When I was younger my father was very involved in my life. He got me involved in every basketball and baseball league that he could and it was a wonderful experience that a lot of kids simply don’t get to experience. Not only was I involved in local city/rec leagues, I was playing in other cities just to play against better players. I loved it.
One of the leagues I got in was called the Robb Thomas basketball league that was run by a man named Herb Welling. Herb worked on the air force base in Utah and this man was and is a basketball fanatic. My father and Herb clicked immediately and Herb became one of my biggest fans. Before I get too far ahead of myself let me just say that Herb’s league was the best. He wrote scouting reports on all the players…we were 12-13 years old. He had stats kept and weekly packets that were given out with breakdowns of the games from the previous weeks. I recently found one of the reports on myself that read: “Schofield can score on anyone but seems to have more of a problem making a layup with nobody on him than he does hitting a 20 foot shot.” He was right. At that time I honestly struggled making a layup going full speed. I was horrible at it. Scouting reports and stats, does your league have that?
In my high school years Herb was always there for me and always there for the game of basketball. He was never afraid to talk to anyone about the game or call anyone to talk about the game. He still lives and breathes the game of basketball. Herb moved to Omaha Nebraska around my junior/senior year of high school and it was a sad time for me. This man was a constant presence at my games and more importantly my life. When I vented to Herb about how overbearing my father could be he listened and explained that it was all for love and how he would have killed to have the experiences that I had growing up. I see that all now but I wish I did then.
When my family moved to Iowa for my senior year of high school I had a terrible time adjusting to the whole thing. I was angry for the timing of the move and I had a bad season by my standards and I still have some serious regrets and issues about. My team lost that year in a sub state game to Kennedy High school. We lost on a last second 15 foot hook shot that was made by the player I was guarding. I actually played good defense on him which was something new for me. On the news they show the shot go in and my face just sink. I think it was me realizing that my high school career was over. I walked to the locker room with tears in my eyes and I was met by a man who wasn’t my father or mother but my friend Herb Welling. He hugged me and told me he loved me no matter what and how much he enjoyed watching me play over the years. Herb made the drive from Nebraska just to watch the game. I’ve tried to tell him how much that meant to me and I don’t think he truly understands.
After I served a two year mission for my church Herb and I lost touch. He still stayed in touch with my family a little bit and I always asked my father about how he was doing. A year or so ago my father called to tell me that Herb was in Sports Illustrated. He had spent hours and hours ‘cracking’ the dribble drive motion that is run by John Calipari and others throughout the country. Vance Wahlberg started the whole thing really and he’s now an assistant at, I believe, UMass. Anyway, Herb made a video out of it and it has done very well. He was an assistant coach at Omaha Central high school where the team won 3 state championships running that very offense. I couldn’t be prouder of this man.
Herb works as a security guard to really earn his living at Omaha Central high school and voluntarily coaches some AAU teams in the summer. He is an assistant coach at a new school this year and is excited about rebuilding that program. As I’ve gotten more involved with hoopskills I’ve realized that I needed to reach out to someone who loves the game like I do and get them involved also. THERE IS NOBODY I’VE EVER MET WHO LOVES BASKETBALL MORE THAN HERB WELLING. NOBODY. I recently did a phone interview with him and my appreciation of the man grows more and more with each conversation. Here he is a security guard to take care of his family and provide but still dedicates his life to the development of strong solid young men who play a game that he loves.
I’m proud to call Herb Welling my friend.
