“Come One, Come All – the Alumni Game for Baseball” is the rallying cry for the first annual game pitting former baseball players at Lake Highlands High School against the varsity team April 25 at the high school baseball field.
Parent sponsors Keith and Kitty Carter hope the alumni game will spark greater neighborhood interest in varsity baseball, which they say hasn’t received as much attention as other sports in recent years.
“Our coach, Jay Higgins, has been at Lake Highlands for 31 years now,” Kitty Carter says. “He keeps in touch with his old players, including pro player Scott Livingston. We expect a good turnout for the alumni game.”
Another former player, ’76 grad Barry Smith, not only keeps in touch with Higgins, he coaches his varsity players’ summer season.
“From a child’s perspective to an adult’s. I don’t see much of a change in Coach Higgins. The things he values now and the way he lives his life are the same now as when I was a kid,” Smith says.
“He cares about his players and expects the best of them. He cares about teaching right and wrong as well as developing their talents and abilities.”
In today’s world, it’s pretty unusual to find a man who’s been in the same job for 31 years. But Higgins is an unusual man.
A native of New Mexico, Higgins went through pre-law and business majors at the University of New Mexico before reaching a sort of epiphany. Going back to his high school coach for advice, he said: “You know, everybody wants me to be a lawyer or this and that, but something keeps drawing me to teaching.”
His coach advised him to follow his heart, so Higgins changed his major to PE and health.
Marrying his college sweetheart, Julie, a former cheerleader, he accepted a job at Lake Highlands beginning in the fall of 1967. “This is the only job I’ve ever had,” he says, and the tone of his voice makes it clear that he likes it that way.
Even after 31 years, he still considers himself more of a teacher than a coach.
“I stress the fundamentals and work on technique. I’m very strict about doing things in a way that is fundamentally sound.”
Higgins lives in Lake Highlands and has put two daughters through the high school. Daughter Jayme is 20 and a sophomore at Texas A&M. Joy is a senior at Lake Highlands. The girls have played baseball and been varsity cheerleaders, following in both parents’ footsteps. Joy is also a member of the Espree performing ensemble.
Baseball team captains Keith Carter and Travis McElroy admire and respect their coach. Says McElroy: “He really knows a lot about the game and relates well with the players. We do what he says because he’s wise – he’s been coaching longer than I’ve been alive.”
Adds Keith: “He cares about you as a person and not just as a player. He’s always telling jokes. He works us hard, but he knows how to lighten things up.”
Both players also mention Higgins’ truck “Brownie,” which he drives to the baseball field at 6 a.m. to perform maintenance. “He doesn’t let the school district maintain the field. He wants to do it himself, and it is perfectly groomed,” Kitty Carter says.
Higgins says Brownie is only 14 years old, but he admits that his wife and daughters refuse to ride in it.
“It’s not that big a deal,” he says sheepishly, despite the fact that his players tease him about his transportation of choice.
After 31 years, everyone is asking Jay Higgins when he plans to retire. “Well, you know, this year RISD is offering a buyout (retirement plan), but I’m enjoying what I do.
“I enjoy the teaching part and the interaction with the kids, and I still find coaching very rewarding. I plan to give it another few years.”
