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Newell a great coach for Fergus Falls
Published 11:26am Friday, April 13, 2012Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series recognizing The Journal’s volunteer sports writers and photographers during the winter season.
Norm Newell was not only an assistant coach, but a sideline reporter covering the Fergus Falls girls basketball team all the way through the state tournament. For both home and away games, Newell diligently wrote game stories and took statistics for The Journal.
Newell has been involved in basketball his entire adult life. He was the Fergus Falls Backcourt Club coordinator and youth coach for 17 years in the 1980s and 90s when his three sons — Eric, Marc and David — played for the Otter basketball team. Marc and David went on to play college basketball at Gustavus Adolphus where Marc played in four straight NCAA tournaments, twice to the Elite 8, and David played in three NCAA tournaments, playing in the national championship his senior year.
Newell is retired from the Internal Revenue Service, where he worked for 37 years as an auditor and audit manager. He was a manager for nearly 30 years, and traveled throughout the U.S. teaching management classes for the IRS.
After retirement, he coached two years as a boys assistant basketball coach at FFHS and the last three years as a girls assistant, where his wife Ann, a retired music teacher, has kept the scorebooks for the teams.
Newell also has a passion for tennis. He’s served as assistant tennis coach for the last four years.
