It takes a lot to get a stadium named after you, especially when you coached at multiple schools in your career.Then again, Karl Kiefer has done a lot, far beyond the 308 games he won in 45 years of blowing his whistle.Starting Friday, Phoenix Mountain Pointe will play its home games at Karl Kiefer Stadium, a coronation to honor Arizona’s all-time winningest coach.Kiefer suffered a stroke a few years ago, and with his wife’s urging, gave up running the big-time football team. These days he’s a JV assistant with the Pride, and based on a recent conversation, couldn’t be happier.These days, Phil Abbadessa runs the show at Mountain Pointe for a second season after 25 years as Kiefer’s assistant at three different schools. Dollars to doughnuts says 70 percent of the current East Valley football coaches have some kind of Karl Kiefer connection.
Leave a Reply |
