Metro Coach of The Year is an impressive honor in any sport, but for an assistant coach to win it is rare. For Westside assistant swimming coach, Andy Rider, it came out of nowhere.

“I was super surprised,” Rider said. “Nate Germonprez won the athlete of the meet. I was giving him his award, and I was walking off, and then they said my name. At first I didn’t really realize that but I kind of figured out what was going on. I was just super surprised.”

Following the Metro Conference Meet this past February, head coaches from the 17 teams at the meet wrote their meet award nominations on paper slips. 

For Rider, in his third year as an assistant coach, the honor was a great way to show off his hard work.

“It means a lot,” Rider said. “It’s a lot of work. It’s cool to be seen by your peers with the work that you’re doing, and to be rewarded for that effort.”

Rider won the coach of the year award off of an impressive runner-up finish at the Metro meet and third-place finish at the state meet. After Hall of Fame head coach Doug Krecklow retires, many have questioned who would take up the job. Rider, who says that he has applied for the position, hopes that his work with the program can put him in a good position.

“I would hope that my resume, the things I’ve done here and the things I’ve done in the past help with that,” Rider said. “There’s no guarantees, and I understand that. I love Westside, and I love coaching here. I love the kids and the coaching staff that’s here. We have a lot of good things going on, we have a good team. I’d like to see it continue and grow, and continue to compete and win championships.”

Westside Athletic Director Tom Kerkman explained what he’s looking for in a new head coach.

“It’s just like anything else, you look for someone who has knowledge on the sport, who can build relationships with kids, who has a passion for the sport, good character, and willing to learn more about the sport,” Kerkman said. “I can’t specifically answer about coach Rider or any candidate, but we just have to be fair to anybody who’s interested in the position.”

Westside has a history of great head coaches in most sports, including the last two swimming coaches being Omaha Sports Hall of Famers. Kerkman explained the effect that coaches have on culture and the hope he sees for the future of any program.

“I would hope that it at least gives the impression to athletes that they’re gonna be pushed hard,” Kerkman said. “That is the thing I see when I talk to athletes or do surveys. They ask for what we look for in coaches. We’re looking for someone who has passion in their sport, who knows about their sport. Winning and good experiences is important to kids too, and that’s what they wanna see when they get coached. The other thing about coaching is that it’s a hard position. There’s a lot of great coaches in the metro. The metro is hard to win in, week in, and week out just because of how competitive it is.”

Regardless of the head coach question, Rider sees a very bright future for the program with talented underclassmen.

“In terms of athletes we have, we have a really really strong freshman and sophmore class for boys and girls,” Rider said. “We’re super deep in those two areas. They showed this at the state meet and throughout the season. I think we have a legitimate chance to be a contender on both the guys and the girls side.”

If Rider becomes the next head coach, he will have the opportunity to build on an incredible legacy of 23 boys and 13 girls state championships.