Just one year removed from retirement ” and a boys’ track title in his 29th and final season ” Chuck Boyer’s coaching influence remains an amazing story. Perhaps that is why he will be enshrined Nov. 15 into the San Diego Hall of Champions as a “High School Coaching Legend” at an induction banquet Wednesday, Nov. 15. The Hall of Champions Sports Museum in Balboa Park will also feature a permanent exhibit.
“I was surprised it happened that quickly because I just retired from coaching,” said Boyer, 63, who still hits the gym daily. “I felt humbled. Growing up in San Diego, I used to take visitors to the Hall of Champions all the time. Now I’ll be in it.”
A former long jumper and javelin thrower at Point Loma High School, Boyer joined La Jolla in 1971 to build its track and cross country programs that had been in the doldrums years prior. By 1974, he’d helped the girls track team to second place in the state meet and was named CIF Track Coach of the Year.
But his biggest success came coaching boys track and cross country. In track, he led the Vikings to 21 league titles and a 44 consecutive dual-meet win streak from 1985 to 1992. Fittingly, Boyer went out on top in 2005 as the boys track team won the CIF championship, after finishing as runner-up in 1986, 1998 and 2004. His cross-country teams won six CIF titles and finished in the state’s top 10 a total of 10 times, including a second-place finish in 1989.
Yet for all his success, Boyer’s legacy is not just wins over losses but on the impact he has had on the student-athletes themselves, who are all over the place making their own impacts today.
“A lot of times he won with a lot less talent than his competitors,” said Dave Ponsford, La Jolla High athletic director and head football coach, who worked with Boyer for two decades. “Track is disorganized and difficult to coach but he was so focused. He always had a good sense of humor.”
During his career, Boyer had at least one athlete advance to the state final in each of the 14 individual track events. Countless others have competed in Division I collegiate programs.
“What stands out to me is how lucky and privileged I was to be a small part in the lives of so many exceptional kids,” Boyer said. “That’s what kept me going. And I was also fortunate to teach and coach at La Jolla High, where the administration and the parents were very supportive.”
Today, while Boyer may finally have stopped coaching, the relationships he built with his student-athletes show no signs of slowing down. And that could result in some well-deserved travel soon to here, there and everywhere to relive some of the magic of the coach-athlete bond.
The Nov. 15 coaching legends banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15, at the Scottish Rite Center, 1895 Camino del Rio South. For tickets and information, call (619) 234-2544.