Erik Kimrey and Steven Hillard: In Perfect Harmony
For the better part of 17 years, Erik Kimrey and Steven Hillard have been teaching, coaching, mentoring, and most importantly … collaborating. At first blush, they appear to be the two most unlikely cohorts on campus–the choral director and the coach–but both are beloved faculty members, accomplished and enthusiastic, and their mutually beneficial relationship most benefits the students they teach and coach.
Steven is a twenty-year Hammond veteran and founder of Hammond’s Select Ensemble whose title also includes Director of Student Activities, Student Travel and Experiential Education. Erik, on the other hand, has served as Head Varsity Football Coach for 17 years, with 12 state championship wins, he has successfully led the Skyhawks to football history time and again. They share more than a love of all things Hammond, they also share students who are as successful on the field as they are on the stage.
To see them together is to witness a study in contrasts. The artist and the athlete—the musician taking on the football coach. Yet where their differences end, their similarities begin. You need only watch them banter back and forth to know they share a deep respect for one another, though their playing fields are worlds apart.
A ball field is stage to Erik, who finds himself at home in sweaty locker rooms surrounded by mounds of athletic tape and grass-clogged cleats. On the other hand, Steven is most comfortable performing in St. Peter’s Basilica and other celebrated venues in which his Select Ensemble has performed. A Skyhawk at heart, his uniform, however, is more of the penguin variety. While Steven is looking to hit the high notes, Erik pursues high scores. From the looks of things, both guys are winning. One sports a fistful of programs from international performances, while the other has a firm grasp on numerous state championship football trophies…both leading programs with back-to-back accomplishments, no less.
On any given day, you can run into Erik and Steven sharing a laugh or deep in conversation. Whether it’s planning a pep rally, reliving a recent game, or discussing logistics for an upcoming concert, you can tell they are thoroughly enjoying themselves. A real chemistry exists…a sense of mutual admiration, if you will. According to Erik, “Over the course of the past 17 years, never once has the relationship deviated from one of growth and respect, not only on the field, but off the field as well.” Steven points out, “Students know and understand the working relationship Erik and I share. We have built this culture together. We learn from each other and are dependent on one another’s skills.”
Hammond football games will find both guys on the sidelines, one rousing the crowd, the other coaching the team and calling the plays. Likewise, the duo teams up to tour with our singers as they trek the globe sharing their talent in other countries. More often than not, many of Steven’s singers are the same ones playing under Erik’s Friday night lights. Though their tools differ, the goal is the same.
Erik and Steven work individually and in tandem to ensure our students are as comfortable on stage as they are on the field or court. Take, for instance, the athlete who arrives at school each morning for 7:00 a.m. choir practice and spends the afternoon honing his skills tackling opponents, or the quarterback who steps away from pre-game practice to perform the national anthem. It’s these same students and many others who benefit immensely from the lessons of hard work, dedication, and heart that both disciplines provide.
Erik and Steven are Oscar and Felix, but it works…and it works well. Because, after all, carefully nurturing our student athlete-artists, who step from one stage to the other with ease, is the common bond they share…and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
