Yorktown Coach's Passion for the Water Has Led Team for 20 Years

It was nearly 20 years ago when Beth Kear, who was in her second year as an assistant coach for Yorktown’s entry in the Northern Westchester Swimming Conference, unexpectedly had to take on a bigger responsibility for the team. 

Her then-husband was called out of town for business the day before the season started and told her he would be out for part of the five-week long season. But it turned out he was out for three months.

That led to Kear to have to run the show by herself. The young coach, who growing up was a member of the team, had advanced coaching tapes flown to her from Colorado overnight.

"I studied the tapes and I talked to somebody I knew who was a diving coach," Kear said. "I was a nervous wreck all season long. But in the championships, we moved up ten points that year and finished in second place and I thought to myself, ‘I could do this.’"

And she continues to do it, quite nicely, as this summer is her 20th anniversary of coaching diving for Yorktown. For her efforts, Kear was recently honored with a glass trophy at a . During her career, coaching in the top division of the conference, Division I, she helped Yorktown win diving championships in ’95, ’97, ’99, ’01, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’05 and ’07.

What also helps the team is the family atmosphere, according to parent representative Ginger Smith.

"The dive team is like a family with many divers returning year after year," Smith said.

Two of those divers turned assistant coaches are Amanda Caputi and Abbi Schenkel.

"The older kids stay with us and they end being role models for the younger kids," Kear said. "My two assistant coaches have been with the program since they were very young divers. They are 22 (Schenkel) and 25 (Caputi) now. They are a very integral part of our coaching structure. The three of us know each other so well, we don’t consider ourselves coaches or even friends, we are more like adopted family."

As for Kear’s favorite memory, she said that there are too many to pick from, but she admitted the championship years stand out.

"Winning championships all those years was special," Kear said. "The kids that take first individually in their age group go to the all-star meet. So there were a number of years that we swept the all-star meet, which is the highest meet in our conference."

The team's competitors had each won in their age group, she said. The best thing about coaching the diving squad for Yorktown throughout the years, Kear said, is watching the development of the kids. That is the reason she has coached for as long, she said.

"We have some exciting practices," Kear said. "The kids are just so excited to move to the next dive. The kids see the ones before them go and then they want to do it. We have some of the swimmers come early to watch diving practice. That just shows me that is all clicking, that this is all working. The kids are excited, the coaching staff is excited. We have created something that works."

Kear also coaches a swimming program in the spring with the Yorktown Parks and Recreation department that is designed to get the participants ready for the summer.

"There I can spot kids who are divers versus swimmers," Kear said. "Like the way they take off from the starting block for example, I can tell who is better suited to be either a swimmer or a diver."

Below is the speech that Kear’s assistant coaches, Amanda Caputi and Abbi Schenkel, collaborated on at the team breakfast that Kear was honored at:

When you are 25 and you think about someone doing something for 20 years you have the perspective to really appreciate it because it's the majority of your life. When you are 25 and someone has been doing something for 20 years and you have been a witness to it for 17 of them that goes beyond appreciation.

Beth has been the diving coach here since 1991 and when Abbi and I were thinking about the most important traits of her's that needed to be mentioned Abbi said and I agree whole heartedly that the attitude Beth has and has instilled in every one of us, good sportsmanship and positivity, had to be first on the list.

Before every single meet whether it’s an A or B meet she reminds all her divers that good sportsmanship comes first and that we are to clap for everyone, every meet for 20 years. And that is why through these 20 years even with all of our championships and the ridiculous undefeated streak not to mention the number of incredibly talented divers that we've claimed as our own, not one Yorktown diver was ever the "jerk of Division I," not one of us.

It's one of the most important values she instills in everyone she coaches that while your scores may be different no athlete is above any other and certainly no one is above the sport.

Beth has always had a quiet consistency. What I mean by that is that while you can definitely hear her argue with an official if she feels any diver is being cheated, she is constant in that she wants to do her job to the best of her ability and is fine not getting noticed or taking credit for it, it's about her athletes, it's not about her.

Of all the touching moments surrounding Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, one that has stuck with me is when his father said he is always in every at bat with him. Not only is Beth in every dive with all of us but she is in every challenge, every celebration, all the trials and positive moments in our lives as if we were her own children and that not only makes us better athletes or better coaches when it's our turn but it makes us better people.

That tendency is contagious; I see it in Abbi and in my brother, both excellent coaches who are invested in their athletes on more than just the one level.

That is what happens when you are one of Beth's; her gift is not just her ability to make you better but her ability to make you want to be better.

There is not one diver that set foot on these boards that isn't at least in part who they are today because of Beth; that is the greatest gift any coach can have and that any coach can give - it is innate in her, it is who she is and how blessed we have been for 20 years to have her.

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