Women's golf coach has impact on community

Ken Barrett has been a coach for nearly 40 years, the vast majority of that time spent at La Crosse Central High School. 

In 2007, however, he decided to take on a new challenge, and accepted the women's golf head coaching position at Viterbo. The program was brand new, and Barrett found that the vast majority of incoming recruits had already been snapped up by other college programs in the fall golf season. After essentially putting together a team from scratch that first year, Barrett set a goal for putting together a solid team within four years.

Today, Barrett asserts that "the program is ahead of schedule." The team notched top-five finishes in multiple tournaments this fall, and won their home invite. While he says that he's "still in the process of learning the recruiting process," it's apparent that he's put together a solid group of student-athletes here at Viterbo.

Of course, success is nothing new to Barrett. He was part of two state-qualifying basketball teams as a coach at La Crosse Central, as an assistant in 1979 and as a head coach in 1986. He also led the 1998 girls' golf team at Central to a state title. 

Barrett was even part of a conference championship here at Viterbo. In addition to his duties as a golf coach, he is an assistant on the men's basketball team, which won a share of the conference title this winter. When asked if coaching two collegiate sports was a chore for him, Barrett replied "It's not hard for me. The athletic director [Barry Fried], the other coaches, and my players are very supportive." 

While his experience at Viterbo has been "great," Barrett faced an enormous challenge early on in his time here. He was hired in February of 2007, and was still in the process of putting a program together when he found himself getting dizzy while playing golf in May. He made a trip to the doctor—who, ironically, was one of his students during his time as a high school math teacher—and got on the treadmill for some tests on his heart. Just 15 hours later, he found himself on the operating table for open heart surgery, needing five bypasses in his to repair clogged arteries.

Barrett says that he does tend to look at some things a bit differently after the scare, adding "everyone's here to do something, and since I got a second chance I figure that I might as well take advantage of it, which is what I'm doing today." 

In addition to coaching, Barrett is involved in numerous endeavors relating to high school and collegiate athletics. He is a member of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Hall of Fame, and is now the associate director of the organization. He's also in charge of the Academic All-State teams for Wisconsin high school athletics, as well as a mentorship program for young basketball coaches across the state. As a college representative for the Wisconsin High School Golf Association, he is able to work with high school golf coaches across the state, which often helps him in finding recruits.  In the summer, he even helps run tours of major league baseball stadiums across the country.