By Derrick Smith
Coaching high school athletics is a profession that has a lot of moving parts. Not only do you work to make sure your team is physically and mentally ready for competition, but you also have to ensure that they are staying eligible by doing the necessary schoolwork to keep their grades up. David Lee is the boys’ and girls’ golf coach at Enid High School and he says that while he enjoys competition, there are other parts about being a coach that are rewarding as well.
“I’ve always enjoyed the competition of sports and still enjoy practicing a team and going to compete with other schools,” he said. “Competition has always motivated me. Another thing that I really enjoy is working with athletes and watching them grow and develop in their sport and watching them become successful adults.”
Lee has taught and coached at Enid High School throughout his entire career. He began his student teaching in the fall of 1986, and he has been there since. Throughout his time there, coach Lee says that there have been a lot of highlight moments that he has witnessed. While he cannot name them all, he says that there are a few that stand out the most.
“One of my favorite memories is when our girls’ golf team made it to 19 consecutive state golf tournaments. We were runners-up in 1997 and 1998. Stacy Prammanasudh was the individual state champion three out of her four years and went on to be a four-time All-American at the University of Tulsa and then enjoyed a long successful pro career. Another would have to be when Aly Seng was the individual state champion in 2009. Lastly, in 2018, our boys’ golf team qualified for the state tournament. Those are all great memories from the last 35 years.”
“Every coach that I have either played for or coached with has made an impact on me,” he said. “I’ve also built friendships with coaches that I have coached against. But there are two coaches that stand out. Steve Richards was one of my coaches at Hennessey. I learned a lot from him, and he was probably my first inspiration to get into coaching. The other would have to be my coach at NWOSU, Woody Roof. He was the best motivator I have ever been around and a legend in Oklahoma football.”
