Coach John Heins Takes a Look Back at a Well-Run Career

John Heins was worried he would miss coaching when he retired in 2010. 

While part of the former Upper Moreland track coach had to adjust to a new lifestyle, Heins was comfortable with walking away.

“I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would,” Heins said. “I enjoy the freedom of having my afternoons free. I had been doing three sports for 40 years.  We would always start on Aug. 15^th and go right through with track until Memorial Day.”

Heins recently completed his first year away from coaching in over 40 seasons. 

He retired as track coach at Upper Moreland High School when the 2010 season came to a close. Heins began teaching at Upper Moreland in 1968 and served as an assistant coach for four years in track and football. 

Heins became the head coach in 1973 and built one of the top programs in the area. Heins coached cross country in the fall, as well as indoor track in the winter and track and field in the spring. 

He retired from teaching in 2002, but continued to coach track for eight more seasons.

“I really took great joy in track,” said Heins. “I had to figure out lineups and try to figure out how to score points, and I really miss that. I watch meets and think what I might have done, but after 40 years, it was time for me to go, and I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I would.”

There have been generations of track athletes who have made their mark at Upper Moreland under the tutelage of Heins. He is flattered to see how so many have found success and how much they were influenced by his lesson in life as well as athletics. Many have followed Heins’ career path.

“I run into former students all the time,” Heins said. “They have memories they relay to me, and some of them I don’t remember myself. I’ve impacted more kids than I realized and made some memories. A lot of the kids I’ve coached have gone into coaching themselves. I get a great deal of pleasure out of that.”

Heins was able to coach some of the top track performers in the area.  However, it was equally gratifying for Heins to see some of his lesser known athletes perform well on the track.

“I enjoyed working with the less-talented kids as much as the talented kids,” said Heins. “I got as much joy from a kid that wasn’t one of our top kids and seeing his improvement. I knew he really got something out of the program that was very meaningful.”

Now that Heins has stepped away from coaching, he is happy to have more time with his wife as well as the rest of his family. 

“Our plan was to do some traveling, and we really haven’t,” Heins said. “We do weekend trips. My wife has been very supportive of me over the years. I was coaching all of those years on just about every Saturday. We are just enjoying spending time together.

It has been a year since Heins’ retirement, and he is starting to get used to the idea of seeing someone else coach at Upper Moreland. 

While he would be happy to help some of his former students, he is letting the next generation of coaches do their jobs.

“I try to stay in the background and not interfere,” said Heins. “I went to all the meets, but I let the new people do their thing. If the kids come up to me, I tell them they have to do what their coach tells them and that I’m not coaching them now. I try to keep my hand out of it.”