Matt Andree knew, on some level, that this day was coming.
The Santa Maria High School softball coach remembers one of the last conversations he had with his father before he passed away from cancer in 1996. Andree’s dad, a lifelong youth sports coach, had expressed regret over the amount of family time he had to sacrifice as a consequence of being a coach.
Twenty years later, Andree has made the decision to step down as Santa Maria High’s softball coach following the spring season to spend more time with his wife and 9-year-old son.
“That [conversation with my dad] always stuck with me,” Andree said. “Now that I have my own kid, I don’t want to lose any time. He’s getting to that age where he’s playing sports himself, I’d like to be there more for him.”
Andree has coached high school softball for more than 25 years, and he spent half of those years in Santa Maria.
“It was a hard decision,” Andree said. “For over 25 springs I’ve been busy, I’ve been doing the same things. I’m sure spring will roll around next year and I’ll miss it.”
Coaching is in Andree’s blood. Growing up a coach’s son, Andree’s own path to becoming a coach happened quickly and naturally.
“When I got out of high school I got a chance to coach football and softball with my dad and my brother, which was quite memorable,” he said.
Andree spent the next 13 years coaching at Del Mar High School in San Jose before moving to San Luis Obispo.
“When I relocated down here, I spent two years at Arroyo Grande High School helping out as an assistant coach,” Andree said. “I didn’t really know if I was going to be able to coach softball again when I moved down here because I didn’t have the connections and all.”
It didn’t take long for Andree to establish himself as an asset in the community. He helped jump-start Pioneer Valley High School’s softball program when the school was founded in 2004, coaching the team for six years. Andree spent his final five years rejuvenating a struggling Santa Maria High School softball program in addition to working as a special education teacher.
“When I took over [at Santa Maria] it was a tough transition,” Andree said. “The girls the year before hadn’t won a game [even though] they had a lot of talent. I had nine seniors my first year. They all had been through the Santa Maria program and hadn’t won a lot of games. There was a lot of emotional building and getting them to trust me because they hadn’t had anybody they felt they could trust and who believed in them.”
Andree’s presence made all the difference. With the culture shift, the team started winning more games.
During the 2013 season, Andree had a health scare: He suffered a heart attack. He had to miss a week of games while recovering in the hospital. Shaken but determined to show their coach how much they cared, the Santa Maria team rallied and played some of their best softball of the season.
“It was my first year and I didn’t know him that well yet,” Santa Maria senior first baseman Mariah Maldonado remembered. “We had a game the next day, and at that game we played our heart out for him. Our team was like, ‘We can’t let him down.’ We went out there and played our hardest for him. Our team was way closer after that.”
Andree believes that the heart attack had a silver lining. It reminded him not to take his life for granted. The experience helped put things in perspective, and it fundamentally changed him.
“Once that happened, it changed me for the better,” he said. “I’m a better coach in certain ways because of that. I don’t take things for granted now. I cherish the relationships I have with players and coaches, and at home too with my own kid and my wife.”
Even though he’s stepping down as coach, Andree will still teach at Santa Maria High and be available as a mentor to the players. He said you can probably catch him watching the games next spring from the stands.
Santa Maria players say they’ll miss having Andree around not only as a coach, but as a friend and mentor. They appreciate the sacrifices he’s made on their behalf over the years.
“He’s a great coach. I got to know him a lot,” Maldonado said. “He always puts in the time and makes sure we get our reps and everything. He sacrifices his time for us to be out there for us. He’s committed to us.”
No matter where life leads him next, Andree said he’ll cherish his time coaching high school softball.
“It’s helped me be a better person, a better father, a better teacher, husband—everything,” Andree said. “Santa Maria is such a great place to coach because the kids there are just fabulous. Those girls sure have taught me a lot through all those years. You hear stories about how much the players get from the coaches, but I think in the long run, I’ve gotten more from them than they have from me.”
Contributor Peter Johnson can be reached at pjohnson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 24-31, 2016.