Goshen’s Amy Warrick honored by AHSAA for being role model to student athletes

Amy Warrick admits the past eight months have been some of the toughest days of her life. She said good-bye to her best friend; Goshen coach Dee Hughes, in September and in January took over the Goshen softball program as a one-person coaching staff.

But Warrick’s efforts to keep Goshen girls sports going through one of the more difficult times in the school’s history earned her one of the highest honors the Alabama High School Athletic Association gives out.

Warrick was selected as a Making A Difference Award recipient by the AHSAA recently. While the honor has Warrick’s name on it, she says the entire school should celebrate.

“Coach (Bart) Snyder nominated me for the award, but in my opinion he really deserves it,” Warrick said. “It is easy to do a good job at Goshen because we have some of the best kids and coaches in the entire state. We are tight knit family and truly care about each and every one of our friends here.”

Warrick took over the Goshen volleyball team in 2012, while Hughes was undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The volleyball transition wasn’t as big for Warrick as softball was just a few months ago.

Hughes, with Warrick at her side as an assistant, built the Goshen softball program in to one of the best in the state of Alabama.

The first day of the 2014 season was met with a little bit of uncertainty and quite a few tears.

“It didn’t really hit us hard during volleyball, because that really wasn’t Dee’s sport,” Warrick said. “That first day at softball was a whole different story. We stopped a couple of times for crying meetings, and just had to talk our way through it day after day, There were times during the season that I wanted to quit and walk away, but the girls and I leaned on each other and got better.”

While Warrick wants to win games and championships, she said one of the biggest things she tries to do is instill characteristics in her players that will translate to the real world.

Warrick calls this “life titles.”

“Dee and I always said that it isn’t about the one player that signs with a college, but about the 15 that don’t,” Warrick said. “We want to give them things like perseverance and knowing how to work hard that will make them great members of the work force. I love the kids and the reason I coach is to make a positive impact on their lives.”