Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/112773
Far left: Bill Harrie works with the newest skaters like 4-year-old Waylon Muirbrook. Harrie sticks with them until they feel comfortable on the ice. Left: Harrie stills skates in a pair of Lange skates from the 1970s. They were the best skates back in the day because they were the first skates with an insulated boot insert. Father TimeLESS By Kris Millgate 80-Year-Old Idaho Coach Passes Down His Passion For The Game From One Generation To The Next nxious parents jockey for position on one side of the glass. Their children struggle to stay upright on the other side of the glass. It's the chaotic beginning to a new hockey season in Idaho Falls, Idaho. "It's so easy to take a spill with those little guys out there," says Bill Harrie, Idaho Falls Youth Hockey Association coach. "You have to watch your backside all the time." Harrie works one corner of the rink where the newest and youngest skaters are struggling to stay vertical. The 80-year-old is helping 4-year-old Waylon Muirbrook stand. Harrie is pushing a plastic walker across the ice. The walker isn't for Harrie. It's for the crying 4-year-old. "As the oldest coach out there, you'll see me stick around the gate and try to work with those half dozen kids that are having real problems and are very timid. I don't want to lose them," Harrie says. "If you give up on them and let them get off the ice, you won't see them again." Tears stream down Waylon's face. Harrie skates behind him and shows him how to push the plastic stand. Fifteen minutes into practice and Waylon is still crying. Harrie has a talk with the boy's dad who is reaching around the rink wall to offer reassurance. "I asked the father to go to the bleachers to where he was out of sight," Harrie says. "So many parents stay right there by the boards figuring it's helpful, and it's really a distraction." Harrie's hockey patience dates back to the program's beginning in Idaho Falls in 1964. He's taught for so many years, he now has great-grandkids on the ice, and the Left: Waylon Muirbrook leans on a skate support as he learns to ice skate. Bill Harrie glides right along with him talking him out of his tears. 28 March. 2013 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Photos By Kris Millgate/tightlinemedia.com