A dream come true: Capps ready lead Beulah baseball to new heights
Published 12:48 pm Friday, June 14, 2024
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The Beulah Bobcats have announced the program’s new head baseball coach after Michael Courson stepped down from the position. The program will be led by a familiar face as Kevin Capps is set to lead the program.
Capps has been at Beulah High School for six years after previous stops at Beauregard, Springwood and Chambers Academy. Capps has over 30 years of experience as a coach, but the head coaching opportunity had seemed unreachable for a long time. He now steps into a role that has been a dream in the making.
“I’m really excited because I have been wanting to do this ever since I started coaching baseball,” Capps said. “I started coaching when I was 19. I was asked to coach a t-ball team and fell in love doing it. I wasn’t a certified teacher. About 12 years ago, I got my certification, and ever since then, I’ve been wanting to be a head coach. It probably hasn’t hit me yet. It kind of feels like a dream.”
Capps has led Beulah’s junior varsity program and has also served as the hitting coach for the varsity team. Capps has served in several roles for Beulah, including being an assistant coach on the football team and coaching the JV basketball team.
Capps has had several influences throughout his journey as a coach. He started learning the sport early on from his dad, but he also tried to learn something from every stop along the way and even learned from his opponents.
“I basically try to steal something from everybody,” Capps said. “When I played, Coach Jimmy Reeves, I took a lot of his stuff when I was coaching. My dad was the biggest influence because he coached me coming up. Scooter McAnally gave me a chance to be a coach, and I learned a lot from him.”
“Wherever I go, I try to get something from somebody,” Capps added. “Even when they play against me, I try to figure out what I can use to help us out.”
Capps has served as the head coach for junior high, JV, travel ball and little league teams. He has always been waiting for the opportunity at the varsity level. At one point, he prayed for the desire to be taken away from him if it was never going to be in his future. Even through all the waiting, Capps still felt like he would be a head coach at some point.
“I can say I was ready for it 15 years ago,” Capps said. “I thought it would be like bam I get a teaching degree and become a head coach. I tried to learn stuff not only about baseball but also about myself. I think God wanted me to learn about myself more.”
Beulah’s baseball team will return all but one player from last year’s team. Capps already has built a strong relationship with the current group of players.
He coached the group in junior high, and this group of players is one of the key reasons that Capps decided to become an assistant coach for the varsity team.
“When Courson asked me to come out and be an assistant, I was kind of hesitant because I like to do my own thing, but all these guys on the team I had coached,” Capps said. “I thought it might be a good time to help them out and be around the varsity team more. I’ve already got relationships with every one of the players.”
Capps’s coaching philosophy has changed over the years, but his attention to detail has always been consistent. He wants the Bobcats to focus on the little things with him at the helm. Capps does not want anybody to outwork Beulah in the future.
The baseball program has been on an upward trajectory for Beulah as the Bobcats won their area last season and made the playoffs in the season before. Capps believes that continuing the upward trajectory starts at the youth level.
Capps has coached a lot of little league and youth baseball teams. He hopes to continue helping out with those programs because he believes it will continue to grow Beulah’s program in the future.
As a graduate of Beauregard High School, Capps has always been around the Beulah community. When Capps was announced as the team’s new head coach former players and community members showed their support in droves.
“I don’t want to start crying or anything, but really it meant a lot,” Capps said. “It was really nice all the support I got from ex-players.”
Beulah’s athletic program has seen more success over the past couple of years than it ever has. Capps is not ready to rest on his laurels as a head coach. He wants to see the Bobcats reach new heights on the diamond.
“I think the sky is the limit,” Capps said. “I don’t want to be average. I tell kids I’m allergic to average. We’re going to work our tails off. My expectation is to outwork other teams. Wherever it gets us is out of our hands. What is not out of our hands is effort. That’s what I expect everybody to do, myself included.”