On coaching against his dad on Saturday Trevor Peterson will be in Staples, Minn., tonight to cheer on his father, Lynn Peterson, in the pursuit of a 600th victory as a high school boys basketball coach. And at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, in his debut as head coach of the Hawley Nuggets, Trevor will try to add to dear old dad's significantly smaller loss total (179).
"I think there's obviously going to be a lot of emotion in the game," he said. "More than I wish there would be."
But coaching is an emotional racket; something Trevor learned being the only son, a former player and occasional volunteer assistant for one of the winningest coaches in Minnesota.
Lynn Peterson has been a coach for longer than Trevor has been alive, ranking fourth in state history in victories with 599 in 30 completed seasons, leading Staples-Motley to 11 section championships and two state title games and earning a spot in the Minnesota Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
Trevor Peterson is a29-year-old rookie, whose career as a head coach almost never got off the ground because he favored a career in business over teaching. Yet, thanks in part to a letter of recommendation from his father and some shrewd last-minute scheduling, the two will face off, poor wife and mother Nancy Peterson stuck in the middle.
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"I keep telling her she has the best season in the house she can't lose," said Trevor, who is the business manager of the Hawley school district. "She doesn't see it that way. She's always been kind of a wreck during games."
She better get used to it.
The Cardinals and Nuggets are scheduled to meet next season in Hawley and likely beyond "unless we get in a fight over it," Lynn Peterson joked.
Nobody is backing down in this friendly family conflict.
"It'll probably be a little more intense if we get beat (tonight)" against Park Rapids, Lynn said. "But I know one thing: He doesn't want me to get it (win No. 600) against him. There's not going to be any sympathy either way."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Terry Vandrovec at (701) 241-5548
