La Porte County Local Bruce Watson has always dedicated his life to sports. He is currently the Ladies Golf Coach at New Prairie High School, but he has long been in the sports world before taking on this new role.
Watson grew up in Michigan and lived there for the majority of his life. He decided to play sports when he realized the people he was surrounding himself with had potential to lead him down the wrong path.
“Some of my friends were really good athletes, but some were juvenile delinquents who I wanted to hang out with,” said Watson. “That was when I chose sports, and then I played all throughout high school. Sports saved my life.”
Sports also paved Watson’s way to higher education. At the start of his college career, he enrolled into Southwestern Michigan College, where he was a member of the cross country team. He later transferred to Western Michigan University where he graduated with two bachelor's degrees in physical education and business education.
After graduating, he taught at local Michigan schools before obtaining his master’s degree and then his PhD. He continued working a multitude of jobs in and out of education before retiring.
In 2018; however, Watson came out of retirement to become New Prairie’s head Ladies Golf coach, where his wife coaches as well. He has greatly enjoyed working with the team, and being a mentor and teacher to the girls has been his favorite part of it all.
Watson has taken what his old coaches have taught him and applied it to how he coaches his girls today. His old coach told him that sports are a way to trick young people into doing things they don’t want to do while teaching them lessons along the way, a philosophy that lives on through Watson’s coaching.
“A coach is somebody who makes you do what you don't want to do so you can become the person you are meant to become,” said Watson. “I'm pretty hard nosed, detailed and disciplined, and I expect my girls on the team to be that way.”
Watson’s teams during his time as coach have had the highest grade point average of any sport and have changed the trajectory of golf in New Prairie. Under Watson’s coaching, the Ladies Golf team went from ninth in the conference to second within three years and qualified for Regionals. Watson has changed a lot for these young ladies and hopes they still remember the lessons he taught them well after their high school years.
“I think the lessons we learn in high school sports should carry over and carry us to a higher level,” said Watson. “I want to prepare them for the worst boss, the worst college professor, the worst boyfriend ever because if they can get by my routine, they can probably get by anybody.”
Watson loves what he does for a living but also makes time to relax and rejuvenate. Aside from sports and coaching, he loves to fish and spend time with his family. When it gets cold outside, Watson and his family love to escape the chilly weather by taking trips to Florida.