long as I can get kids to succeed, to improve themselves, how can we be losers? We can’t.”
Hanssen was named Coach of the Year for District 6 by the Wisconsin Track Coach’s Association on three separate occasions. After leaving Watertown, he was an assistant coach at Oconomowoc High School for one season.
After leaving Oconomowoc, he spent five months working in the Virgin Islands as a sailor, taking people on adventures and snorkeling through underwater trails. He moved to the Shawano area in July.
Charmaine Schreiber, SCHS activities director, said Hanssen’s strengths are his experience and “his knowledge and expertise in all facets of the track program.”
“He is very motivational, and I think he’ll take the extra steps to become involved in our community and really get to know athletes even before track season even comes around,” Schreiber said. “I think he’ll begin building relationships, and that will be helping encouraging some kids to come out for track.”
All five of the program’s assistant coaches plan to remain with the team.
“My goal is to improve people as athletes and get them to better move, to jump (and) to just be a better all-around athlete,” Hanssen said.