On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, after less than a week back at school, the Leesville Pride soccer team took to the field, with one proud fan cheering them on. Paul Dinkenor, better known as Coach Dink, cheered on the pride as they took on Green Hope High School.
Coach Dink started teaching at Leesville when it opened in 1993. “Yeah, obviously you know you spend 30 years at a place, you become familiar with it. My wife was here, our children were here, so yes [I miss working at Leesville], but I’m here to support coach T and coach Jeff, and it’s a pleasure to be here,” said Paul Dinkendor, retired staff.
Coach DInk taught World History and World Religions during his last years at Leesville, but some of his best times here were spent coaching soccer.
“He was really hard on us, made us run a lot, but I think that made us a better team and brought us closer together,” said Paxton Cruikshank, senior. Cruikshank was a part of Coach Dink’s last varsity team here at Leesville.
“I wish I would have had him as a coach a little bit longer…He’s hilarious, he’s a good coach, but he’s really serious,” said Cruikshank.
Dink was beloved by not only his players, but also the students he taught, “He’s just a nice guy and tells a lot of funny stories, and he’s just a good teacher, he knows what to say, and how to say it,” said Nora Arnold, junior.
Dinkenor retired after the 2022-2023 school year. “I was retired for about 2 months, it’s overrated,” said Dinkenor.
After his short retirement, Coach Dink jumped right back into coaching. “ I didn’t coach the last semester I was here at Leesville, and I realized that was a mistake, so I got back into it as soon as I could. I coached at NCFC for a year, middle school girls, loved that [getting to coach soccer again], and I realized that I wanted to get back into a school setting,” said Dink.
His wish to be back in a school setting was granted. Coach Dink now coaches soccer at Ravenscroft, a private school here in Raleigh. Even while coaching at another school, life is quite different for him now than it was when he was coaching here at Leesville.
“It’s nice for once to be on your own schedule…..Get up about 6:30, … plan practice, I go to the pool for an hour or two and go to practice, then spending time with my wife, not grading or being here [at the Leesville soccer field] three nights a week,” said Dinkenor.
Many people have seen him out in public since his retirement. Many of them agree that seeing him and getting a chance to chat with him is a joy and a pleasure.
“Soccer is soccer, and you know it’s all about working hard, love being outside … but you know just trying to get to the end of each day and hoping you’ve worked as hard as you can, I won’t be able to do this forever, so you know, one season at a time,” said Dinkenor.
While Coach Dinkenor is not out of all of our lives for good, his presence is most definitely missed here at Leesville.
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