ROCKINGHAM - For the fifth time this summer, the Richmond Senior High School athletics department has made a major head coaching change -- but its most recent, concerning both the boys and girls golf programs, goes to a longtime Richmond County resident who will be in the classroom for the first time this fall.
Keith Parsons, 49, who grew up in Ellerbe, has had a storied career as an Associated Press journalist and a local banker -- but he now finds himself starting a new adventure, as he’ll take on perhaps his most influential career path yet as a social studies teacher at RSHS.
As confirmed by athletic director Ricky Young and first reported by ROSports, Parsons will take over the boys and girls golf programs starting this week. Former coaches Jeff Ingram (girls) and Al Reams (boys) have since left Richmond County Schools, allowing for Parsons to return to his old stomping grounds.
The other head coaching changes that have gone into effect this summer are: Ashleigh Larsen (volleyball), Chris Larsen (boys and girls soccer), Teddy Moseley (girls basketball) and Shellie Wimpey (girls cross country).
Parsons has had a winding road to his newest position at the high school, and its roots actually start with his graduation as a Raider in 1987. He then went on to graduate from Elon University with a journalism degree in Dec. 1991, and took a job with the newly Pulitzer Prize award-winning Washington Daily News in Washington, N.C, in Feb. 1992.
While at Elon, he acted as the men’s basketball program’s manager, and said he’d “always wanted to coach” and even considered changing his major -- but thought it was “too late in the game” to do so. He’s spent the last 12 years at Capital Bank in Rockingham, serving as the branch manager. But the time was no better than now to pursue an inkling he’s always had.
“I’d always thought about teaching and coaching at the high school level,” Parsons said. “The interest has always been there, but I never followed through until now. I sat down with my wife, Colleen, and I asked her if I could do this and make it work.
“She was very supportive and wanted me to be happy and follow my dreams,” he continued. “I met with Jim Butler (RSHS’ principal) this summer to see if it was doable, and he offered me a teaching position. And Ricky Young reached out about coaching golf, which turned out to be perfect.”
While he’s still waiting to finalize which courses he’ll be teaching, Parsons will be enrolled in Richmond County Schools’ lateral entry program, which allows him to teach in the classroom while earning his teaching certification.
As new to the teaching scene as he might be, Parsons is no stranger to Richmond’s campus or coaching arena. He was an instrumental part of helping former Richmond varsity basketball coach David Laton, and current head coach Donald Pettigrew, implement the Grinnell System, or simply known as “the system.” A fast-tempo style of basketball that focuses on high offensive production and scoring numbers, Parsons acted as the team’s statistician during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, and helped “bring the system to the forefront.”
During the 2016-17 season, which was Laton’s last year at the helm of the Richmond program before leaving for Marlboro Academy (Bennettsville, S.C.), the Raiders led the nation in scoring, averaging an impressive 100.9 points a contest.
Also in Parsons’ illustrious sports background is his playing days at Richmond, where he was a member of the Raider golf team during his sophomore through senior years. As a sophomore during the spring of 1985, Parsons was a member of a Richmond squad that made it to the state tournament. In college, he also played in two tournaments for Elon, but explained he wasn’t a regular contributor. But being around that team also piqued his interest in perhaps coaching the sport one day.
“When I played in high school, I loved it,” Parsons said of his time spent on the course. “Most of the guys on the team had grown up together, and I remember being a part of that. Team golf is unique -- it’s an individual sport, but at same time, it’s equally important how well the team did.
“I remember in one tournament I shot a double bogey, and I wasn’t thrilled about it,” he added. “But my teammates kept me up -- they just wanted me to get the best score I could for the team. I loved that aspect of it, and when I heard there there was an opportunity to coach (at Richmond), I wanted to take part in it.”
RSHS athletics will officially kick off the fall sports season Monday, as tryouts and practices get underway for the six participating athletic programs (boys and girls cross country, girls golf, football, boys soccer, girls tennis and volleyball). And while it’s been a whirlwind of a month for Parsons, who is staying at his current job until July 31, he’s anxious to get things started.
“I’ve talked to couple of parents, and there several great returning players for both the girls and boys teams,” Parsons said. “We can legally start this week, as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association opens its season. I’m excited about getting out there and seeing what we have -- there are a lot of rising ninth graders interested, and I hope there’s a lot more interest.”
Parsons’ oldest daughter Emily, a rising senior, is a member of the varsity tennis team, but his youngest daughter Libby, a seventh grader, has shown interest in golf, and he hopes that will carry over into her high school years.
With an official start date to be decided, Parsons will welcome back rising junior Hailey Miller to the girls team this fall. Last year, Miller was the only Lady Raider to qualify for the NCHSAA state tournament at Pinehurst No. 1, as she placed 74th with a 196 (+52).
In the spring, Parsons will have top golfer and rising sophomore Jonathan Rich at his disposal, along with fellow golfers Kyle Goodwin (rising senior), Jaxon Mabe, Jacob Puckett and Carter Richardson (all rising sophomores). In 2017, the young Raider team finished fifth in the Sandhills Athletic Conference.
“I’m really just looking forward to making an impact on my students in the classroom and on the golf course,” Parsons noted. “I think it’s all about the interactions with them, and that’s what people have taught me. In my own personal story, I can think back to my teachers and remember every teacher I had and the classes I took.
“My teachers had such a huge impact on me,” he concluded. “And I just want to have the same impact, or even a portion of it, on my students.”
