GSMS coaches David Jones, Shawn Weaver honored

GSMS coaches David Jones, Shawn Weaver honored
Inducted into Baldwin Middle School Coaches Hall of Fame

By Fran Thompson
Coaches David Jones and Shawn Weaver were both respected by students and parents during highly successful tenures coaching their respective sports at Gulf Shores Middle School.
Both were recently given that same nod of respect from fellow coaches, as members of the Baldwin County Middle School Coaches’ 2017 Hall of Fame class.
Jones retired from teaching in 2014 to pursue his love of music full-time. But his football teams at GSMS went 32-13 and won four county championships during his six years coaching there. His total record in 10 years as a middle school head coach – he also won a title during stints in Chilton and Jefferson Counties – was 54-19.
Part of Gulf Shores High’s first ever coaching staff, Jones also coached what was always a competitive hoop team at GSMS.
“It was a great night,’’ Jones said about the honor. “And it was a neat thing to be there to share it with some of my coaching friends.’’
Jones spent the last 10 of his 30 year teaching career in Gulf Shores. He retired from coaching to spend time following his son DJ’s baseball career.
D.J. was drafted by Tampa Bay and played three years in the pros. Jones said the oldest of his son’s three children is now playing with other eight year olds on the same fields where D.J. honed his skills.
One would assume Jones still has the ear of at least one of his past assistants, David Peebles, who is building a strong program at Cottage Hill Christian Academy in Mobile. Peebles is married to Jones’ daughter Erin.
“We had some good players, but we were also one of the first middle schools to establish summer workouts,’’ he said. “The reason we were so successful is that Preston Pooser (retired Orange Beach Parks Director) and I had the kids up at the fieldhouse two days a week running, lifting weights and doing agility drills. We didn’t have the best players, but we really worked the kids hard. That was the main reason we were so successful.
“We expected a lot out of them. We set high standards,’’ Jones added. “We expected discipline and the kids responded to that.’’
Jones said he enjoys keeping up with his former players. “Even kids I coached in Birmingham get together with me when they come down here on vacation,’’ he said.
“When former players tell me that they appreciate what we was trying to do for them, and how the things we tried to teach them helped them get to where they needed to be as men. That’s really what it’s all about.’’
Coach Weaver, still very active as leader of a thriving local club volleyball program and USA Volleyball, never had a losing season during his 14 years as the GSMS volleyball coach. He led the Dolphins to three county championships.
Also the varsity coach at GSHS for four years, the Mobile native found his passion for the game almost by accident.
“They needed a teacher sponsor for the volleyball team and asked me. As a first year teacher, you don’t say no to anything,’’ Weaver said. “We had a volunteer parent coach, Billy Eubanks. I wanted to know more, and he got me involved with running drills. We went undefeated that first year. Immediately after that I was hooked and started going to every clinic I could. I took over the program the following year.’’
In his early years, Weaver’s duties at GSMS included raising funds for uniforms, nets and volleyballs.
“Volleyball had kind of been pushed away when I came in,’’ he said. “Nobody had really been paying much attention to it since coach (Phillip) Bryant left. We were getting it back off the ground.’’
A University of West Alabama grad with a masters in counseling, Weaver has spent his entire 18 year teaching career in Gulf Shores.
Like Jones, he said being around kids and seeing them improve were his favorite aspects of coaching.
“My philosophy, especially in middle school, was about making it fun for the kids,’’ he said. “If you make it fun for them, you end up making them better.’’
Weaver also still keeps in touch with his players. “Several came to my camp and helped me this week, and several others just talked to me about getting in the gym and playing an alumni game,’’ he said.
Weaver’s career has now come full circle, as new GSMS coach Victoria Roberson, is also one of his former GSMS players.

Pictured: Coach Jones & Coach Weaver; (l to r) Phillip Fountain, Preston Pooser, Jeff Ostrowski, David Jones of the GSMS football staff