{"id":5804,"date":"2016-12-15T12:10:28","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T18:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=5804"},"modified":"2016-12-15T12:39:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T18:39:13","slug":"call-him-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2016\/12\/15\/call-him-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Call Him Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ST. LOUIS CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WILL MALONE INSPIRES, UPLIFTS COACHES, PLAYERS<\/p>\n<p>BY KARLA WALL<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s Coach Malone, and players on the St. Louis High School football team forget that at their peril.<\/p>\n<p>St. Louis Catholic High School senior Will Malone, who has been diagnosed with autism, roams the sidelines with head coach Charlie Cryer and defensive coach Stephen Wren during most St. Louis football games. He\u2019s not wearing a football helmet and pads, however. He\u2019s wearing a headset.<\/p>\n<p>And he doesn\u2019t hesitate to fulfill his coaching duties, including discipline, when necessary.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5808\" style=\"width: 259px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5808\" class=\" wp-image-5808\" src=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone.jpg\" alt=\"St. Louis Catholic head football coach Charlie Cryer with Will Malone\" width=\"249\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone.jpg 792w, https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone-150x128.jpg 150w, https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Cryer-Malone-70x60.jpg 70w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 249px) 100vw, 249px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5808\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Louis Catholic head football coach Charlie Cryer with Will Malone<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOnce, one of the players called me Will (and not Coach),\u201d Will says. \u201cI told Coach Cryer we needed to run him after practice. We run them two laps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe players call him coach,\u201d agrees Coach Cryer, \u201cand if they don\u2019t, we run \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The players, says Cryer, treat Malone as a friend and coach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t always do what he tells them to,\u201d admits Cryer.\u00a0 \u201cBut,\u201d he says, looking at Malone for confirmation, \u201cthey don\u2019t always do what I tell them to do either, do they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malone says he loves being part of things on the sidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love the players, and the excitement,\u201d he says. But, he says, he definitely gets nervous before games.<\/p>\n<p>Malone began attending games a few years ago, and later began attending practices, as well. He\u2019s now an integral part of the St. Louis staff. He wears his coach\u2019s shirt on Fridays. He gives the team a pep talk before each game. He participates in pep rallies with the team. He rides the bus with the team. He begins most weekdays meeting with Coach Cryer to plan the day\u2019s workout.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s my hired gun,\u201d says Cryer. \u201cHe takes care of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5809\" style=\"width: 257px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Coach-Malone-On-Sidelines.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5809\" class=\" wp-image-5809\" src=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Coach-Malone-On-Sidelines.jpg\" alt=\"Coach Malone in action on the sidelines\" width=\"247\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5809\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coach Malone in action on the sidelines<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Malone\u2019s father, Wade, says Will keeps everyone on the field in line \u2014 even referees. In fact, Malone\u2019s sense of duty to the team once came close to getting him in trouble. Wade relates the story of a game in which a referee didn\u2019t call a foul against an opposing team when he should have. Will let the referee know about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was afraid they were going to call <i>Will<\/i> on a foul,\u201d Wade says.<\/p>\n<p>And Will is just as intense at practices, says Cryer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s out there on the field,\u201d says Cryer. \u201cSo much so that I sometimes worry about him getting hit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The relationship between Cryer and Malone goes far beyond student\/teacher, coach\/staff member. The two are true friends, and have been since Cryer began coaching at St. Louis three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Malone) has been at my side for three years,\u201d says Cryer. \u201cIt\u2019s been a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Malone-On-Sidelines-At-SLHS-Girls-Bball-Game.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5807\" src=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Malone-On-Sidelines-At-SLHS-Girls-Bball-Game.jpg\" alt=\"malone-on-sidelines-at-slhs-girls-bball-game\" width=\"249\" height=\"276\" \/><\/a>Malone even chose Cryer to give him his senior ring last year, something Cryer calls an honor and privilege.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Malone is) an inspiration to everyone. Nothing holds him back,\u201d Cryer says.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Malone leads an extremely active life.<\/p>\n<p>He participates in the Special Olympics, competing in the Italian game of bocce, and in bowling, which Cryer says is Malone\u2019s specialty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love to watch him bowl,\u201d Cryer quips, \u201cbut I\u2019d hate to bowl against him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also an avid fisherman. \u201cHe yells \u2018Hookup!\u2019 to let everyone know he has a fish on the line,\u201d Wade says.\u00a0 Malone loves crabbing, as well. He also loves horses, and enjoys attending races at Delta Downs and cheering on his favorite horses. He enjoys riding on ATVs.<\/p>\n<p>And his involvement with sports at St. Louis High isn\u2019t limited to the football team. He works with the basketball, baseball and volleyball teams, as well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Will-With-St.-Louis-Band.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5806\" src=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Will-With-St.-Louis-Band.jpg\" alt=\"will-with-st-louis-band\" width=\"247\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Will-With-St.-Louis-Band.jpg 792w, https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Will-With-St.-Louis-Band-150x114.jpg 150w, https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Will-With-St.-Louis-Band-300x228.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><\/a>\u201cHe\u2019s an action-oriented person,\u201d his father says.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s also a people person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s not shy,\u201d says Cryer. \u201cMakes friends wherever he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows Mayor Roach, and most of the sports coaches in the area,\u201d says Wade.<\/p>\n<p>Malone\u2019s plans after graduation are to work at CARC, he says. But you can bet he\u2019ll still be involved with the Saints football team, and will continue to be Coach Cryer\u2019s right hand man.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s more than a coach. He\u2019s a friend. He\u2019s an inspiration,\u201d says Cryer. \u201cHe lifts everyone up. And he\u2019s a great representative of St. Louis High.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ST. LOUIS CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WILL MALONE INSPIRES, UPLIFTS COACHES, PLAYERS BY KARLA WALL He\u2019s Coach Malone, and players on the St. Louis High School football team forget that at their peril. St. Louis Catholic High School senior Will Malone, who has been diagnosed with autism, roams the sidelines with head coach Charlie Cryer [&#038;hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,51,1339],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Call Him Coach - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2016\/12\/15\/call-him-coach\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Call Him Coach - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ST. 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