Keith Quaid came home from the Oklahoma slow-pitch All-State game with three plaques. The Kiowa coach was recognized as the All-State Small East team coach, named Class-A-District-3 Coach of the Year, and inducted into the Oklahoma Slow-Pitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame, all at the same event.
The Hall of Fame nomination came from fellow coaches within the OSPCA. "It's a blessing to be recognized by my mentors, fellow coaches, a couple of coaches nominated me for the Hall of Fame," Quaid said. "It was something that was not a goal of mine going into coaching but it's nice to be recognized by your peers."
Quaid began coaching in 1995 at Pittsburg softball before moving to Tishomingo in 1999, where he coached boys basketball, fast-pitch softball, and girls golf through 2011. He then moved to Kiowa, where he has coached boys basketball, girls basketball, and both fast- and slow-pitch softball. During his time at Kiowa, he has led three teams to state championships, two in fast-pitch and one in slow-pitch.
Despite the hardware, Quaid has kept his focus on the athletes themselves. "I never got into this business to win a state championship, I just wanted to coach kids and see them become great young people and great adults," he said. "I think that's what we have here at Kiowa."
He credits the people around him for making the career possible. "I've been fortunate to have a good career and to do that, you've got to have good players and you've got to have good parents that support you and you've got to have a good school that supports you and I've checked all those boxes," Quaid said.
Quaid said he is about three years away from retirement eligibility and is not yet sure what he will do when that time comes. "I don't know if I will or not, but we'll just see what life brings me after three years," he said. Whatever he decides, he plans to keep coaching with the same approach that built Kiowa's program. "I really have a passion to coach kids, whether it's basketball or softball, and I really want to continue to make a difference in their lives the best I can," Quaid said.
