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Legendary coach Danny Farmer to be honored with ultimate Semoball Award
Former Charleston boy's basketball coach Danny Farmer instructs his team during a game earlier in his career.
Standard-Democrat file
There a numerous ways in which you can measure the greatness of former basketball coach Danny Farmer numerically.
You can tally up the nearly 500 times he walked towards the opposing bench following a game as the victor.
There are the almost laughable combined 18 times his girl’s (Scott County Central) and boy’s (Charleston) squads played for a state championship, including the seven times his teams were better than any other in the state.
But the true measure of greatness will always be found in the profound impact that he made on thousands of young lives through the decades that he served as an educator and mentor both on the court, as well as off it.
“… he cares about the kids,” Bluejay assistant coach Aaron Harland told Semoball.com recently. “I know a lot of coaches care about the kids, but he’ll do anything for them.”
That passion for molding people – and doing so at a level that few ever dream of achieving – is why Farmer is the recipient of the 2020 Semoball Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.
He will be recognized Saturday at 7 p.m. during the virtual ceremony on Semoball’s Facebook Live page.
There can be no better compliment to a coach or teacher than a parent feeling blessed that their child was impacted by their lessons, which is precisely how Charleston native Jason Bledsoe feels after watching his son, Sam, play for Farmer over the past four years.
“I will always be appreciative of how coach Farmer handled Sam as a very young freshman playing varsity,” the elder Bledsoe said.
Farmer guided the maturation process of Sam through four incredibly successful seasons of athletics, but also as Sam developed into one of the most well-rounded individuals at his school (he is a nominee for the Male Scholar-Athlete Award).
“(Farmer) helped build Sam’s confidence,” Bledsoe continued, “and lay the foundation for him to develop into an All-State player.”
The legacy of Farmer will be spoken of for decades throughout Southeast Missouri and it is the honor and privilege of Semoball.com to recognize “Coach” for his service to the youth of this region throughout his professional career.