December 29th, 2014, was a tough day for the Hempfield community. Coach Kevin Clougherty said goodbye to his swimmers as they headed home from practice. The group included Jud Shiffler, a WPIAL champion and the captain of the swim team. Ironically, Coach Clougherty was on the phone doing an interview with the post-gazette about Jud when he heard sirens fly by the high school. By the time Clougherty headed home, the road was closed, and a helicopter was landing. It was Jud in that car, who tragically passed away at the age of 18. The Coach, his team, and the Hempfield Area community were shocked at this tragic loss of life.
Many people would have ended their coaching career at that moment. But this loss failed to deter Coach Clougherty from continuing as the head coach. Rather, he says continuing to coach after Jud’s passing, made him “want to coach more.” He further reflected noting that he couldn’t, “Let the kids down.” When “kids are struggling, [I couldn’t] let them go.”
Growing up, Clougherty indicated that he, “Kevin,” was a bit of a “problem child.” However, he made a big change after his coach essentially told him he wasn’t going to be that way anymore. From that moment on, he decided he wanted to be that person for other kids as well. This is what sparked what would become a very long journey of coaching swimming. He summed up how he feels about his position saying, “It’s all effort and time. But man, I get to hang with these amazing athletes, it’s awesome.”
During this coaching journey, the highs were very high and not just in the swimming pool. According to Coach Clougherty, the best moment for him as a coach is getting to go to the weddings of the kids he has coached. He has also coached many WPIAL champions and has celebrated many happy moments with his swimmers including them winning races and beating their personal records.
He says his future swimmers are, “going to go take over the world. We’ve been very fortunate. A whole bucketful of our kids have gone on and been leaders in whatever field they choose.” Needless to say, although his swimmers feel very lucky to have him, he feels just as grateful to have them too. He laughed as he discussed his newer athletes joining the team, “It’s amazing to sit back and watch them from the time; they are twitchy little freshmen, till they move out in the world and make an impact.”
It’s safe to say our swim team wouldn’t be the same without coach Clougherty, nor would the Social Studies hallway here at the high school. In addition to his coaching duties, Clougherty is the AP and academic government teacher. He is a fantastic mentor for students whether they are on the team, or a in his class by using his own experiences to guide us on our own path of life.
Being a coach and a teacher comes with stress and responsibility of a legacy, but also many rewards. It involves being a guide and a mentor for his players and students. It’s full of very high high’s and very low low’s. Coach Kevin Clougherty has seen it all in his 28 years here at Hempfield Area.
“I get to do this; it’s not that I have to do it” he says. He extends his advice saying, “The trick in life is to find a way to make a buck on something that doesn’t feel like work. I’ve never worked a day since I came to Hempfield.”
