Washington State University football coach, Eagle scout and author Mike Leach said his involvement in Scouting showed him the importance of contributing and also the opportunity to recognize the value of others and their contributions.
"I really do believe in Scouting," he said Thursday during the keynote address at the Chief Kamiakin Leadership Breakfast, an annual fundraising event for Boy Scouts of America. "I've been in Scouting since I can remember almost and I was thrilled to death when I put on my first Cub Scout shirt."
Leach said in preparing to make the address he searched the Internet for statistics on Scouting and was overwhelmed by the results. The information he gathered, he said, showed those involved in Scouting have high rates of success in so many areas that he couldn't choose which one to focus on.
According to information provided by Boy Scouts of America, Scouts are more likely to graduate from high school and college, earn higher annual household incomes, value family relationships highly, have lifelong friendships and attend religious services.
"(Scouting) is very American, I think it's very important and it's always been important to me," he said.
Leach said Scouting was instrumental in helping him, "a shy kid," make friends in new places as a child.
"We moved a lot. My dad was in the forest service and with government jobs, if you've lived somewhere three years, that's a long time," he said.
Leach said when he arrived with his family in Cody, Wyo. - where he earned his Eagle - one of his closest friends was also involved in Scouting and the two of them competed over who would get badges first, an activity which served to drive both of them to greater commitment and dedication.
"We constantly battled and competed," he said. "It really brought out the best in both of us and we both got our Eagles relatively early and got them the same day."
And it's an honor that has come full circle.
"Now my son has an Eagle, that's one of the things I'm most proud of," he said.
The rank of Eagle Scout is not something achieved on one's own, Leach said.
"To get an Eagle requires a lot of support," he said. "It doesn't just require parents. It requires people of the church, people in the troop. I recognize the fact that a bunch of people were involved in my success and then you understand what relationships with other people mean and how together you can do a little bit more."
Wyoming was also the place Leach, at 15 years old, first led a sports team.
"I started coaching Little League baseball because in a weird sort of way it's an extension of Scouting: You're working with a group of people trying to make each other better and trying to accomplish certain things," Leach said. "It certainly contributed to my interest in coaching and why I'm coaching football today. In some ways that was rooted in Scouting."
Shanon Quinn can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to squinn@dnews.com.
