Scott Winterburn Scott Winterburn has been playing baseball since he was old enough to hold a bat. He reached the pinnacle of his career playing professional ball for a Northwest team called the Boise Hawks. But what he’s truly passionate about is coaching. Winterburn calls his one year with the Hawks and educational experience that every young coach should have to go through. “That experience really taught me what it’s like to do something you love every day and what it means.” A life-long sports fan, Winterburn also competed in football and basketball in high school. He thinks he migrated toward coaching baseball because he was better at it than the others. “I think I could have easily been a football coach. But I think because I was a better baseball player the connection was natural.” One of Winterburn’s other passions is motorcycles. He had a dirt bike as a kid after a friend let him borrow his. He has now passed that hobby on to his kids, and rides with them in the desert and other local areas. “I just like the openness of it – a sense of freedom more than anything else,” Winterburn says. His family also enjoys the water, no matter whether it’s lake or beach. Every summer they take a vacation for two weeks, most often to boat and fish. “Wherever we go usually involves some body of water,” he says. As most coaches at the University of La Verne do, Winterburn plays a dual role as both teacher and coach. But while most people would distinguish between the two separate positions, Winterburn takes a different approach. “I characterize myself as a teacher first on the field,” he says. “Coaching is just something we do during games. Ninety-five percent of the time, we’re teaching.” Winterburn taught physical education at a junior high school for 11 years before coming to ULV. But he says his dream had always been to teach and coach at the college level, so he was excited when the dual position became available. The small campus atmosphere helps Winterburn feel connected not only to his athletes, but his students as well. “You get a lot of time to know your students on a personal level; as a result you feel connected to your students,” he says. Adding about his players: “I enjoy interpersonal relationships. The fact that I don’t have 80-90 players trying out, that creates a different environment than a big school.” Since coming to ULV in the 2000-2001 academic year, Winterburn has changed the culture of ULV baseball. “The impact of what it means to be on a team is something we focus on,” he says. “You can see that it’s on a different level than five years ago when we took over. You can see the guys understand what it means to be on a team.” RETURN TO FACULTY LISTmailto:winterbu@ulv.edu?subject=HELLOHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_1
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