A pair of coaches with SOL connections – Cheltenham track & field coach Dr. Robert Beale and former PW basketball coach Al Angelos - were inducted into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame at a banquet at Normandy Farm Hotel and Conference Center on Tuesday night.
BLUE BELL – John Salmons had a 13-year career in the NBA that included four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, but talk to the former Plymouth Whitemarsh standout, and his high school playing days – which included starring on PW’s 1997 state championship squad – are never far from his memory.
“My biggest win and biggest loss are still in high school,” said Salmons. “We won the state championship in ’97 – besides getting drafted, that’s a whole different thing, but that’s one of my fondest memories of basketball.
“My worst loss was to Chester that same year in the district semifinals. That’s how special high school basketball is.
Salmons was the guest speaker at Tuesday night’s Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame 14th Annual Induction Dinner at Normandy Farm Hotel and Conference Center. He had a special connection to one of this year’s inductees, his former PW coach Al Angelos.
“He was a winner,” Salmons said of Angelos. “The two things he instilled in us the most were discipline and a winning attitude.
“We were good, we were talented, but we didn’t know how to win. We wanted to win, we thought we could win, but he really brought us all together and showed us how to win. He gave us that mentality. To this day, we’re living with that same mentality. You’ll see a bunch of guys here today from that team, from that era, and that’s why they’re here now because of that mentality.”
Also included in this year’s elite class of four was Cheltenham track and field coach Dr. Robert Beale. Several of his former players were also in attendance, including Beale’s first individual state champion, Marc Jones.
“One of the things that made Dr. Beale so effective was not only his technical knowledge of the sport but his overall emphasis on getting better as an athlete and also academic-wise too,” said Jones. “He didn’t just focus on you being an athlete. You had to get the work done in the classroom as well.
“He gave 110 percent every day, and he cared about you as an individual. I can’t say enough great things about him. He just has a very calming demeanor. You never saw him get upset, you never saw him get frazzled. When things were going great or poorly, he was always the same.”
After graduating from Cheltenham, Jones went on to excel at Villanova University.
“(Dr. Beale) had tremendous impact on me,” Jones said. “I tell people all the time - if it wasn’t for him and my other coach at AOC, Larry Wilson, I wouldn’t have become the track athlete I became.
“I got a scholarship to Villanova to run track, and I attribute a lot of it to his coaching and his dedication and helping me make myself better at my craft. He pushed me, he encouraged me, and even though I was maybe one of the best on the team, he treated everybody the same. It wasn’t like because I was a state champ I got special treatment.”
During his 33 years at the helm, Beale has turned Cheltenham into a perennial state powerhouse. The Panthers won both the indoor and outdoor state championships in both 2014 and 2015. While Jones was his first state champion, Beale has added others to the list, most recently Christian Brissett and John Lewis. All told, he has coached 24 individual or relay state champions.
Beale was humbled by his selection.
“It has been very special for me,” he said. “They asked me to put together a resume of my accomplishments, and it gave me a chance to reflect back.
“As I reflect back from the present to 1983, I was surprised and I felt privileged that we had accomplished a lot – when I say we, all the kids and all the coaches who were involved in the program.”
Beale acknowledged that he has some great memories.
“The first relay state championship 4x400 in 1985, and in 1986 when I was given the head coach job, I had my first state champion – Marc Jones, and we were state runner-up,” he said. “(Winning the state title) was extra special because we had accumulated five state runner-up (finishes). I said, ‘When will it ever happen?’ Not for myself, but for the kids. Finally, it clicked, and it just took off.”
Beale was named coach of the year four times in the last five years.
“Those awards are a testament to the efforts of those young men who have given their all to the program,” he said. “I’m just blessed because of it.”
Angelos excelled at PW and later at (then) Textile University. After a successful coaching stint at Ursinus College, Angelos took over the helm of Plymouth Whitemarsh, leading the Colonials to a state title in 1997. During his seven years at PW, his teams compiled a record of 158-49 against some of the toughest competition in all of high school basketball.
After leaving PW to focus on his business career, he returned to the sidelines and is an assistant at Archbishop Carroll.
“This is a tremendous honor,” Angelos said of his selection. “What I enjoyed the most about coaching was the interaction with the players. The energy those young people offer you is just beyond belief. It’s phenomenal what they do for you.
“I think about them all the time. What gives me the greatest pleasure is when I hear from a former player and can somehow keep up with them. Many of them will be here tonight, and it means so much to me.”
In addition to Salmons, Chuck Moore, Jon Brantz, Mike Melcher among other former players were in attendance to honor Angelos.
Also in this year’s prestigious class of inductees were former Germantown Academy field hockey and girls’ lacrosse coach Ginny Hofmann and former Spring-Ford wrestling coach Pat Nugent.
Over a 39-year stretch at the helm, Hofmann’s teams compiled a record of 370-207-19 while earning seven Inter-Ac titles. During Nugent’s 13 seasons as the varsity wrestling coach, his teams captured nine Pioneer Athletic Conference titles and compiled a 104-8-1 dual meet record. Seven times Nugent was named Wrestling Coach of the Year in the area.
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