News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM · Mid-West Family - Southwest Michigan

The Coaches - April 11, 2026

April 11, 2026·1 hr 54 min·10 clips

Out of 50 players who went to college, only one was a single-sport athlete, proving multi-sport success.

Saturday starts at Signature Toyota. The Coaches Show opens with the usual live-radio bustle: a Sleep Outfitters spot, a sponsor read, the Napier Avenue location, Blossom Time reminders, and treats from Sandra Kay. Fred Smith is filling in while Phil McDonald is off at Blossom Time practice, with Miss Blossom Time set to air live on WSJM Monday at 6:30 p.m. The dealership gets a little time, too. The segment points listeners toward Thursday's Academic Challenge Championship, which the host thinks is St. Joe against Our Lady Lake. Then soccer gets the chair. A longtime Lakeshore coach, identified at the end as Coach LaFond, says he has logged 28 total varsity years. His answer is simple. Coaching and teaching go together because students are more than what happens in class. He and Julie show up. He talks about going to theater, band, and other sports so kids know somebody from school is paying attention. Winning matters, of course. The host gives him that opening, and the coach admits winning helps. But the point he keeps coming back to is connection. The soccer field keeps him young, even if he cannot quite keep up anymore. There is some teasing in the room, too. The host jokes about sprint challenges, and the coach lets the lighter stuff sit beside the serious part. The close turns warm. The coach remembers the program's first girl player and an April 17 fundraiser for her family, saying the girls team was built on her shoulders. Then it ends the way local radio ends. Thanks go around the table, the guests hear the segment will be posted as a podcast and tweeted out, and next Saturday brings more spring guests on 94.9 WSJM.

As heard by us

A local sports hour that treats coaching as community work.

This Coaches Show opens with a Saturday broadcast from Signature Toyota in Benton Harbor, Fred Smith filling in for Phil McConnell, and a longtime Lakeshore soccer coach with 28 varsity seasons behind him.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want local sports talk that still feels like Saturday morning radio.

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