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2015 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 724
Commending Pat Manuel.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 6, 2015
Agreed to by the Senate, February 12, 2015

 

WHEREAS, Pat Manuel, one of the most successful high school football coaches in the Commonwealth, retired in November 2014 after serving for 21 years as head coach for Matoaca High School; and

WHEREAS, Pat Manuel amassed a 159-76 record while at the Chesterfield County school and was named Coach of the Year four times; under his leadership, the Matoaca High School football team won four regional titles, six district titles, and reached the state finals in 1993; and

WHEREAS, Pat Manuel’s legacy is about much more than building championship teams; he emphasized to his players throughout his career that academics came before athletics, and that becoming young men of character should be their foremost goal; and

WHEREAS, the many people who know and worked with Pat Manuel have paid tribute to his tireless work ethic and the many hours he spent preparing for each football season; his peers and players recall how he showed that it is better to do things right than to focus solely on winning; and

WHEREAS, at the time of Pat Manuel’s retirement, the Matoaca High School Warriors had won more games than almost any other team in the area during his tenure as coach; Pat Manuel is second in active coaches in the Richmond region since 1970 and fourth overall of coaches in the Richmond region, and he also is in the top 50 of all active coaches in the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Pat Manuel stressed that the team is a family and that all players remain members of the Matoaca football family even after graduation; Warriors have heeded that message, as some graduates have been assistant coaches at Matoaca High School over the years; and

WHEREAS, at the final sports banquet that he attended as coach, Pat Manuel continued to show what makes him an inspiring role model: he said to his charges that winning will take care of itself—it is more important to build character, cultivate a strong work ethic, and develop into strong and capable men; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Pat Manuel on an impressive 21-year career as head coach of the Matoaca High School football team and for teaching his players to be young men of character; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Pat Manuel as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect and admiration for his teams’ athletic accomplishments and for being an outstanding coach and role model in Chesterfield County and the Commonwealth.