HITCHCOCK — After coaching for nearly 40 years at two different schools, Frank Podraza will be inducted into the South Dakota Coaches Hall of Fame on Wednesday in Aberdeen.

Podraza,, who has spent most of his coaching days with Hitchcock and later the Hitchcock-Tulare co-op, will be honored at the banquet to be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Ramkota Inn.

He will be one of three coaches to be inducted into the football hall of fame. The ceremony is being held during the high school all-star weekend in Aberdeen.

He has been a head coach for 32 years and has compiled a record of 173-94.

A native of Silver Creek, Neb., he attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo., finishing the final two years at Huron College where he played football.

After receiving his degree in 1967, he began teaching and coaching in Hitchcock. He coached football for the Bluejays until 1972 and from 1976-2002. He was at Wessington Springs from 2002-03 and at Hitchcock-Tulare from 2006-07.

Among the head coaches he mentored as assistant coaches are Jim Hulscher at Doland, Fran Ruesink of Britton and Todd Foster of Flandreau.

From 1985 to 2002 he co-coached with Kim Johnson and helped to guide the Hitchcock-Tulare Patriots to three state football finals in Vermillion. The first one came in 1986 when they lost to Stickney; the second in 1992 when they beat Harding County, 26-6 for the title; and the third in 1996 when they lost to Freeman.

Asked about his biggest thrill, he said it wasn’t winning the state title, but beating Herreid-Pollock in the semifinals to get to the finals.

“We weren’t suppose to win that game so that was kind of special,” he said. The Patriots won the game, 16-14.

Some of the top players he has coached include Troy Dubois in 1986; Tony Tschetter and Ken Rathjen in 1992; Tim Bottum in 1996; Harold and Lorne King in 1986; and his three sons, Mike and Aaron in 1992 and Doug in 1996.

Other outstanding players he coached are Craig Skarin, Joe Mitchell, Wes Frankenstein, Joe Koehn, Reese Wagner, Jeff Waldner and Tim Tobin.

Podraza’s wife, Teri, is employed in the Spink County Clerk of Courts office in Redfield. She has three grown children, Katie, Travis and Kari.

After leaving the Hitchcock-Tulare job, he coached two years, 2002-04 at Wessington Springs. He also taught for six months at Huron College before it closed.

This fall, he plans to return to coaching as an assistant to Gordon Hooks at Wolsey-Wessington.

To be voted into the Hall of Fame, Podraza said they have a list of about 60 names and the coaches select the finalists.

“To be picked by your peers is quite an honor,” he said.

He also has been inducted into the Huron College Hall of Fame, the 281 Conference Hall of Fame and the South Dakota Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was twice named the SDSB CA Region Coach of the Year and in 1992 was named the South Dakota High School Coaches Association Football Coach of the Year.

Asked about the biggest changes in the game over the years, Podraza said moving from eight-man to nine-man was “a big improvement.”

In the beginning of the football playoffs, he said the top two teams in the four regions played. Now there’s three divisions for nine-man football.

Along with his coaching and teaching duties, Podraza also served as mayor of Hitchcock for several years.









For the complete article see the 07-26-2009 issue.

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