By Aimee Brandon Posted June 8, 2017
Ron Espinola. To some, he is “Mr. Espinola”, but to many, he is “Espy”. Thankfully, this is not a full-on goodbye to the well-loved teacher and mentor Espy, as he will still be teaching at Lowry. But it is goodbye to him as a coach.
A little backstory on Espinola: he is from the beautiful La Grande, Oregon. In 1997, he moved to Winnemucca and began teaching business and computers. That is what he continues to do at Lowry. In 2003, he became Lowry’s varsity baseball coach. Also, in 1999, he began coaching the Winnemucca Blue Sox, which became the Greater Nevada Badgers. In 2013, he became the JV soccer coach.
In his many years as a coach, Espinola had a huge impact on many athletes.
When asked about Espinola, Jacob Barnes, a baseball player, replied with a quote by Jackie Robinson, “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
“Being coached by Espy has had a huge impact on my life,” said baseball player Jayson Smith. “Not only has he made me a better player, but he really taught me how the game is played. He has also helped me with many decisions I’ve made, not directly but in certain aspects.”
Besides the skills of sports, Espinola also taught his athletes skills of life.
“He’s played a big part because he was my coach for about five years, and he taught me to not just work hard on the field but also in the classroom,” said Ariel Gonzalez, a Lowry soccer player. “He also taught me that the effort put into something is worth more than the win or the outcome, and that has helped me stay positive on things that I don’t do so well, as long as I know I put in all the effort that I possibly could.”
Espinola will be greatly missed as a coach.
“Having watched Espy coach for as long as I can remember, I’ve never seen anyone have such a passion for something as Espy does for coaching both baseball and soccer,” said Nico Espinola, a soccer and baseball player. “Up until his last day coaching, and maybe even after that, he was always looking for ways to improve himself as a coach. Over the years, he’s done a great job coaching baseball and soccer and helping players become better players and better people.”
