COACH – Hoonah / Tok / Skagway High Schools 1975-1997
Don Hather – retired in 1996 from coaching at three Alaska high schools – Hoonah, Tok and Skagway. Don Hather began his high school coaching career in Nebraska where in 1968 he was named Wrestling Coach of the Year. He began his Alaskan teaching career in 1975 at Hoonah High School, coaching both wrestling and volleyball. Known as an intense and dynamic coach, his volleyball team accomplished the virtually impossible feat of earning runner-up against Anchorage’s Dimond High School in the 1979 state championship finals – quite a feat for a school of 60 students! That was before schools were divided into classifications. Hather moved onto Tok High School in the early 1980’s where he coached several state champion wrestlers – being honored by his peers in 1986 as Alaska State Wrestling Coach of the Year. His coaching duties at Tok included basketball where he coached a team that earned third place at the 2A state tournament. In the 1990’s, another move took Hather to Skagway. He has had a profound effect on the community as a booster and youth advocate, raising tens of thousands of dollars for local programs. In addition to the honors mentioned, Hather was inducted into the Alaska Coaches Hall of Fame, Alaska Officials Hall of Fame, the Alaska Wrestling Hall of Fame, and the University of Nebraska Kearney Athletic Hall of Fame. Hather and his wife currently reside in Skagway.
