Eastern Missouri NSDA Assistant Coach of the Year
The Assistant Coach of the Year recognition honors a current or recently retired assistant coach who has provided outstanding service to their students, outstanding service to the Eastern Missouri community, or both.
Assistant coaches are pivotal to the growth and success of any high school speech & debate program.
Assistant coaches are pivotal to the growth and success of any high school speech & debate program.
2021 Assistant Coach of the Year - Lance Allen, Pattonville HS
Lance Allen began working with the Pattonville HS Speech & Debate team in 2016. Prior to formal work as an assistant coach, he frequently volunteered his time judging at tournaments hosted by the St. Louis Urban Debate League.
Lance was nominated for this award by the Pattonville Head Coach, Jennifer Raymond, who writes:
"Lance always has a smile on his face, whether it's 6:00 am on a freezing school bus, noon in a crowded cafeteria, 10:00 pm in a chaotic tab room, or midnight on a freezing school bus! As anyone who has ever met him knows, he's the most helpful and cheerful person they've ever met.
After a full day of work with his own residential students at Full Circle, he would come to Pattonville to judge practice rounds, work with oratory and extemp competitors edit scripts and cases. At tournaments, he's always the first one to volunteer to judge, and he's happy to judge every round of any event. He is respected by coaches and competitors from other schools as a fair, objective, and knowledgeable judge.
Whether is the Greater St. Louis Speech Association Conference, the Randy Pierce Winter Classic, or even someone else's invitational, Lance will offer to help with any task, and will work with boundless energy even after everyone else is exhausted.
Even in a pandemic, he's still at Zoom practices, Zoom tournaments, and Zoom MSHSAA Districts meetings, and he's editing cases in Google docs and writing extemp questions for Districts. He sees the potential in every member of the team and is equal parts wise teacher, empathetic counselor, and hype man, encouraging students to do their best. Lance is invaluable to Pattonville Speech & Debate and to the EastMO community."
So many coaches would resoundingly agree with Jennifer's statement, so Eastern Missouri is proud to name Lance Allen as our 2021 Assistant Coach of the Year!
Lance was nominated for this award by the Pattonville Head Coach, Jennifer Raymond, who writes:
"Lance always has a smile on his face, whether it's 6:00 am on a freezing school bus, noon in a crowded cafeteria, 10:00 pm in a chaotic tab room, or midnight on a freezing school bus! As anyone who has ever met him knows, he's the most helpful and cheerful person they've ever met.
After a full day of work with his own residential students at Full Circle, he would come to Pattonville to judge practice rounds, work with oratory and extemp competitors edit scripts and cases. At tournaments, he's always the first one to volunteer to judge, and he's happy to judge every round of any event. He is respected by coaches and competitors from other schools as a fair, objective, and knowledgeable judge.
Whether is the Greater St. Louis Speech Association Conference, the Randy Pierce Winter Classic, or even someone else's invitational, Lance will offer to help with any task, and will work with boundless energy even after everyone else is exhausted.
Even in a pandemic, he's still at Zoom practices, Zoom tournaments, and Zoom MSHSAA Districts meetings, and he's editing cases in Google docs and writing extemp questions for Districts. He sees the potential in every member of the team and is equal parts wise teacher, empathetic counselor, and hype man, encouraging students to do their best. Lance is invaluable to Pattonville Speech & Debate and to the EastMO community."
So many coaches would resoundingly agree with Jennifer's statement, so Eastern Missouri is proud to name Lance Allen as our 2021 Assistant Coach of the Year!