Republic High School swimming coach Steve Boyce was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Sunday. Boyce is in his fifth season at coach at Republic. He also coaches and teaches at Springfield Glendale, where he has led his teams to three boys state championships and three girls state championships; and at Ozark. All three schools practice together at Foster Natatorium in Springfield.
Boyce said he was surprised to get a call from the Hall of Fame during school one day, telling him the news. “I was really surprised to get that call while I’m still actively teaching and coaching. That was not anywhere on my radar,” he said. “It gives you a moment to pause and reflect.”
Boyce is in his 24th year of coaching overall. He won three state swimming championships at Parkway South before moving to Springfield, giving him nine overall. He said one of the most rewarding things about coaching high school swimming is watching young athletes improve and learn from their participation.
“It comes down to showing up to practice every day. You learn the technique, you work hard physically. The technique is working hard mentally, and the training is working hard physically. If you put all that together, you’re going to have some success,” he said. “What’s cool at the end of it is just investing in the kids to see them get better and learn to go through that process.”
Boyce’s 24 years of coaching has made him a mentor to many others in the southwest Missouri swimming community, and that’s another rewarding part of the job for him.
“The second part of that has been watching former swimmers of mine who are now coaching in the high school ranks or summer league ranks, but they’re giving back to the next round of kids,” he said. “The really cool part is the summer league in our area. A couple of years ago, we were at the championship meet and there were 9 teams there, and there was a current or former coach on every staff. That was pretty cool.”
One of Boyce’s most recent accomplishments has been helping to establish the Republic swimming program from its start five years ago, along with assistant coach Robert Muench, who graduated from Republic and was a longtime proponent of high school swimming in his hometown.
“Originally, getting Republic started was kind of a full circle moment for Robert, our assistant coach. He had graduated from Republic and had participated as a club guy, and he was the original coach at the RAC (Republic Aquatic Center). It was exciting to finally see at the high school level those kids who enjoyed the sport when they were younger get a chance to enjoy the sport.”
Still relatively new, the program has struggled at times to recruit swimmers, but both the boys and girls teams saw an upswing in interest during this school year. Boyce said he believes the girls program, which is just wrapping up its season, is on the cusp of more success next year because of the foundation laid this winter.
“It’s about giving kids opportunities. Not everyone is going to be in your football, basketball, and baseball traditions,” he said. “The more we can get them connected to things that happen through school, the more successful they’re going to be at school.”