District 9C Extra: Charlie's impact is eternal

The 2015 District 9C boys and girls basketball tournament has all the makings of another great one. It has great teams, great fans, exciting games, an electric atmosphere and a great venue.

Yet again, it’s simply one of the best high school basketball tournaments in the state of Montana.

But, no matter how much fun, no matter how exciting this week at the 9C tournament turns out to be, something’s missing. More to the point, someone is missing, and for those that have been coming to 9C tournament for decades now, in whatever capacity, that someone weighs heavy on their minds and their hearts.

For the first time in decades, the 9C tournament is without not only one of its greatest coaches, but one of its all-time great ambassadors in Charlie Robinson. Robinson, the man who not only coached all over the state of Montana for nearly 40 years but also is one of the all-time winningest coaches in Montana High School Association history, passed away last summer. At the time of his passing, Robinson was the head coach of the two-time defending 9C champion Chinook girls. Before that, he spent time as North Star’s head boys coach, and before that, he stalked the sidelines coaching both boys and girls basketball at K-G High School.

With that kind of longevity, and this being the first 9C tournament in eons without Robinson, it’s hard not to think about him when any of us who knew him so well steps inside the hallowed HHS gymnasium.

“When I think about Charlie and this tournament, first off, he knew everybody. It seemed like he knew something personal about everybody here, year-after-year,” said North Star Athletic Director Brian Campbell, who coached against Robinson, and with him at North Star. “He was a gentleman first and foremost, and he made a point to know and talk to everybody — literally. And he really cared about people. He cared about the people here. He loved this tournament (9C). He really did. I honestly think they should name the hospitality room here in his honor because, when he wasn’t coaching or watching games, that’s where you would find him, talking to people. He really loved this tournament. I know it meant a lot to him. And he meant an awful lot to this tournament.”

And there’s no doubt, Robinson has, and will continue to mean so much to the 9C, the 9C tournament, and its fans. He’s coached countless numbers of boys and girls on the 9C’s biggest stage, and every one of those kids is better off for having known him, and for having played for him. And a big part of why the 9C tournament is what it is today is because of Charlie Robinson.

“He was just such a classy guy,” said Hays-Lodge Pole head coach Charlie Eraeux who, like many others today, had the distinction of playing against Robinson-coached teams in high school, and later, coaching against his teams. “He was such a great guy. He always made a point to talk to everybody. He always talked to the kids on the opposing teams. He really cared about all the kids in this tournament, and all the fans, too. He had a great sense of humor. When we played against each other, every time, he would say ‘Well, I know a Charlie is going to win tonight.’ He was just a great guy, and a brilliant basketball coach.”

Robinson was a brilliant coach, and his coaching tree extends far and wide. And from that standpoint, he will be sorely missed.

“When you lose a great coach and person like Charlie, you lose a lot of knowledge,” said Havre High Activities Director Dennis Murphy. “So many young coaches today don’t have a mentor, someone they can learn from. Charlie was always mentoring. He was always someone young coaches and players could learn from. I was a coach for a long time, and I really enjoyed watching and learning from him. So from that aspect, the young coaches today have lost a great coach and mentor. They have lost someone they can gain knowledge from.

“The other thing I always admired so much about Charlie was that he had a tremendous passion for the game,” Murphy continued. “He treated the game the way it was supposed to be treated. He truly and deeply respected the game of basketball. He always respected the coaches he coached against, and the teams he coached against. He was one of the great ambassadors of high school in basketball in Montana.”

The loss of Robinson was indeed a big one, for his beloved family, for his players and for all who knew him. It was a loss that was felt all over the Hi-Line, all over the 9C and all over the state of Montana because that’s how many lives Robinson touched, as a coach and as a teacher. But his legacy, and his passion for the game, and the wisdom he imparted on so many people from so many places, including right here at the great 9C tournament, won’t ever be forgotten, and it will live on, both with this tournament, and in the lives of those he touched.

“He was a gentleman and a great role model,” Campbell said. “I think every player that played for him, and all of the people he knew, would tell you that. He was so knowledgeable about the game, and he was always willing to share that knowledge. He also never stopped wanting to learn about the game. He was so caring, he cared about so many people and he really was a great example to kids and coaches, on and off the basketball court.

“They talk about coaching trees, well Montana is Charlie’s coaching tree,” he continued. “There are so many coaches out there right now who played for him or against him, or coached against him, and he had a great impact on all of them. I know he did on me. It was so much fun to be on the bench with him, and I learned so much from him.”

And it was the same for the players who played for him, and for so many, he still is, and will always be, in their hearts, no matter what they’re doing with their lives now — whether it’s basketball or something else.

“He always believed in us … he believed in people,” said Chinook junior Brooke Nicholson, who played on Robinson’s most recent 9C championship teams. “Almost all of the things I do on the basketball court are things I do because of him. I learned so much from him.

“It’s really sad he’s not here for us this week,” she continued. “I really feel like a big part of this tournament is missing right now. But he’s in our hearts. He’s always in our thoughts. And when we go out there, we want to play hard for him. We do that because he believed in us.”

Nicholson hit the nail on the head — a big part of the 9C tournament is not in the HHS gymnasium this week — at least not physically. But with the impact Robinson had on so many different people, and especially on the 9C tournament, he won’t ever be forgotten.