Player Management International CEO Honors High School Basketball Coach with $25,000 Donation to the YMCA

Danville, IL (March 17, 2007) – Coach Gene Gourley, has had a significant impact on many lives in his 22-year career as an educator and head boy’s basketball coach at Danville High School.  Now he will have a significant impact on the Danville Family YMCA as one of his former players, Doug Barnette, makes a $25,000 donation to honor his former coach. 

The basketball floor in the large gymnasium will be coined ‘Gene Gourley Court’, which will serve as a permanent reminder of Coach Gourley’s contributions to both the Danville High School basketball program and the Danville community as a whole.  Barnette played for Gourley while attending Danville High School from 1984 through 1987.  Barnette would move just before the start of his senior year to Crown Point, Indiana, but the two have remained close. 

Danville Family YMCA Executive Director, John Alexander, was excited about Barnette’s contribution and the opportunity to honor a great person and coach. 

“Gene Gourley has always been a wonderful example for our area kids,” Alexander said.  “He has always held to the four core values that we teach in all of our YMCA programs…. caring, respect, responsibility and honesty.  Doug has always been a friend to the YMCA and we have worked together over the last couple of years to make small improvements in the Y, including new basketball rims in the gyms and new lane lines in the pool.”  He continued, “We are happy that Doug and his family thought of us for the donation and, at the same time, chose to honor a great man such as Coach Gourley.  His generous donation will be a great help in assisting us with our expansion so that we can carry out our mission by influencing more people in the Danville area.”

Coach Gene Gourley was humbled that a former player would offer him such an honor. 

“When Doug told me about what he wanted to do I felt extremely honored and humbled,” Gourley said.  “Since he and his family returned to Danville in 2000, we have become close friends.  Doug is a gentleman with sound Christian values, he has great entrepreneurial skills, he is a good Samaritan and his humanitarianism is unmatched.  Doug is truly an amazing person having achieved great success and notoriety, yet he has remained humble and has never forgotten his roots.  I have become a better person knowing Doug and I believe Danville is a better community because of him.  His legacy is just beginning.”

Barnette spent his entire childhood playing basketball and hanging out at the Danville Family YMCA, which made it an easy decision to make the donation.  He has also enjoyed an almost life-long relationship with his high school basketball coach, which makes the donation special, as it offers the opportunity to honor his coach/friend.

“It means a lot to me to be able to contribute to a great organization such as the Danville Family YMCA because this is a place that raised me as a child and shaped my Christian values,” Barnette said.  “I spent countless days and nights in that large gymnasium with my father and/or brother and we would play basketball and run around all day.  I met people as a child at the Y that I am still friends with to this day and it is a special place that deserves people’s attention when it comes to donating money.  This is the place where it all starts for athletes in the Danville area, which is why I thought it most appropriate to name the large gymnasium floor after a guy who has not only had a major impact on basketball in Danville, but on the community itself.”

“Coach Gourley is a guy who has affected so many lives and he really does not even fully comprehend the things that he has accomplished both professionally and personally,” Barnette continued.  “When I look back at both my junior high school and high school careers and the great coaches I played for, such as Mike Stephens, Mark Dicken, and Andy Houpt, it makes me fully appreciate the commitment that Coach Gourley made to the DHS program.  He’s the guy who orchestrated it all; he’s the guy who hired all of these great people to coach and teach us.  If it is not for my parents and Coach Gourley then I feel quite certain that I would not have achieved the success that I enjoy today because they taught me discipline and what it means to work hard and do things right.  Most importantly, I now not only call him ‘coach’, but I also count him as one of my closest friends.” 

He continued, “I was really blessed to have been able to play in high school with guys like Cliff Lovelace, Andy Small, Terry Thomas, Stacey Robinson, Recardo Brooks, Jason Cunningham, Kevin Smith, Stanley Gouard and I could go on and on.  These are all guys who are successful in life and that Coach Gourley had a direct impact on.  My time spent with these guys compiles some of my fondest memories.  They are memories that I reflect back on when I am on airplanes each week or when I am walking around the race track.  They are memories that have shaped who I am as a person and that have allowed me to be a great father and husband to my family.  In short, $25,000 is a very small price to pay for everything that I have received from Coach Gourley and the YMCA.”   

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) of Danville, a non-profit charitable organization, is dedicated to providing services that are based on Judeo-Christian principles and that enable all persons, regardless of race, religion, income, gender, or physical ability, to achieve their full potential in spirit, mind, and body.  Our mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.

The Danville Family YMCA was established in 1883 and now serves over 10,000 annually with programs designed to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities.  For more information on how you can become an active part of the YMCA, please call (217) 442-0563 or visit www.danvilleymca.org