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Massapequa wrestling coach inducted into Hall of Fame
"Every athlete who Gary coached will tell you that," said James P. O'Rourke (class of '77). "What he taught went far beyond the sport itself. He taught 'life lessons' in an attempt to prepare all of us for the world in which we would be competing." The consistent lessons included hard work, sacrifice, discipline, persistence, humility, respect the right way and the wrong way to be competitive and the right way to treat family, friends, teachers, he said. "He always stressed the importance of academics and he watched his student-athletes graduate and go on to succeed in a variety of endeavors through the application of these lessons- lessons that were reinforced by the example he set." "Some coaches measure their success in terms of wins and losses or by how many athletes they coached who got college scholarships," said Mims in discuss- ing the honor. "I measure it in terms of teaching them about life because those are lessons that an athlete can take with them into anything they choose to do. Coaching is really about teaching."
He began his college career at C.W. Post College on a partial lacrosse scholarship and participated in both sports for the Pioneers. He transferred to YanktonUniversity in South Dakota graduating with a bachelor's degree in education. In 1975, he earned a master's degree from C.W. Post. He became a certified physical education teacher and returned to Massapequa, becoming a substitute teacher and part-time wrestling coach. Massapequa High School recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of high school wrestling. During the annual Christmas Tournament, the oldest wrestling tournament on Long Island, the wrestling alumni and Parents Club sponsored an event honoring Mims on his retirement. "Massapequa High School Wrestling has been blessed with having only three coaches the past 50 years, providing the continuity and sustained competitiveness during a very long tenure," said Al Bevilacqua. In a message to Coach Mims printed in the Long Island Wrestling Journal, some of Massapequa's athletes said that the application of the lessons in life that Mims taught them is one of the cornerstones of success in virtually any field of endeavor. "Your former wrestlers have gone on to achieve success in fields as diverse as business, medicine, the military and entertainment, due, in large part, to the foundation that you helped the build through Massapequa Wrestling," the message said. "Each of us took away something important from the program," said Frank Seckler, who describes Mims as his high school mentor. "He was always there for his students and that meant a lot to each of us." Meanwhile Mims record speaks for itself, they added, winning Conference, League, Sectional and State Championships. Since the inception of Conference Qualifying Championships, Mims teams have won every one of them, sustaining a quality of excellence that spans decades.
For the Coach, however, all of that is nice, but not essential. "I didn't go into coaching for the accolades," he said of the honor bestowed on him. "You go into it because you love what you are doing. I just happened to be fortunate to have worked in a great community and to have had a great group of kids."
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