Three Generations of Winner Coaches

This article is from the Novmeber 2023 edition of SDPB Magazine. See past issues HERE.

Winner, Winner!

Winner, SD saw three state championships (1981, 1987, and 1989) in the 80's thanks to Harvey Naasz. In 1986, the Winner Warriors had a runner-up finish, and in 1980, 1981, and 1987 they reveled in unbeaten seasons. For 17 years, Harvey coached his heart out for the Warriors, and in 2017, he was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. Even as a child, Harvey knew coaching would impact his life.

"When I was in the seventh grade," says Harvey, "we had a teacher who had us all go around and tell us what we wanted to do when we got older. I said, 'I'm going to be a football coach like my brother Howard,' because that's what he was going to college for."

SDSHOF

Harvey, now 84, shares that the best part about coaching is the team and their ability to keep him youthful.

"Being around the young men and women athletes keeps you young. Even though I'm no longer coaching today, I still like to associate with those people because they keep you young. We may not win it all, but we will be in every ball game. When the game's over, you'll know you were in the ball game. We always tell would them, 'Work hard. That scoreboard will take care of itself.'"

Along with the team, the pride and passion of the fans rings throughout the town.

"After we won the first championship, the athletes told me they'd go into stores, and people would cheer for them. People they didn't know would say, 'Oh, your football team brought the town together.' All of a sudden, people who never were fans were fans. It's a good feeling you always want. Especially up there on the hill, there's a lot of fan passion up there. We will play in Sisseton, and there'll be people there who don't have a son playing. They don't know anybody playing but will go to Sisseton or wherever to cheer the Warriors."

The Naasz' history with Winner football doesn't end there. Both Harvey's son, Brian, and grandson, Nathan, followed in his footsteps of coaching football for the Warriors. Brian coached the team from 1993-2001.

"I always thought about it [coaching]. I got a business degree and worked in the business field for a while, then figured out what I really wanted to do and went back to school to be an educator. I think I always knew, but sometimes you want to try something else at first."

Nathan Naasz, Brian's son and Harvey's grandson, graduated from high school in 2012 and is currently the offensive coordinator for Winner.

"Getting to have Dad and Grandpa as middle school coaches was pretty cool," says Nathan. "My wife and I both grew up in Winner, graduated here, and we always knew that eventually we were going to come back. It was never a matter of if; it was always a matter of when. When we first decided to move down here, I was still waiting on an interview for a teaching job, and I had the thought of, 'Okay, I can be the third one.' The dream growing up was always to get to coach the Winner Warriors. So, it's like living a dream right now of getting to be that third-generation coach."

SDSHOF

From 1972-1990, Harvey set the scene for generations of football, and his time with the Warriors isn't done. To this day and for the past 30 years, Harvey has been showing his pride for the Warriors by mowing the field.

"The janitors won't like this, but nobody else can do it right," Harvey jokes. "I just enjoy it. I still have a key to the watering place. Depending on the weather and the moisture, I mow at least twice [a week]. Sometimes more, sometimes every other day. I'm an old farm boy, and it's fun. People know that they probably shouldn't come on the field."

His son Brian further expresses his dedication to the field and the team.

"It's still his field. He'll get after Coach Gardner about the watering schedule. During game week against a couple of weeks ago, he mowed it three times in one week. It had to be right for the first game of the year. Over the last few years, my brothers have said, 'Maybe Dad doesn't need to mow the football field anymore. Somebody else can do it.' I said, 'No, he's going to keep mowing until he doesn't want to. If he would take his last breath on this field, what could be better than that?'"

While Harvey's dedication to the turf is inspiring, his impact on the team and the town goes beyond maintaining the field.

"He still likes to be around the athletes." praises Brian. "He still will make a point to come to the school. He likes to be around the kids. Even though he is not coaching, he's still a figurehead that the kids in the high school know, and they'll look out for him. That's the thing that I'm really proud of, is to see how he still connects with the kids."

SDPB is proud to feature stories about South Dakotans who make our state a better place, and we hope the story of Harvey Naasz and his family inspires you.