Whether Coaching Or Teaching Mr. Chambers Continues To Influence The Irish On and Off The Field

Coach Will Chambers

SEATTLE - “I like the community aspect of it; it’s close-knit. I feel like kids and teachers can interact in a way here that they can’t at other schools,” says Will Chambers when

asked about teaching at O’Dea.

In his early years Chambers attended Gonzaga University where he would Major in philosophy, he also studied engineering, biology, English and math. Chambers would go on to graduate in the class of 2005.

Chambers has taught and coached many great athletes during his time here at O’Dea. As a teacher Chambers teaches regular and honors English for sophomores, as well as Sports Journalism for juniors and seniors.

As a coach, he coached JV Tennis for a number of years and since 2020 he has coached freshman baseball.

Teaching

When he first got into teaching, he originally taught math. But he after a few years he switched from math to English.

“While I loved math as a subject, I just didn't like teaching it as much because I didn't get to know the kids as well… But through their writing kids could express themselves and I learned more about them, and they learned about me,” says Chambers.

Before coming to O’Dea, Chambers taught at 3 different schools. He taught in at Our Lady fo Lourdes in Salt Lake City, Utah, at A. C. Davis High School in Yakima, Washington, and at St. Louise School in Bellevue, Washington.

Chambers began teaching at O’Dea during the 2015-16 school year and didn’t start coaching until the year after. When searching for a new school to work at Chambers had the option of teaching at Blanchet or O’Dea.

He knew O’Dea would be the place for him.

“I like the community aspect of it; It’s a close-knit community. I feel like the kids and teachers can interact in ways that you can’t at other schools... I thought the all-boys aspect of it would be a little weird, but it turned out to be good, in its own way."

Coaching

When it comes to coaching for O’Dea, Chambers is all in. Coach Monte Kohler asked Chambers to coach and he’s been doing it ever since. During his time at O'Dea so far, he has coached Baseball and Tennis.

While coaching Tennis was more laid back, he mentions that transitioning to coaching Baseball was smoother and it felt more natural. Chambers played Baseball when he was younger which made the transition of switching sports easier.

When sharing what he enjoys about coaching at O’Dea he mentions the relationships and the O'Dea tenet "Winning with Honor."

“I love the competitiveness and I like getting to know the athletes that I get to teach.”

The Best of Both Worlds

The best part of coaching and teaching is that Chambers has a perspective on both sides.

“I love getting to know the athletes, especially the ones that I’ve taught in school or am gonna teach in school. I definitely get to see a different side of them out on the tennis court and on the field,” Chambers said.

He mentions that coaching has helped him in the classroom because he can build a connection with kids outside of the classroom. He’s realized that kids are more likely to pay attention to their coaches sometimes rather than their teachers. Kids also show a different side of themselves when they’re outside of school and playing sports.

At O’Dea, many teachers coach and teach as Chambers has and he attributes that to the reason why the O’Dea community is so tight.

“Most adults in this school know each student not just as a student, but as an athlete as well. And I think that goes a long way.”

“Teaching makes me a better coach and coaching has made me a better teacher.”