INMAN, SC - On Monday afternoon longtime Boiling Springs baseball's top assistant coach John (JD) Goodwin was named the new leader of the Chapman baseball program and he says it is an opportunity that fit everything that he and his family were looking for in a school and a community.
"Chapman is a great opportunity for my family and myself as we felt like it was a place that checked all the boxes for what we were looking for in a school," said Goodwin. "With two small kids we were looking for somewhere with great schools, which they have in Chapman, and the baseball program has been a very successful one already. The kids there know how to win and that was an enticing factor to us. We're just looking to continue to build on the success they've had and bring the community the state championship that they've been looking for all these years." Goodwin has spent the past nine seasons standing alongside Boiling Springs head coach Jeff Lipscomb where they have seen the Bulldogs win multiple region championships and made it to numerous Upper State championship series. Prior to his time with the Bulldogs he was the head coach at Broome High School for five years where he led the Centurions to the 2A state championship series. He says that one thing that he has learned in his years of coaching at both Boiling Springs and Broome is that to win a team has to be tough and have grit, which is going to be something that he'll preach with the Panthers as well. "I've always tried to hang my hat on as a coach is having a team that is tough and playing with grit," said Goodwin. "I think that goes a long way in winning close ballgames especially when you're playing in big time situations in the playoffs. Sometimes it's not the most talented team that wins but it's the team that plays the hardest that wins those big ballgames." Goodwin said that while he was at Boiling Springs they got some opportunities to watch the Panthers program and there were some things that stood out to him about the team. "One thing that has stood out is the way they conduct themselves," said Goodwin. "I have a ton of respect for what Coach Fursaro has done there and going to back to what Coach Carr and Coach Metcalf have done as well. The game of baseball is very important to the community and the school and that's somewhere you want to be as a baseball coach is somewhere where the sport is that important to everyone. We're just wanting to continue to continue and build on that success." He said that from his first time as a young head coach at Broome to now, he has learned a lot that he feels is going to help him be a successful coach at Chapman. "I was really fortunate to be a head coach at such a young age," said Goodwin. "After running the program at Broome for five years, I got the opportunity to coach under Coach Lipscomb at Boiling Springs for nine years and he's just an incredible man. He's not just a great baseball coach but a really good man. He done a great job of building young men and it's something we took great pride in at Boiling Springs and we're going to work on doing that at Chapman also." Goodwin said that the support from the community at Chapman is well known and he says that was a major draw in choosing to join the Panthers program. "As a coach you dream about being at a place that has the community support like they do," said Goodwin. "The community support there is unbelievable. I know growing up in Spartanburg County you're able to see that support along with the love for the school that they have. It's exciting for your kids to the opportunity to play in front of a packed crowd every night and have a true home field advantage that's important especially heading into the playoffs." While many in the baseball community around Spartanburg know Coach Goodwin he said he wants the people that don't know him know that he's going to run a program that has pride in everything they do. "We're going to be a group that has pride in everything that we do," said Goodwin. "We're going to be very professional in our business and run a first class program that people respect. We're going to be a group that makes our community proud not just on the field but also in the community and walking the halls of the school. We want to be a program that everyone can be proud of and that goes beyond just wins and losses but also joining with the parents in developing better young men." Goodwin is a graduate of Broome High School ('02) as well as a graduate of Newberry College ('07) with a master's degree from Western Kentucky ('12). Comments are closed.
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