Reginald Henley ’69 was floundering at Brockton High School. A family friend attended Christian High, and recommended the Henleys apply. Principal Strodel saw beyond the mediocre grades, and accepted Reg. Other teachers, notably Mr. Houck the choir director, and Mr. Katz the phys ed teacher, also took a special interest in this transfer student. Reg shared, “There was always somebody taking care of me. That was the beauty of this place.” The commute was long and the academic adjustment was tough, but Reg met those challenges and became a valued member of his class. Polly (Sweitzer) Crispell ’69 explains why he was voted senior class president: “He was more mature than most of us, a man of integrity and strong faith.”
With both his parents working two or three jobs to meet tuition, Reg saw more of Coach Strodel and his teammates than he did of them, and a special bond grew between coach and player. He also began a lifelong mutual admiration society with Paul Rouse ’68. Reg’s prowess on the basketball court helped the team achieve an outstanding record his junior year – 20W-5L. His shooting skill made him the first player in the school’s history to score 1000 points. The 1000-point banner hanging in the gym was dedicated in Reg’s honor in 2019. Reg acknowledges, “I was a good basketball player in my day.”
Sometime in the late 1970s, while working for the Boston Municipal Court, Reg was invited by Rouse to help him coach basketball at what was now called LCA. Reg continued to coach boys’ jv basketball (and for a couple of years, girls’ basketball) until 2003, and earned the respect and admiration of hundreds of LCA students, plus a good many parents and administrators. He came to work an hour early and took no lunch break so he could leave work early enough to get to practice at 5:30. He used up all his vacation time, ½ day at a time, to get to games. He learned great coaching strategies from Miles and from Paul; he also learned ways to nurture Christian behavior. As Reg says,
Basketball isn’t first of all about winning. It’s a vessel to grow kids into good people. A big part of coaching is teaching kids how to conduct themselves on and off the court. I always told my players, “You are Christian young [people] first, athletes second. Anywhere you go, you’re representing LCA and the Lord. You can bring honor to your school and your God if you are respectful and courteous, and shame if you’re rowdy and rude. If you win a game by cheating, you lose.”
Ryan Patrie ‘03 sums up the experiences of many LCA basketball players:
“Reg Henley was the ultimate gentleman. He never compartmentalized his faith. He solidified the idea of glorifying God through athletics. You never wanted to disappoint Reg because of how much you respected him.
Reg valued every member of the team. I wasn’t as good a basketball player as I thought, but even though he never hesitated to point out things that needed fixing, he never put anyone down. One game at Chapel Hill, I was all excited to be put in, and I shot from the 3-point line. The ball flew over the backboard! Was I ever embarrassed! Fans hooted; varsity players razzed me the next day, but Reg pulled me aside and said, “Keep shooting!” He saw my desire to score and encouraged me. A coach of Reg’s caliber could do varsity or even college, but Reg put his heart and time into lowly JV players like me.
As a coach myself now, I often think, ‘How would Reg handle this?'”
Written and edited by the story.lca.edu Timeline Team. To read more about the rich history of LCA and its faithful stewards who made LCA the place of excellence it is today, visit story.lca.edu.