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Rick Robinson of Spotsylvania County does not know the meaning of the word "quit." It was scared out of his system some 35 years ago.
The 48-year-old contract and sales representative for Stock Building Supply (formerly Wilson Brothers) often wonders what his life would have been like if his football coach did not take a special interest in his life.
"I'm thinking to myself, 'Here's this 76-pound weakling, here's the varsity football coach coming to his door. So it must mean something to him,'" Robinson reasoned.
At the time, Robinson was an eighth-grader and a member of the Spotsylvania junior varsity wrestling team. Small and inexperienced, Robinson was getting pinned match after match, so he decided to quit.
In stepped Hal Sparks, who served both as the Knights' varsity football coach and JV wrestling coach.
"When my parents opened the door, I saw him standing there like a giant," said Robinson, who still stands five-foot-six, but is well-built. "Outside, he really put it to me about quitting. He told me, 'If you quit now, every time you get in a tough spot in life, you'll quit.' It's something that has stuck with me my whole life."
Robinson never thought about quitting again, either in school or in the business world.
His junior year (1969-70), Robinson was a co-captain of the Knights wrestling team that captured the school's first-ever Battlefield District title. Later that same school year, he played second base for the varsity baseball team that also won a district crown.
Sparks' words of advice also served as a springboard for the 112-pounder his senior year.
Robinson swept through the regular season undefeated before being upset in the district finals by Barry Kilmer of Culpeper.
"I made one of those stupid moves and he pinned me," Robinson said. "When I walked off the mat you can imagine how badly I wanted to face him again."
Robinson got that chance, defeating Kilmer in the finals of both the regional and state tournaments.
"I've often wondered if I would have won at state if I hadn't lost that match in the district tournament," he said.
Robinson was active in sports at a young age and despite his lack of size, received encouragement from his parents, Henry and Loula Robinson.
Robinson's wrestling career saw steady improvement as he got older and wiser. As a freshman, he split time between the varsity and JV teams while wrestling at 98 pounds. His sophomore year was a breakout year as he finished third in the state at 103. His final two seasons were at 112.
"Rick was very muscular and didn't seem to have any problem making weight," said Gerald Swaim, the former wrestling coach at both Spotsylvania and Courtland. "He basically was a fundamentally sound wrestler who wished to show he was stronger than his opponent."
Robinson did not attend summer camps or amateur tournaments, but he still managed to pick up moves and strategies by watching other successful wrestlers, those at Spotsylvania and from other schools.
Robinson felt he learned a lot practicing and observing the moves of Ray Clark, who was the first Spotsylvania wrestler to win a state title.
"Ray was a smart wrestler with an extremely good work ethic," Robinson said. "Ray didn't get himself into a lot of predicaments that he couldn't get out of and that's pretty much what I tried to do."
While enjoying both wrestling and baseball, Robinson's first love was football.
Robinson played three seasons for Sparks and another for Ken Brown. He served as a blocker on kickoffs and kickoff returns, played some defensive back and served as backup quarterback to former Knights standout Willie McGee.
"Willie was a natural athlete. Whatever he did, he did well," Robinson said. "He was able to read defenses, which was pretty remarkable for a high school player."
The coaching styles and philosophies of Sparks and Brown were quite different, according to Robinson.
"Coach Sparks championed the hard-nose, Woody Hayes type of football, but you respected him. He played with a lot of emotion," said Robinson, who lives with his wife Amy in the Fox Point subdivision near Courtland High School. "Coach Brown was more your Joe Gibbs-type of coach. He knew the talent of all his players and what positions to play them."
Robinson maintained his ties to Brown after graduating from high school, shooting game film for the football teams for a number of years--first at Spotsylvania and then at Courtland.
Robinson holds his wrestling coach in the highest esteem.
"Coach Swaim was a very unique coach. He wasn't one to scream and yell, but all he had to do was look at you and you'd know he thought you weren't giving 100 per cent."
Robinson is an avid golfer who enjoys going to the mountains or the beach with his wife and daughter Kristi, a student at Virginia Commonwealth.
DO YOU KNOW the whereabouts of a former star area athlete--or do you want us to find one? Contact Kurt Nicoll at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401, by fax at 373-8455, by phone at 374-5441 or by e-mail at knicoll@freelancestar.com.