Share: 

Coach Dale Steele passes away; won state title at Indian River

Steele started his career at Rehoboth Jr. High
December 6, 2016

Dale Steele - Longtime football coach Dale Steele passed away last week. Dale taught and coached at Rehoboth Junior High before moving to Indian River, where he was head football coach and won a state title in 1988. The following tribute is from former player Timothy Scott Sr.:  “Rest in peace, coach ... Where to begin? This man changed my life ... I could never have thanked him enough for ‘picking up the phone’ on my behalf ... As a senior in high school, he went to bat for me by contacting college football coaches, and for that I am ETERNALLY grateful ... I can remember him saying, ‘I've got this kid here at Indian River High, his name is Timmy Scott’ ... He made my introduction to football so AWESOME ... I didn't play organized football until 10th grade ... For me, those shiny gold helmets, Indian River Pride, Friday Night Lights and his intense game time speeches were enough for me to love this game of football ... I appreciate all the talks, pats on the back, stern words, hard practices, tough love, workouts, newspaper clippings, film study, game planning, rides home and, most of all, thank you for those calls, it showed you believed in me and sometimes that's all it takes for a kid to spread his wings and fly ... I thank you so much for that ... love you ... miss you ... RIP Coach.”

D Day - The D stands for data and digital entry of scores and scorers soon after the game is over. The task is the responsibility of the head coach, and the excuse, “I’m too busy coaching to worry about that stuff,” doesn’t wash. Just assign the duties to an assistant or student manager. Mostly coaches flat-out lacking in this area also have poor organizational skills, which takes you down the path to weak coaching - it happens - not everyone is at the same level. Websites4sports is the clearinghouse for high school and middle school sports results. “We” mainstream media types get frustrated when school websites have no roster numbers, no box scores and under the section for highlights, the space is blank. That is not leadership, that is laziness.

Double shot of Henlopen power - The new Woodbridge High School sits off Route 13 behind “The Electric Company,” as locals call it – it’s actually the Delaware Electric Co-op - I am a member, where’s my rebate? - and Eric Gooch is a black man in a white truck debt collector for the co-op who uses all his considerable social skills to collect back bills or leave people in the dark. The Woodbridge Raiders beat the Quakers of Wilmington Friends 14-9 for their first state football title. The aptly named Raiders did it by not being raided and keeping their kids home. Smyrna defeated Middletown 36-14 to win the Division I title for a second straight year. Smyrna has facilities and feeder programs and proximity to a large talent pool heading north. And the Eagles - I have dropped my water tower and prison jokes - have good people in place for all their programs. The Smyrna football offense should be exploitable - it was somewhat before those running backs and quarterback showed up - it reminds me of the 1979 state champion Cape team running the 5-3 defense. I was standing with Seaford coach Ron Dickerson who looked at linebackers Vincent Daniels, Nolan Hazzard and Hertford Gibbs and said, “See how they’re crowding the line sometimes or other times standing way back? Well, you can’t play that defense like that unless you have those three kids. Then you could play them in band uniforms and it wouldn’t matter, they are just that good.”

Snippets - Basketball lifted off Dec. 2, while Cape opens Tuesday – the girls hosting Polytech and the boys playing away. Then the boys host Caesar Rodney Friday, Dec. 9, with the girls away against the Riders. Some scores that got my attention: Delmarva Christian girls 39-36 over Delmar, Milford boys over Sussex Academy 92-14. The high-speed cyber cable news network suggests Sussex Tech’s field hockey and lacrosse coach Kathleen Fluharty is no longer in command of those positions. KK is a former college All-American at Northwestern in field hockey and lacrosse. Every year at Cape Senior Night there are players who thank coach KK for introducing them to the sport of field hockey. Sarah Rambo, felled by a ruptured ACL last April on the lacrosse field, has been cleared for swimming and is ready to go as the Vikings swim at St. Andrew’s before hosting Sussex Tech at the Sussex Family YMCA Thursday, Dec. 8.

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter