Catching up with former Norman High football coach Butch Peters

This story isn’t posted on the high school blog, so in case you missed it in print, here’s my report on catching up with former Norman High football coach Butch Peters:

NORMAN  —  Butch Peters resigned as Norman High School football coach following the 2007 season. It was the end of a 35-year tenure with the Tigers.

And yet, though nobody could have been more entrenched with the city’s athletic community given the length of time he spent coaching at Norman, since he’s been gone he may be even more up to speed on the local talent. In fact, he’s getting a good idea about the town’s top athletes a lot earlier than most.

“The way it’s worked out, I didn’t really get out of the loop, I just took a different direction,” Peters said.

Peters owns and operates Sooner Trophies and Awards in Norman. And because he’s the contact for team hardware, coaches from pee-wee soccer to both the high schools are in his shop on a regular basis.

“I’m working with a lot of little league coaches in pretty much all (youth league) sports and I get to see coaches from all four middles schools in town and both high schools. And I really enjoy talking to them.”

Parents, too. Peters’ trophy shop, which he runs with his wife and oldest daughter, gets the scoop on the young up-and-comers from all the moms and dads who come in to get more personalized awards for their kids’ teams.

“We make the trophies in the shop. You use component parts and we’re a custom shop that allows people to come in and choose what they want,” said the 61-year old Peters. “You start to recognize a lot of the names of the kids.

“And I’ve even had players I’ve coached come in because they’re coaching teams now, and that’s been pretty neat.”