“No matter what happens in this game, if we get down by 10 runs in the first two innings, we still try our hardest. If you can’t win the game, at least gain the respect of the other team.” These were the words Coach Bernie Kunza gave to his 10U baseball team in the dugout before they hit the field for what would be coach Kunza’s final game coaching.
The July 13th game was played at Bottineau Park where his Bottineau team faced one of the best teams in the league, Hiawatha Park. “I’m back where I started,” said Kunza who started coaching 37 years ago. He has coached for both Park and Rec and the Edison High School team. Kunza also played a big role in getting funding and money secured for a new gym and the baseball fields at Bottineau Park after a fire destroyed the old building in the late ’90s.
Some of the kids who played for Kunza in the past were in attendance to see his final game. Emily Biernat was one of those people. “I’m here to support Bernie on his last game. He was my coach as a child and now he’s coaching my stepson” Biernat wanted to play on the boys team because she thought it was more competitive. “I was the only girl he ever coached. He didn’t treat me any different than the boys. Expectations were the same.”
There were also past assistant coaches in attendance for his last game. Paul Babekuhl who met Kunza at Bottineau Park back in 1994 talked about Kunza’s coaching style. “From the first time he started coaching until this last game he hasn’t changed his coaching style at all. He’s still the same: positive, positive, positive. Nothing ever negative.”
Kunza said “I’ve been able to do what I love for years. I’ve met some of the greatest people on earth. I’m blessed.”
Despite facing one of the best teams in the league, coach Bernie and his 10U team won the game 25-11.
Below: Park Commissioner Billy Menz (right) honored Bernie Kunza at his last game as coach. His Bottineau 10U team is in the yellow shirts. (Photo by Mike Madison)