Vaught's Views: Mr. KSD Paul Smiley will be hard to replace

By LARRY VAUGHT
larry@amnews.com

If there is one thing Paul Smiley learned during his 28 years as athletics director at Kentucky School for the Deaf it was that deaf athletes could do anything hearing athletes could.



"The challenge here is not deafness. Deaf athletes can do anything other athletes can do. We had tremendous athletes," said Smiley. "The challenge is being a small school. We only have 38 to 45 students in our high school. My first 10 years, there were a lot of small schools to play. The biggest challenge now is trying to find fair competition to play."



Actually, KSD now faces another big challenge because today Smiley announced his resignation, ending a 35-year educational career that included five years at Gallaudet College and two years in the Washington, D.C., public schools.



No one is impossible to replace, but Smiley certainly will be difficult to replace because he's been Mr. KSD.



He's done almost everything athletically at KSD, including coaching middle school and high school cheerleaders for brief periods. While he was best known for his years as the school's football coach before he became athletics director, he also helped coach girls basketball in 1982, boys basketball in 1993, track in 1997 and soccer in 2003 thanks to help from paraprofessionals Pauline Wall, Tim Decker and Alan Turbyfield, Marvin Swann and John Davis, respectively. He also came back in 1986 with Tim Dexter and 2002 with Shane Paycheck to coach the football team.



"It was always a great coaching experience when a citizen from the Danville community volunteered to coach at KSD," Smiley, who won six coach of the year awards, said.



But Smiley was more than just a coach and/or athletics director. He was a visionary and tireless worker.



Just consider:



* He was president of the Pioneer Football Conference for five years.



* He was president of the Bluegrass Conference for 25 years.



* He wrote the constitution and was the first president of the Mason-Dixon Football Conference for the Deaf and Mason-Dixon Track & Field Conference for the Deaf.



* He hosted the 45th District junior varsity basketball tourney for 18 years, the Kentucky Basketball Classic for 19 years and the Billy Lange Friendship Classic for 12 years.



* He has arranged for the first Small School Basketball Championship next season when KSD will host boys and girls teams from Piarist, Covington Latin and Riverside Christian. He says he's dreamed for years of having a tournament like this matching the state's smallest schools.



* He's also led a coaches education certification program since 1995 that head coaches and assistant coaches from across the state attend.



All that is not bad for a guy who had no intentions of leaving Washington, D.C., when he came here 28 years ago to lead a workshop and speak at KSD's athletics banquet after a successful year as head football coach at Gallaudet College.



Fell in love with Danville



"I just fell in love with the town and school," Smiley said.



That feeling never left. He loves this community and KSD even more now. He's been active in the Danville school system that his three sons have attended. He's served on the school board, Literacy Council, Wilderness Trace YMCA board of directors and Red Cross. He's been a Sunday School teacher and swim team president.



He's become friends with almost every area coach and athletics director. And his heart has continued to tell him to do everything possible to teach KSD student-athletes the right value system.



That's why leaving is so emotional.



"I will miss the KSD students and all the joy and happiness that goes with seeing students develop into fine young adults," Smiley said. "Currently this profession (athletics director) has few who stay the long term like Alvis Johnson (of Harrodsburg), Sam Harp (of Danville) and a few others have.



"I have truly appreciated the wonderful working relationship with all the local schools and their athletic directors - Sam Harp, Jim Spears (Boyle County) and Brian Chafin (Centre College)."



Now Smiley is looking forward to more time to volunteer at Our Savior Lutheran Church and the Danville schools. He definitely will watch his son, Eric, participate on soccer, swimming and track teams at Danville during his senior year in 2007-2008 because he missed many of his older son's activities due to his job responsibilities.



"I also am going to eat less, exercise more and find part-time work," Smiley said. "Perhaps I might even train for the Boston Marathon."



KSD won't fade away



Smiley was kidding about trying the 26.2-mile run. However, based on all he's accomplished at KSD, he probably could do it if he tried.



Don't think his passion for KSD will fade away, either.



He's confident the school's present leadership will allow the school to continue to "thrive and sponsor" and he leaves with no regrets.



"The KSD experience has been wonderful," he said.



True, but the job Smiley has done for 28 years has been at least equally wonderful and anyone who knows him is going to miss Mr. KSD enormously.Copyright:The Advocate-Messenger 2007