The Watchdog Hall of Fame inductee contributed much to BHS as coach and teacher
Riva Sharples | Editor
Last Friday, Beresford High School’s football field officially got a re-branding. The new Jim Heeren Field at Cortland Carnes Stadium honors the longtime BHS teacher, coach, and athletic director.
Heeren was on hand last Friday night, alongside family and friends, for a naming ceremony before the opening of the home football game. Explains Beresford Superintendent Dustin Degen, the re-branding to honor Heeren only made sense.
“Over the last few years, we have been honoring individuals who have left a legacy in our District,” he explained. “Jim Heeren Field at Cortland Carnes Stadium was our next step. Last year, we named the basketball court, Jim Sorensen Court. These projects have taken place as we worked through facility updates (refinishing the court last year and replacing the old, antiquated football scoreboard on the field this year).”
Heeren was a science and physical education teacher in Beresford for 32 years. He was also head football coach, head wrestling coach, and Athletic Director during his career, which spanned from 1967 to 1999.
“He spent 32 years coaching Watchdog football, 31 years as the head coach, where his teams compiled a career record of 177-114-2,” said Degen. “The Watchdogs qualified for state playoffs 17 times in 20 years of playoff events. His team won eight conference championships. In 1979 and 1980, his teams were State Champs based on sportswriters’ and coaches’ polls when there were only two classes of 11-man football, and in 1987, the Watchdogs won the State Football 11-B Championship, beating Flandreau 7-6.”
Heeren was entered into the South Dakota High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2001. He entered the South Dakota Football Coaches’ Association Hall of Fame in 2002. He was a member of the inaugural class of the Watchdog Hall of Fame in 2016.
Friday night, as the teams stepped onto the field for the coin toss led by Heeren and Doug Allerdings from First Dakota National Bank (which has been instrumental as a primary sponsor for BHS improvements), the following announcement rang out: “Ladies and Gentlemen -Welcome to Jim Heeren Field at Cortland Carnes Stadium! To honor Coach Heeren’s accomplishments and impact, we have named this field in his honor. To remind us to keep “bleeding purple,” we have placed his name on top of the scoreboard.”
It is an honor that is well deserved, explains BHS principal Tommy Merriman, who remembers Heeren as his elementary physical education teacher.
“He was one of the best teachers I had in elementary school and I have many fond memories of him smiling and having fun with us,” said Merriman. “He was an amazing coach and built a solid foundation with his players and families. … He was probably a bit different as a coach, but in the best way that made his athletes trust and respect him. Naming and dedicating the field to him is, in my opinion, long overdue. His legacy continues through the work of great coaches like Coach Ebert. It is well deserving.”