Coach Rick Frazier and Coach Chuck Lawrence, coaches at Cumby High School
1976-80, will be honored with the naming of the Cumby Football Field in their
honor, at ceremonies on Saturday, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

 

Cumby Football Field To Be Dedicated
To Coaches Frazier & Lawrence, Saturday

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

Saturday will be a special day in Cumby, as friends, former students, and the citizens of the community pay tribute to two beloved coaches, Chuck Lawrence and Rick Frazier, by naming the football field in their honor. Frazier  and Lawrence came to Cumby High School in 1976, as young men, recently graduated from college, as Frazier accepted the Head Coach and Athletic Director position, and called on his college friend, Lawrence to join him at the school.

"Lawrence and Frazier were like 'two shoes'," exclaimed Lou Ann Petty, who attended Cumby High School during their reign and has been instrumental in getting the field named in their honor. "When you saw one of them, you saw the other one, and they left a lasting impact on our community, that has withstood the test of time! It's only fitting and proper that we name the field in their honor!"

Saturday's activities will begin at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, with a reception in the Cumby School Cafetorium. Then, a pre-game dedication ceremony will be conducted on the football field, at 1:15 p.m., followed by the match-up between the Cumby Trojans and Union Hill Bulldogs, at 2:00 p.m.

 

 

Frazier was 21 years old, when he accepted the position back in 1976, and Lawrence was 22 years old, and they had some of their senior students, who turned 19 that year. "They literally grew-up with us!" exclaimed Petty. "But, they left a mark on our lives and taught us a competitive spirit, that still exists in the community!"

 

 

Cumby had started the 11-man football program only two years before Frazier and Lawrence arrived, and had never won a game. They went 1-19 in the first two years, of the Frazier-Lawrence Regime, coaching the varsity, but soon teams started winning. The Junior High Football Team won district in 1977; then the JV Team won district in 1978 and 1979; and the varsity won the District Football Championship in 1979.

However, Frazier and Lawrence coached not only football, but all other sports at the school, including ladies' athletics. The duo left Cumby High School in 1980, and took assistant coaching positions at 4-A Jacksonville High School and went on to other coaching positions at both the high school and Junior College levels, but still maintained ties with the Cumby community, where their careers began.

Then, it was in 2007, that tragedy struck the deep friendship between Frazier, Lawrence, and their Cumby friends. Coach Rick Frazier entered the hospital and contracted a staph infection in November 2007, succumbing to the infection and pneumonia, leaving his friends and family stunned.

It was at Frazier's funeral, that Coach Chuck Lawrence mentioned to Lou Ann Petty, that it would be a fitting tribute to name the Cumby Field in Frazier's honor. Petty came home and gathered members of the community and Cumby alumni to begin work on the effort. She assembled a group of pictures together and presented a powerpoint presentation to the Cumby ISD School Board, many of which played for Frazier and Lawrence.

"We kept coming to the conclusion that we couldn't include one of them without the other," explained Petty. "They were inseparable in our hearts, as well, as in their lives, so it was only natural to name the field for both of these men who meant so much to all of us!"

Lawrence, who is now the Athletic Director at his hometown of Mineral Wells, has made plans to be in Cumby on Saturday, to join his many friends, as well as members of Frazier's family. "We want these men to know just what an impact they made on our lives," expressed organizers of the event. "Yes, we'll laugh, and then, we'll cry about our loss, but we'll always remember these men, who made a difference!"

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