Ruth Coard
“Coach Cukye” remembered as selfless motivator
Passion, love and the willingness to do anything to help the students at Scott’s Branch Middle-High School succeed, those were just some of the characteristics used to describe Head Girls Varsity Basketball Coach Ruth Coard, who was killed last night in a one-vehicle accident on U.S. 378 in Sumter County.
Coard, 41, was traveling from a junior varsity game with her eight-year-old son, Tyriq, to Morris College to see her oldest son, Adrian, play basketball. Her Chevrolet pickup struck a horse in the roadway then travelled off the road striking a tree.
Coard affectionately know as “Coach Cukye” to the students and staff at SBMHS worked in the district for 10 years as Director of Transportation and head girls basketball and volleyball coach.
She was an inspiration to her players, students, coaches and staff, always smiling and ready to lend a helping hand.
“She loved all the students here like her own sons and daughter,” said Robert Felder, a senior on the varsity basketball team.
Felder said that he was not a basketball player, but he tried out after a conversation with Coard.
“She’s the main reason I started playing basketball. The last thing she told me when I saw her last night, was ‘finish the season strong.’”
DeAsia Brown, senior and co-captain of the Varsity Girls Basketball with Jasmine Murray, played under “Coach Cukye” for four years. Brown said Coard was hard working, dedicated and determined that her girls play their best every night.
“She always told us ‘never suspect the unexpected, just play the ball,’” Brown said.
She said that Coard told her players that there was a time to play and a time to get serious.
She said that Coard, who had to balance being a transportation director and coach, always told her co-captain “Brown you’re a senior, when I’m not here I want you to step up and be a leader.”
Brown said that now that Coard has passed, that phrase has taken on a new meaning, and something that will stick in her mind.
Stephen “Jo Jo” English, assistant varsity girls’ basketball coach, said that Coard was one of the first people who made her feel at home, when he joined the school at the start of the school-year.
“We stood right here in the lounge room, and talked basketball for almost two hours,” he said, holding back tears. “She was more than a co-worker, she was a best friend. She cared so much about the kids. I can’t really put into words the type of person she was.”
Scott’s Branch Middle-High School Principal Dr. Gwendolyn Harris said that Coard was a dedicated employee who went above and beyond. She travelled to all of the school’s sports games and would send out district-wide emails and text messages to all of the employees.
“She was director of transportation, but if we didn’t have enough bus drivers, she would hop on the bus and drive it herself,” Harris.
Clarendon School District 1 Superintendent Dr. Rose Wilder said that she was blessed to have Coard as an employee in the district.
“She did everything and more with a smile on her face,” she said.
SBHS Athletic Director, Coach Leonard Johnson, said that Coard was on the cusp of getting the girls’ basketball program at the school to be successful.
“A lot of people don’t understand that to get to the bowl you need to go through the mud,” he said. “This year it was starting to come together for the team. She understood how to be a person of steel and velvet with her players.”
Coard was well-known throughout the region as a coach.
“I am so sad,” said John Franklin Thames, head coach of the Manning High School varsity girls basketball team. “I’ve lost a very good friend.”
Win, lose or draw, Thames said Coard always welcomed him with open arms.
“She is going to be missed greatly,” Thames added. “She has a big family in the school. This will be very hard for her girls.”
Playing against Coard for a number of years, Thames said he found her a pleasure to be around.
“I always looked forward to seeing her and playing against her teams,” Thames said. “She was a wonderful person, coach and friend.”
“The good Lord needed another angel,” said Kay Young, assistant varsity girls basketball coach at MHS. “The Lord had better things for her to do.”
Young who also coordinated the Field of Faith program at Manning High School said Coard was her liaison for the program at Scott’s Branch Middle-High School.
“She brought her players to the program,” Young said as her voice broke with emotion. “She helped me find the speakers. Cukye was very devout … a good Christian woman. There is no doubt in my mind where she is today. She’s in heaven putting a team together.”
Coard was a graduate of Scott’s Branch High School, a retired Army vet, and had attended Morris College in Sumter. She is survived by two sons Adrian and Tyriq, and a daughter, Jessica.
All Scott’s Branch Middle-High School basketball games have been cancelled for Friday, Jan. 27. The varsity girls basketball team will travel to Lamar next on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
