By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — After spending the last 50 years as a dedicated and integral member of the Salamanca athletic community, current junior varsity boys basketball coach, Pete Weishan is calling it a career.
Weishan, a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame and who has coached over 1,000 career games, wore many hats during his half-century tenure at Salamanca, including acting as the school’s athletic director, varsity boys basketball coach and jv boys basketball coach. Now, at the round number of 50 years, he is putting down the playbook.
Although, Weishan joked, 50 is far longer than he anticipated when he first signed on.
“I figured I was done at 33 years,” Weishan laughed. “I (coached) the varsity team for 33 years and then my JV coach took over. He then called me up and said, ‘I don’t have a JV coach. And I hemmed and hawed and I said, ‘Well, all right.’ And I never left.”
While the additional 17 years kept Weishan from a few more thanksgiving and winter vacations, he noted that it was his love for the system, the program and those in and around it that made sticking around worth it.
“I love the kind of kids we have here, and I love the school system, from the administration on down, it’s just a fun place to be,” Weishan said. “The kids here work hard, and it’s been enjoyable, because they work hard, and it’s just been such a pleasure to be here this long. I can’t say enough about the school.”
But it was not just special because of the players he had along the way, it was because of the community that has shown him and his teams support.
Weishan has seen 50 years’ worth of players. Which also means he has seen that many years’ worth of fans fill the Salamanca gym to back his team. He acknowledged that the Warriors program has a solid foundation due to that support and due to the consistent product they have churned out.
“From the booster club right down, if you put on a good product, people come and watch it,” Weishan said. “In recent years, we’ve had some really, really good success. So, it just works its way down. We got some really good coaches right now. I mean basketball, football, baseball, whatever, we got great coaches, and that makes a big difference.”
Salamanca junior varsity boys basketball coach delivers a speech after receiving a custom Salamanca letterman jacket for his 50 years of service at Salamanca. (Salamanca Warrior Athletics)
But amongst all the fans and the families and the administrators were a few faces whose support went far and beyond what any other could provide. Those faces belonged to his wife, Kathy, and his children.
“My wife, Kathy, we have been married for 46 years, so for 47 of them she’s been at my side,” Weishan said. “And it’s hard, because she hears the fans get on me and my team, and so at first, she struggled with that. I just told her, ‘I really don’t care what they think, you just can’t worry about it, because I know I worked very hard.’ Like, today, I watched Cleveland Hill play four different teams on tape, and I know it’s just JV, but I wanted to give my kids the best opportunity they can.
“I watch over 350 games a year. I have a pen and pad right by the chair, which I won’t have to do now, and I prepare for the next year, starting in March. So I get the kids, see what they’re like, go from there and make plans.”
That pen and paper can rest now as Weishan wraps up a final season at the helm. But that does not mean he is leaving the world of basketball entirely. He still helps out with the Section 6 Class C and D basketball tournaments held in Jamestown each year, and in doing so finds himself reminiscing on some of his past teams.
“It’s not just winning, it’s getting the most out of a team,” Weishan said. “And to be honest with you, I had an undefeated regular season, we were 22-1, my son’s team was 21-2 and, I mean, those were fantastic, but I had a team that was 7-11 and those kids, I can still remember each and every one of them because they gave me everything they had. They probably shouldn’t have won seven games, but they did. … There’s so many (moments). You sit there, you think back and then you remember another (past team) when you see a team in the playoffs. I’ll go up and watch every playoff game. … I’ll never stop watching basketball.”
Salamanca’s current athletic director, Chad Bartoszek, presented Weishan with a custom Salamanca letterman jacket for his years of service and dedication to the school. A gift and an honor he said holds a substantial amount of meaning to him when he thinks back to where he came from and all the moments that led him to where he is now.
“It means a lot,” Wieshan said. “I played at Cattaraugus, not too far down the road, when I was a kid, I went to Cortland State and was fortunate to play four years there and have a good career, and then come here. There was 100 applicants for the job that I got and I was lucky enough to get it, and it’s just been ‘Here I am’ the rest of my life so far. … It means a lot to me. I love walking in this gym and seeing our kids play and be successful.”
And now, as Weishan gets ready to release the portion of the reigns that he controlled, he noted that he has the utmost confidence in current Salamanca varsity boys basketball coach Adam Bennett and the way he is running the program. In Bennett’s hands, he believes the program will continue to strive to be as excellent as it ever was in his 50 years.
“Coach Bennett right now, the time and energy he spends on (the program), and you can tell by the way the kids play, I mean, it’s just great to have him,” Weishan said. “We’re so fortunate he’s here absolutely.”
Weishan has two more games left as the coach of the JV team at Salamanca, both away from home against Dunkirk and Frontier respectively. The latter, his final game, will be played on Feb. 20 at 5 p.m.
