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Issue Date: October 6, 2002
 Hundreds of readers nominated beloved coaches for the 2002 Most Caring Coach Awards. We asked four professionals to make the tough call of who should be selected: Cynthia Cooper, former coach of the Phoenix Mercury; St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz; Scotty Bowman, former Detroit Red Wings coach and now consultant to the team; and Sandy Fowler, coach of the U.S. women's track and field team. And our judges had their own questions for the honorees. Each winner receives $1,000 from USA WEEKEND for his or her efforts. Here is this year's roster:
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Doug Garner, Hot Springs, Ark.
Sixteen-year-old Tyler Garner, son of Hot Springs Gymnastics owners Becky and Doug Garner, has been tumbling and swimming since he was a toddler. When he got to the age of team sports, his younger brother Mike had plenty of options, but for Tyler, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, there were none.
So his father created some. In 1994, Garner teamed up with the Arkansas Rolling Razorbacks professional wheelchair basketball team and founded the Arkansas Junior Razorbacks Wheelchair Sports Program.
Tyler was 6; most of the other players were 15 and 16. "They would say, in P.E., I get an A for being a score keeper or an umpire," says Garner, 43. Given an opportunity to play, the Junior Razorbacks have twice been national champs of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Youth League.
This year, there are three Junior Razorback teams, with players from age 6 to 18. Garner lobbied state legislators to provide funding for his program, and writes grants to fill in the gaps. He drives the gymnastics' center van up to 90 minutes each way to pick up and drop off his players. He runs weekend camps for kids who travel from as far as Louisiana and Texas to play. "These were kids who were falling through the cracks of sports and recreation," Garner says.
Five of Garner's players have gone on to play in college (about a dozen schools have wheelchair sports programs), and five have played internationally. Ed McGee, 22, of Long Island, N.Y., started playing junior wheelchair basketball after meeting Garner at a track event. "He taught me where competition is great but sportsmanship is the key to life." McGee got a wheelchair basketball scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington.
Asked by Scotty Bowman how he motivates kids to play as a team, Garner replied, "I try to show them that being part of a team is not just on the court, everything they do in life depends on other people - school, family, work - the individual is just part of the overall picture. If they can help others around them be successful, that will help them reach their potential also."
Parents are amazed at how independent their children become through hoops. "I'm not a nurse," says Garner. Players must be able to care for themselves on the road, including getting in and out of wheelchairs and the van. "Kids in chairs are so limited in the choices of activities they have - the more choices you give them, the more opportunities they're going to have in life. It makes such a difference in their self-esteem, social skills and motivation." And it gives them new goals to shoot for: "Instead of being Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, they're going to be (pro wheelchair players) Pat Anderson and Jeff Glassenbrenner."
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Crystal Shuler, Columbus, Ohio
To Crystal Shuler, cheerleaders are heroes, too. When she saw girls standing by the sidelines at basketball games at Columbus' Woodward Park Recreation Center, she decided they needed to get moving, too. She volunteered to teach cheerleading. The class was popular and Shuler took some girls to compete.
Two and a half years ago, she opened the All Star Cheer Gym in Columbus' developing Easton neighborhood, expanding into gymnastics and stunting. 
A former Miss Columbus, the 36-year-old mother of two says, "Our motto is encouraging youth to excellence ... to be their best at all times, no matter what circumstances you have."
Though many of her girls are from struggling families themselves, Shuler teaches them to give back. The girls are secret Santas to families at the holidays, buying coats, food and toys for families in need, turkeys at Thanksgiving and helping with an annual celebrity basketball game that raises money for toys for needy children.
"I wanted the kids to see that yeah, you're less fortunate, but there's always somebody that's worse off than you," says Shuler. "If you help somebody else, that help will come back to you."
Cheering is not an inexpensive sport; in addition to costumes and the $60 a month Shuler charges for class time, there are application fees for regional and national competitions. But Shuler never lets money or any other hurdles stand in her way.
"We don't turn anybody away," she says. "If your child has no coordination, we work with her. If she's overweight, shy, underweight, we work with her. We have poor, dirt poor and moderately comfortable."
Asked by Cynthia Cooper what she could do better, Shuler replied, "I wish I could divide my time better so I could be more accessible to more kids."
"I want to develop motor skills, gymnastic ability and confidence," says Shuler. She especially wants to help the children of single-parent families, like herself.
Shuler, her barber husband Melvin and 8-year-old Corryne and 5-year-old Melvin II moved to a smaller house so she could keep the gym afloat.
"It's just what God wants me to do. It's important for me to let the kids know there is nothing in this life that you can't do. Lots of times we didn't have any money, but we always got it done."
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Greg Utley, Augusta, Ga.
Gwen Utley of Augusta, Ga., doesn't expect to see much of her husband Greg come basketball season in late December. "Some days, I have to take his (gym) clothes to the park," says Gwen. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a seamstress to make the team; Gwen's job is to tailor the players' t-shirts into muscleshirts like the pros wear.
During the season, when 46-year-old Greg Utley leaves his job at golf cart manufacturer E-Z-Go Textron, his nights are filled with boys and basketball. His 6-8-year-old team plays every Friday; his 9 and 10s, every Tuesday and Thursday;11 and 12s are Monday and Wednesday. Saturday is practice, and Sunday, even iron-man Utley takes a day off from the May Park Rec Center Gym. 
Scotty Bowman wanted to know what sparked Utley's passion. Utley says his buddy Sirlester Harrison told him he needed somebody to help coach. "I thought I could maybe help some kids not just with basketball, but with life in general."
Coaching is not a job that Utley takes lightly. "I try to instill team work and most of all, character. We try to work on those two things so the boys represent not only themselves well but their parents. We don't have have trash talking or talking back to officials. We stress education. Out of 30 or so kids, half are on some type of honor roll."
Parents from all over Augusta know about Utley, and want him to coach their children. Utley's 9 and 10s have been county champs six years in a row; the 11 and 12s won four years in a row. One team won the Georgia Games gold medal.
His own son and daughter are grown, but kids remain a priority for Utley. He mentors children through the East Augusta Youth Association. Says Harrison, who has known Utley since childhood, "Greg's biggest ambition in life is to keep kids going in the right direction. He's one of those guys I can call at 10 o'clock at night and say, 'we've got a kid needs to get turned around in the right direction.'" And Utley is there.
Nor is Utley done with his boys once they go on to middle school. The first group of boys he coached are now in 10th grade; Utley takes time at the beginning of the season to go to their basketball games, to show his support. "I keep in touch with them and contact the parents about them. We're trying to make them be good men."
-- Patty Rhule
Photos by: Greg Sailor (Garner); Steve Jones (Shuler); and Michael Holahan (Utley) for USA WEEKEND
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