The winner of the Chronicle’s inaugural John Beam Community Action Award is Chris Kyriacou, a physical education teacher at Bishop O’Dowd High School and the coach of the Oakland Wildcats, a youth travel baseball team.
Kyriacou, 61, has had an indelible impact on the Oakland community through four decades as a coach, educator and leader – just like Beam, the legendary former Skyline High and Laney College coach and athletic director who died last November. Kyriacou described Beam as a big brother, a mentor, a friend and a colleague all wrapped in one.
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Beam and Kyriacou grew up together in the Oakland high school sports scene, and although they spent only seven years on the same staff at Skyline High, the pair worked hand-in-hand to shape countless lives over almost 40 years. Kyriacou has taught and coached at Skyline, San Lorenzo and Bishop O’Dowd, where he has spent the past two-plus decades.
“Coach was so many things to me and many people in Oakland. Not just players – other students, other adults,” Kyriacou said. “Coach was just invaluable.”
Beam called Kyriacou “one of my best friends” when they attended the Athletics’ final home game together in 2024. Kyriacou gave a touching tribute to Beam at his celebration of life in January. To understand the full relationship between these two fiery personalities, however, it’s best to start at the beginning, when things started off on not so great terms.
Oakland teacher and coach Chris Kyriacou speaks during a celebration of life for John Beam on Jan. 10 at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
“Sadly,” Kyriacou said, “our first encounter with each other was yelling at each other.”
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Kyriacou was a senior at Oakland High. Beam was a 23-year-old first-year defensive coordinator at Skyline. Their football teams were facing off in a heated rivalry game. After Kyriacou made a tackle on an Oakland High player near the sideline, he began “talking some crap.”
“(Beam’s) going, ‘Hey, man, get out of here! You ain’t doing nothing!'”
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John Beam Community Action Award: Chris Kyriacou, Oakland coach and educator
Kyriacou, a self-described wacko on the athletic field, and Beam, possessing a similar enthusiasm, began exchanging words. Kyriacou thought to himself: “Who is this guy?”
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About three years later, a 21-year-old Kyriacou became a “traitor” and took a job at rival Skyline as its varsity baseball coach. At the time, Beam was the school’s varsity head football coach after he had worked his way up from junior varsity head coach to varsity assistant coach.
But in his first year, Beam’s squad struggled to a 5-4-1 record – well below Skyline’s standards. He needed help. So he walked on over to the baseball field.
“I guess I had a decent rep,” Kyriacou said, “so he came over and said, ‘Look, I know we don’t know each other well, but we have shared players. Will you consider coaching? ‘ And my answer was, ‘Thank you, no.’
“Well, he came back the next day (and said), ‘You know, it might be a good thing. Consider it, even part time.’ Then I delayed a little bit. I still said no. Three days later, here he comes. I go: ‘Well, I’ll come to one spring practice.'”
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It took Beam practically begging Kyriacou for help – and getting rejected twice – but from there, the two worked together on Skyline’s coaching staff for seven years.
“Who knew a lovefest would grow from that?” Kyriacou said.
Oakland Wildcats head coach Chris Kyriacou addresses his travel baseball team during practice Thursday at Raimondi Park. (Don Feria/For the S.F. Chronicle)
Beam attended Kyriacou’s wedding about a year and a half later. He co-signed his car when he was 24. He was Kyriacou’s master teacher during his first year at Skyline, when he taught world cultures and U.S. history and was not “a day ahead of the kids.” Whenever Kyriacou found himself struggling with the intricacies of his new job, Beam would tell him one thing: “You have the art. Don’t worry about the science.”
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Kyriacou said he learned many things from Beam, but among the most important was how he had a positive impact on every player in the community, even the ones who didn’t play for his team.
Perhaps the most high-profile example: former NFL running back and 2004 Oakland Tech graduate Marshawn Lynch. After facing off, the two became longtime friends. Lynch even narrated a five-minute Beam tribute ahead of the Super Bowl LX broadcast in February, calling him the “ever-present godfather of Oakland.”
“Coach took pride in Marshawn being from Oakland,” Kyriacou said, “so he wanted to help him and countless other opponents. It was only on the field where there was a rivalry. When it’s off the field, it’s all about elevating Oakland, California, and the community.
“If someone reaches out for help, I really should never be too busy to try to connect somebody. That’s what he was big at. … We’re very equivalent. I think he took it just to such a high level, so it helped motivate me even more.”
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This article originally published at Chris Kyriacou wins Chronicle’s inaugural John Beam Community Action Award.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
