Dale Walz has always loved basketball. "I grew up in Sanborn, Minn.—a basketball-crazy town," he says. "We cleared snow away from the basket at our little school's playground so we could play at recess in the harsh Minnesota winters."

That childlike passion has only grown in the 40-plus years that Walz has taught in WELS schools. Walz, who retired from varsity coaching in 2008 after 35 years, still serves as vice principal at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, Milwaukee.

Coaching winning teams

"In college, I knew I wanted to be a high school basketball coach," Walz says. "Not a day went by at any time of the year when I didn't think about basketball."

That love of the sport was obvious in his coaching style. "I was demanding and critical, but hopefully my players knew I loved them and that I treated them with respect and fairness as I tried to bring the best out of each of them," he says.

While he worked on their skills, even opening up the gym on weekends so kids could just come in and shoot, he worked more on their spiritual lives. "I reminded them that their talent was given by God, that they should work hard and give him the glory for any success that might come their way," he says.

But never did he lead them to believe their prayers would automatically bring them victories or to think God was only on their side. He says, "I told them their prayers should ask for God's blessing on their effort; that everyone would be free from injury; and that whatever happened they would act and react as God's children, allowing others to see their witness."

If they weren't sure how to let others see their witness, all they had to do was look to their coach. "You see Dale's Christianity in his everyday life," says Jeff Sitz, athletic director at Wisconsin Lutheran High School. "He goes ahead and lives his life, and you realize just by watching him that he has faith. It's not something he has to work at. It's just who he is."

Though Walz didn't pray for victories, God gave them—lots of them—to him. Between 14 years at Lakeside Lutheran High School, Lake Mills, Wis., and 21 at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, Walz's record is 515-245, which places him 12th on the all-time list of Wisconsin's winningest coaches.

Those victories also earned him respect outside of the schools. In 2008 he was inducted into the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. "Being nominated for, and then being inducted into, the Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame was a special blessing from God because it is an honor to be recognized by your coaching peers," he says. Again, though, he turns the credit over to others. "I believe it is a tribute to all the Christian young men who won all those games over the years on our teams."

Mentoring kids and coaches