“It is our job to motivate our kids. It is our job to sell the value of what we do in the classroom. And that value is not necessarily the math. It’s the process, it’s the thinking skills, it’s the failures, it’s the picking yourself up, which is exactly what we’re trying to teach on the football fields.”

Those are the words of Holton High School math teacher and football coach Brooks Barta, the subject of a recently-released documentary from Kansas State University’s College of Education on the impact that coaches make on young athletes — and how many of those athletes pass on what they’ve learned.

Barta said the original focus of “The Life Cycle Of Coaching,” a half-hour film that premiered at KSU this past October, was to feature “three coaches at different stages of their careers, illustrating the progression and evolution of coaching over time.”
It details the impact those who served as Barta’s coaches — including his father, Smith Center High School football coaching legend Roger Barta — had on him, as well as the impact Barta’s had on two of his former football players who have gone on to follow in his footsteps.

“I especially appreciated hearing from former players and students as they shared their experiences,” Barta said of the documentary. “We have had many young people go on to find success in careers in teaching and coaching. Each of us hopes to pass along the same positive impact and guidance that others once provided for us.”

Debbie Mercer, dean of KSU’s College of Education, said that Barta, an alumnus of the college, was an ideal choice to be the chief subject of the documentary.

“Coach Barta served as our Alumni Fellow in 2016,” Mercer said. “During that experience, I got to know him and was so impressed with his passion for teaching. This applies in his math classroom and on the football field. We have a coaching certificate program in the college. He models the type of influence a coach can have on developing students and athletes.”

Barta grew up in Smith Center and played football under his father’s direction before moving on to KSU, where he played from 1989 to 1992, during Head Coach Bill Snyder’s early years. During his time as a Wildcat, Barta racked up a total of 436 tackles — the second-highest total in team history, behind only 1970s KSU standout and former Kansas City Chief Gary Spani.

It was Barta’s relationship with Mercer at the College of Education that prompted the dean to reach out to video producer Kyle Wilson and media production specialist Cameron Beck, both currently staffers at the College of Education. Wilson and Beck served as the documentary’s directors, editors and cameramen.

“(Mercer) recommended me to Kyle as he began exploring the idea for the documentary,” Barta said. “I was somewhat reluctant to have cameras present during the last couple of seasons, but the process ultimately went very smoothly.”
As Barta worked with Wilson and Beck on the documentary, it became important for him to detail the effect that his coaches and their peers had on him, as well as what he’s learned as a coach and a math teacher at HHS. What he learned as a coach and how he applied it to his own life, he said, allowed him to open up the world of Wildcat football to the filmmakers.

“My motivation for allowing access was rooted in the desire to encourage more young men to enter the field of education,” he said. “An increasing number of studies highlight the importance of strong male role models in the lives of both young men and young women. Positive male influences play a critical role in helping students mature and in addressing many of the challenges currently facing education. Today, we see fewer teachers who are involved in coaching and fewer men working in classrooms overall.”

A highlight of “The Life Cycle Of Coaching” involves two of Barta’s former student-athletes who have gone on to their own successes in coaching. Matt Brock, a 2007 HHS graduate and a player on Barta’s 2005 state championship Wildcat team, said the pride he recognized as a youngster while observing Barta’s team “just made you want to be a part of it.”

“To me, his (Barta’s) legacy is obviously the individuals that have gone on to be successful in whatever their career path may be,” said Brock, a defensive coordinator with the University of Connecticut’s football team at the time of filming and now a defensive coordinator with Mississippi State University.

“He’s a guy who has used football and the consistency this game takes to be successful to develop young men and create a situation where people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Brock added. “That, to me, has really influenced me and I hear myself saying things that go all the way back to things I heard him say.”

Ashtin Meerpohl, a 2011 HHS alumnus, also goes on record in the documentary about how Barta’s teaching and training had an effect on him — it spurred him on to a career in coaching, and today, he serves as the director of sports performance with the Wichita State University men’s basketball team.

“He stayed on me, and it wasn’t always easy for me to deal with that… I see that now when I’m coaching,” Meerpohl said. “You understand what needs to get done and how it needs to get done in order for you to have success, not only in your sport, but after sports. He needed me to push myself to my limits so we could be successful on the field, but also so that I could have success after that.”

Both Brock and Meerpohl express their gratitude to Barta for the lessons he taught them, both on and off the field, during the documentary, and Barta hopes their comments — along with the filmmakers’ efforts — play a role in encouraging more student-athletes to share what they’ve learned in their sports with the next generation.

“I hope the documentary helps others see teaching and coaching not simply as jobs, but as a meaningful lifestyle and long-term career choice,” Barta said.

“The Life Cycle Of Coaching” may be viewed online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=voy9ePPlFBg

This story repurposed with the permission of The Holton Recorder.