Memorial to honor former RVHS soccer coach
Several seniors, juniors and coaches from River View High School’s soccer team worked together on Sept. 9 to prepare the site of a new memorial honoring the late Mike Burr. Josie Sellers | Beacon
WARSAW – Mike Burr was like another dad to Jordan Bryant.
“He cared so much for all of us,” said Bryant, who is a junior on River View High School’s soccer team. “He left a true legacy at River View.”
Bryant was one of several members of the soccer team who helped prepare the site of a new memorial honoring Burr who passed away on June 18.
According to his obituary, Burr taught for 35 years at River View High School, coached soccer for 24 years with five of those being as the varsity head coach, and coached baseball for 27 years. The memorial honoring his dedication to the school and the young men who played for him will be placed by the soccer field and dedicated at River View’s home game scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17. A special flag encouraging people to “Fight Like Mike” already hangs at the field.
“He was a fighter,” said Caleb Shriver, a senior on this year’s soccer team. “He was always telling us you got to have grit. If we were down by two we just had to keep fighting.”
His fellow senior and teammate Andrew Martin added that a lot of people looked up to Burr and that he was well respected.
“He was good with us kids,” Martin said. “A lot of coaches would yell at you if you made a mistake, but he taught us to think and not let your emotions get to your head. He wanted us to play our game and stay calm.”
Vince Andrews, the team’s current head coach, said Burr did a good job of teaching the boys that there is more to life than soccer.
“He was about turning young boys into men and teaching them life skills,” Andrews said. “They aren’t just out there representing themselves and they need to think about how they act on and off the field.”
The idea for the memorial was organized by Scott Eaton, who has had two sons graduate from River View and play for Burr.
“When Scott first asked about having the boys help with this I thought of the seniors and a few juniors that I knew were close with him,” Andrews said. “I think if I would have asked everybody though they probably all would have wanted to stay and help.”
Eaton also has received help with the memorial from Reconditioning Professionals LLC, Coshocton Lumber, ACE Hardware, Designs by Michele, and Milligan Memorials.
“He (Burr) wasn’t just a coach,” Eaton said. “He was a mentor to a lot of these boys.”
Category: High School, Sports
