Robinson and Class C hoops a perfect match

There’s a uniqueness to Class C basketball in Montana. The game has a quality all its own. It’s the type of basketball that isn’t just for the players and coaches, it’s for every member of every rural community across the Treasure State.

And one of the many things that makes Class C basketball so different, and so unique is the longevity of coaches. Many coaches find a niche in Class C and stick with it.

Chinook girls head coach Charlie Robinson is one of those coaches. He’s been in the Class C ranks for over 40 years, and he’s never left. Robinson has been coaching on the Hi-Line for over three decades now as well, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The main reason I stayed in Class C is for my wife,” Robinson, who takes the Sugarbeeters into today’s Northern C divisional in Great Falls said. “With her health, it was better to be in this environment. I have had Class B and A offers, but I wanted ... her being able to ride the bus to games, being really close to home as far as my job site is concerned and being able to go home when I needed to. The bus trips are a little shorter. Those are the big things.

“Secondly, I felt like kids don’t slip through the cracks as easily at this level,” he continued. “For my own kids, I wanted them to get a good education and have the opportunity to play any sport and do any activity they chose, and the small-school environment offers those things.”

And Robinson has flourished in the small-school environment, as a coach and as an educator, two things he says are equally important to him. He started in Outlook coaching boys basketball in 1969-70, and also got the girls program off the ground. Following that stint, he moved on to coach boys basketball in Victor, both boys and girls in Dutton, both boys and girls at Kremlin-Gildford, then boys at North Star and now girls in Chinook. Robinson also spent time as an assistant coach at Northern Montana College. He has won at every stop and, more importantly, influenced hundreds of student-athletes’ lives along the way, on the basketball court and away from it.

“I’ve always felt it was important to educate kids, as a coach,” Robinson said. “Being an educator has always been a priority for me, both in the classroom and on the basketball court.”

And not only is Robinson an educator, he’s a winner. He’s second all-time in Montana in coaching wins for boys basketball with 559, and he has another 291 wins on the girls side, including 68 victories since taking over the Chinook girls program four years ago. In total, Robinson has won 869 games and state championships with both the K-G boys and girls programs in his coaching career.

And he’s not done yet. He says there are new challenges in today’s coaching world, things he didn’t really face when his illustrious career began in Outlook all those years ago, but that in essence, the reason he loves coaching at the Class C ranks remains the same.

“I learned when I was starting out at Outlook that the Class C atmosphere is just so different,” Robinson said. “You have this great support from the community, everybody is behind the team and the school and the athletes. That was a great time when basketball in northeast Montana was so popular at places like Plentywood and Scobey and Outlook and those towns. It was just huge, and I really enjoyed that type of basketball environment. It was just something I really felt connected to.

“And I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of trying to build up a program,” he continued. “At the Class C level, you put a system in place and you try to build it up, and once you become more competitive, you get more and more kids to buy in and then it becomes something everyone wants to be a part of. There have been a lot of schools around the state who have been able to do that and sustain that success, and fortunately, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of it. As for the challenges we face today, I think the biggest thing is trying to get the kids to still believe in team first. To get them to really understand that the name on the front of the jersey is much more important than the one on the back. But when you can do that, then you start to have the kind of success that gets everyone excited.”

And that’s what Robinson is doing now with the Sugarbeeters. Since he arrived in Chinook, the Beeters have won three 9C tournament titles, including their second in a row last Saturday night in Havre. Chinook has gone to four straight Northern C divisional tournaments and is hoping to get to the Class C state tournament by finishing in the top two this week at the Four Seasons Arena.

But whatever happens this week in Great Falls, it’s already proven that Robinson’s magic touch with Class C basketball has worked in Chinook, a former Class B program which really struggled in its early years as a member of the 9C. And as long as Robinson remains on the bench in Chinook, there’s no doubt the success the Beeters are experiencing now will continue.

“When I arrived, they were in kind of a slump here,” Robinson said. “They really struggled those first few years in the 9C. So what I wanted to do was not just build the program up, but to make sure it was all positive. It was a struggle at first, but we’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good girls in the program, some very talented athletes and they have developed. They have bought into the team atmosphere and they have done a great job and we’ve been able to have some success.

“Around here, we keep things very positive,” he continued. “We don’t lose games, the other team wins games. We say that all the time, either we are going to win or the other team is going to win. We really stress the value of the team, and the kids really believe in the team concept. So it’s been a really positive experience and one that’s been a lot of fun.”

And that’s what Class C basketball is. It’s fun. And as long as Charlie Robinson has been coaching in the Class C ranks, he’s had a lot of fun over the years. And as much as he loves coaching Class C basketball, he won’t stop having fun anytime soon.