Eric Berry Walking Away

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Created on Tuesday, 03 April 2018 20:47

Written by Matt Tritto

LYNDON- Eric Berry has been a part of Northeast Kingdom Sports for many years now. Last week he decided to step down as the Head Basketball Coach for Lyndon Institute. He felt it was an appropriate time to step away from coaching.
Berry says some people thought he would step down once his daughter was finished playing for the Lady Vikings, but he wasn't even thinking about that and it's not the case for why he stepped down.

"Was the sacrifice of coaching going to keep me away from my son's game? I thought about it a little bit more I thought I really want to be at my son's games next year, I missed a few this year, so the timing was probably right." Said Eric Berry Former LI Basketball Coach and NSN Ceo.

Berry coached a total of 19 basketball seasons, six at Lyndon State College and 13 at Lyndon Institute. He was the first coach to bring a state championship to Lyndon Institute.
More than just watching his son play sports, he would like to help out in anyway if possible.

"Whether it's being a spectator or maybe helping out with his team going forward, I'd like to do that if there's an opportunity."

"If there's not I'll be a spectator and help him and anyone else individually during preseason or whatever to get themselves prepared to play the game at a high level." Berry went on to say.

Coaching is something that has been a part of Berry's whole life and this isn't an easy decision to make. Looking back at all the seasons and teams he's been on the thing that's stuck with Berry the most is the people.

"It's been a life long journey to be a coach. I think the thing I enjoyed the most out of coaching was the relationships that you build and continue to have."

"Even after you're done coaching some of the players, I'm very close with a lot of players. When I go to vacation in different areas of the country I'll meet up with them and I see that they're happy to come see me even though I hollered at them a lot when they played for me." Berry continued.

This isn't the first time Berry has stepped away from coaching and the past few times he has been able to pick up on a few things here and there.

"It's funny, each time I've stepped out of coaching I've had this kind of ability to watch other coaches. I have the ability to analyze how people do things and whether it's at their practices."

"I've seen how coaches handle things and it's allowed me to step back in times when I'm not in the coaching realm and say wow that's a good idea and I write it down. Its help me become a better I think and that's the kind of thing I think anybody in the profession try's to do."

Coaching isn't an easy skill to master, but if you can find a coach that's been in the business for a while and pick their game it can benefit you in the long run. According to Berry one of his biggest tips to coaching has nothing to do with the fundamentals of the game.

"You have to learn and be able to understand people, I think you have to be able to understand anybody you coach and understand different personalities." Berry said.

There's more to coaching than just knowing the game and managing rosters.

"There's so many things that coaches have to do and do well to be successful. You have to be dynamic, you need to be able to handle the parents it's not always the easiest thing to do."

Berry is going to miss the game, relationships, and memories that come with coaching but according to him you never know what comes next.

"I guess the answer is, will I be back? Probably, sometime who knows coaching is in my blood" Berry finished saying.