THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: ‘Couldn’t be more proud’ — Timberline softball coach Dave Craig marvels at job daughter Shay is doing as NIC softball coach, mom

The North Idaho College softball team came up one game short of capping an amazing season with a Northwest Athletic Conference tournament championship.

But that didn’t stop Dave Craig, father and former coach of NIC head coach Shay Chapman, for being the proud father this past weekend.

“Just to watch her grow as a person and a coach, it’s been amazing to watch what she’s been able to accomplish,” said Craig, head coach of the Timberline High softball team of Boise, which placed third at last weekend’s state 5A tournament at Post Falls High. “The reputation she has been able to make for herself, being her own coach. Not my style; she’s entirely different. She’s better than I am, there’s no question about that.”

Dave said there’s some similarities in the styles in which father and daughter coach, but …

“I think it’s just the way that she interacts with her players,” Dave said. “She learned right away early … I was kind of a hard-nosed coach in the beginning, and that’s what Shay was raised with. She took some of mine, and ran with her own, and her players love her and respect her, and play hard for her. And I truly am blessed as a father to watch her take this career … it’s amazing to me to watch her.”

“He got involved and coached all of my sports,” Shay said. “We’ve always bonded over that. I always knew I wanted to play college softball. Between him and (former NIC coach) Don Don (Williams), I always knew that when I was done playing, I wanted to come back and coach with her. My bond with him made me excited to get back into the game.”

SHAY (CRAIG) CHAPMAN graduated from Timberline in 2006, played two years at North Idaho College under Williams, who started the Cardinal program, then played two years at NCAA Division II Adelphi University in Long Island, N.Y.

In 2007, Shay was on the NIC team that finished second at the NJCAA national tournament —  the Cardinals were inches away from a national title.

After finishing her playing career at Adelphi, Shay received a call from Don Don, asking her to return to NIC and coach with her. She was an assistant coach for the Cardinals for six years, took a year off from coaching, then took over as head coach in the 2020 season when Williams left to become head coach at Southern Utah.

“I was shocked and not shocked,” Dave said of Shay’s return to coaching. “She wanted to get away from the game, and the next thing you know, she’s right back in it, and loving it.”

“I was out about 10 months, just being a stay-at-home mom,” Chapman said. “I was raising kids and a 1-year old newborn and had my hands full at the time. I had a hard time walking away, but I was young and raising young kids, and it was best for my family. When Don Don left, I knew I had to get back into the game. I missed it a lot and couldn’t wait to get back to work.”

Dave coached Shay in travel ball growing up, then when she was in high school, he coached her younger sister, Brandy, a 2008 Timberline grad.

Dave coached the Boise Blast travel softball team for years. And for years, their main rival in the state was the Coeur d’Alene Crush.

After those days …

“Garry Stark (former Crush coach) and I became really good friends through softball, and so I would stay at Garry’s house when I would come up to watch Shay (play, and then coach at NIC) … we became really good friends,” Dave said. “Anytime I came up to Coeur d’Alene I would stay with the Starks, and watch Shay coach … it was a different dynamic to watch her coach and not play. As a dad, watching your kid out there was just amazing.”

SHAY, AS a junior, and Timberline won a state title in North Idaho in 2005 — beating Coeur d’Alene on its home field. Shay had an RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Wolves went on to win 4-3 in nine innings.

With Dave coaching in Post Falls and his daughter coaching in Portland last weekend, it was natural to wonder if Dave would head to Portland to watch his daughter, after Timberline was done at state.

“I really wanted to, boy, I really wanted to,” he said.

Turns out, Dave has a “regular job” as well — he builds, tests and repairs circuit boards for a manufacturing company. And while he said he has a “great” boss who is understanding … well, he didn’t want to push it.

Dave said early on, no, he couldn’t see the coach in Shay …

“But as she started to get older, she always had such a huge passion for the game. She played with such intensity,” he said.

With Chapman as head coach, NIC went 44-4 this season, a season which included a 37-game winning streak.

“And to do it with two daughters,” Dave marveled. “I just love it, that she’s raising two daughters, and she’s empowering them to be great. I just couldn’t be more proud.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.

    NIC ATHLETICS North Idaho College softball coach Shay Chapman, right, congratulates Hayden Rockwell after her home run against Lower Columbia last Friday at the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Portland.
  

    Dave Craig