Mike Mathews
Cumberland Times-News
—
For some it may seem
almost like yesterday.
For others it’s a long time
ago.
But what
no one can
deny is the
impact Terry
Colaw made
on teammates,
opponents
and
even opposing
coaches
and teams.
Colaw was
a three-sport star at Southern
Garrett High, graduating in
1960, and a state champion
coach at Aberdeen in the
1970s.
A few weeks ago, Feb. 9, was
the 35th anniversary of his
sudden death from a heart
attack. He was the head coach
of Aberdeen’s basketball and
soccer teams and just 35
years old.
Determination and discipline
can take an athlete a
long way. Those were two
Colaw traits that became
apparent to everyone he
played with and against, and
to those he coached.
“He was a disciplinarian
and he made sure we were
ready to play, physically and
mentally, every game,’’ said
Aberdeen athletic director
Tim Lindecamp, who played
on Colaw’s soccer teams.
“Everyone who played for
Terry has been influenced by
him.”
Lindecamp said Cal Ripken
Jr. played soccer for Colaw
during the Hall of Famer’s
junior year at Aberdeen. After
Colaw died, a student drew a
large penciled portrait of
Colaw, and it hangs in Lindecamp’s
office today.
“One of the big things I
remember was if you were an
athlete and got in trouble in
the classroom you didn’t get
sent the office,” Lindecamp
recalled with a chuckle. “You
got sent to coach Colaw and
he would take care of things
on the field at practice.”
The fact that Aberdeen won
state championships under
Colaw’s leadership isn’t a surprise.
The fact that one came
in soccer may have been to
some.
“I don’t think Terry ever
played soccer in his life. I
don’t know if he ever kicked a
soccer ball,’’ joked Jerry Wine,
a friend of Colaw’s since their
Little League baseball days.
Didn’t matter. The
Aberdeen soccer team went
16-0-1 in its Class A (now 3A)
state championship season of
1973. It was the first soccer
state title in school history.
There has been only one other
(1979).
“If there is a key to any success
I have had in coaching it
has to be my love of sports
and the love of the boys that
play for me,’’ Colaw told the
Aegis, a Harford County newspaper,
after being named its
Coach of the Year in 1973. “All
I ask of the kids is that they do
the best they can, hustle all
the time and never give up. If
they make a mistake while
hustling, I don’t often get too
upset with them.”
In 1976, Colaw took
Aberdeen to the Class A basketball
state tournament at
College Park, which must
have felt like a Homecoming
of sorts. Also there that weekend
was Southern Garrett,
one of the Final Four teams in
Class B, and Southern’s coach
was Don Stemple, a friend and
former high school teammate.
That weekend, Aberdeen
won its first basketball state
title in 25 years. There’s been
only one since, in 2000, the
year the Eagles beat Fort Hill
61-56 in the Class 2A semifinals.
Southern lost to Gwynn
Park in the Class B final.
“We got to watch about half
of their game and I remember
Aberdeen’s kids were certainly
an extension of Terry,” said
Stemple, who later coachedthe Southern girls to a state
championship. “They played
very hard and were very
determined.”
That came as no surprise.
Determined and disciplined
could have been Colaw’s middle
names.
He was never the tallest or
biggest player on the court,
but was the first Southern
player to score 1,000 points
and is still No. 5 on the Rams’
all-time scoring list with 1,130
points.
“No matter what the sport,
Terry took it very seriously.
He was determined to make
things work and be successful,”
Stemple said. “He had
great hand-eye coordination,
and that helped make him an
excellent shooter in basketball
and a good hitter in baseball.”
Southern may have had its
high school rivals, but back in
the day and neighborhood it
was Oakland vs. Crellin.
Colaw was part of the Crellin
gang. Stemple and Wine were
members of the Oakland
opposition.
“Terry came from a very
athletic family, and a lot of the
good athletes back then were
from Crellin,” Stemple conceded.
“We’d hitch-hike back
and forth for games, usually
about three times a week in
the summertime.”
Basketball, football and
baseball. It was serious stuff.
“I remember going out for a
pass in a football game,
caught the ball, and when I
came down broke my collarbone.
They just grabbed me
and drug me off the field,”
Wine said, laughing. “It wasn’t
until after the game was over
that I was taken to the hospital.”
For basketball, the Crellin-
Oakland battles were sometimes
played at the old Center
Street playground, now the
site of the Community Action
Center in Oakland; the Crellin
Elementary School court; or
St. Peter’s Catholic School
gym. Sometimes someone
would open a window at the
high school on Friday in hopes
it would go unnoticed and
remain open so the crew
could sneak in and play in the
gym during the weekends.
“Those were great times
and Terry was a great teammate
and friend,’’ said Wine.
“I remember we beat Valley in
Don’s senior year, and Don
made a one-and-one to win
the game. We stayed up all
night at Mrs. Stemple’s house
to catch the train and see
what kind of headlines were in
the Times-News.”
The train carried the
Times-News to Oakland back
then. Valley finished 24-2 and
was Class B state champs
that year.
“We got big headlines,”
Wine said. “It said, ‘Colaw foul
shots beat Valley!’ Terry didn’t
have anything to do with it,
obviously, but he felt so badly
about it. Of course, a correction
was run the next day. I
wouldn’t be surprised if Terry
made the call to the newspaper
to report the error.”
After high school, Wine and
Colaw were roommates in
Washington, D.C. for a year.
“Terry worked at American
Security and Trust and we
played on their basketball
team in the Unlimited League
that year and went 23-0.
“Terry saved every dime he
could that year so he could go
to Frostburg State. He was so
disciplined in everything he
did.”
Terry played basketball at
Frostburg State before landing
at Aberdeen. A cousin,
Ron, played football at West
Virginia University and another
cousin, Toby, pitched in the
Pittsburgh Pirates minor
league system. Terry’s father,
Earnest, who had been nicknamed
“Bang,” some say
because of his ability to hit a
baseball so hard, played on
some of the early Frostburg
State baseball teams.
“Terry often jogged after
practice, and that’s long
before jogging became big and
popular,’’ Wine said. “He just
wanted to stay in shape. He
was disciplined and serious
about it, just like everything
else. After basketball practice
one day he went jogging,
came into the locker room,
said he didn’t feel well, and
died.”
At 35.
It’s a story with a sad ending,
for sure. What more
would Terry Colaw have
accomplished? No one knows.
What’s most telling is all that
he accomplished in only 35
years. It was more than many
have in twice that time.
Two of the chief reasons?
Determination and discipline.
They are two of the many lasting
lessons of Terry Colaw.
The Terry Colaw Award,
first presented the year after
his death, is awarded annually
to the Southern athlete who
brings the most recognition to
the high school through athletics
and academics. It is the
athletic department’s most
prestigious award.
Mike Mathews is a Cumberland
Times-News sportswriter. Write to him
at mmathews@times-news.com
