During 22 years of coaching experience Dave Dickson has amassed 351 wins with a .660 winning percentage; taken 11 teams to the state tournament, earning 5 trophies, including 4 consecutive top 3 finishes and back to back state titles in 2009-10 and 2010-11. But statistics don’t begin to describe the positive impact Coach Dickson has had on hundreds of young men’s lives, or the culture and community he has helped build in the localities in which he has served.
Dave still remembers the moment he was hooked on basketball: as a fourth grader he hit his first attempt over the outstretched arms of Joe Crouch in his first organized basketball game at Emerson Elementary School. Dave Dickson played at Mariner High School under Coach Bill Kohlwes and captained the Marauders to a final four state tournament finish.
After graduating from Whitman College in 1980 and meeting his wife Jamie, Dave began his coaching career at Cascade High School (Everett) as the C-Squad coach for Hall of Fame Coach, Charlie Cobb. After marrying Jamie, Dave taught at Ballou Junior High (Puyallup) for two years and proceeded to assist at Ferndale High School for four years.In 1987, AD, and former Oak Harbor head basketball coach, Stan Nelson replaced himself with a youthful, inexperienced Dickson. Dave will always be grateful to the more experienced nameless coach who turned the job down enabling him to land his first head job. Dickson and his team reversed Oak Harbor’s 5-15 record in his fi rst year, to a 15-5 record and a berth in the state tournament in his second year as a head coach
1991 brought a move back to Whatcom County as the new head coach at Bellingham High School. In seven years as Chief of the Red Raiders Dickson’s warriors made three trips to the state tournament, highlighted by a 4th place finish in 1997, best in BHS history. It was at Bellingham that Dave learned that success was sweeter and more meaningful when you can share it with people that you truly enjoyed.
In the 90s, the Northwest League had some phenomenal coaches: Pat Fitterer (728 wins), Mac Fraser (492 wins), Larry Skostad (451 wins), Bill Kelly (430 wins), and John Clark (325 wins), all Hall of Famers. It took tremendous eff ort and attention to detail, along with some talent to allow Dickson to hang with the big dogs. Forged in a crosstown rivalry, what started out as a tense relationship has grown into long-term friendship with Pat Fitterer, long-time coach of the Sehome Mariners.
1998 brought a third high school, Squalicum High, to that town, and Dickson moved to SqHS as its first head coach. Stepping down after that inaugural season to spend more time with his family, Dickson never intended to return to the coaching ranks.
But he did return to assist his replacement, Mike McKee, when the Dickson boys, Aaron and Adam, took on the Storm colors as players.
In 2006, the man hired to replace him hired Dickson to replace himself. In an era of coaching turnover, to this day, the two greatest coaches in Squalicum history are the ONLY two head coaches to have lead the Storm in the “House of Thunder.” Together they lead the Storm to 12 state appearances, including a run of 9 consecutive years.
Dickson himself has led Squalicum to seven state tournaments in 11 years, winning 4 consecutive trophies, all top 3 finishes, including back to back 2A state titles. One of his most treasured experiences in the eye of the Storm, however, was coaching with his sons, Aaron and Adam.
Dickson has been prolific off the court as well, with a record that includes three children and, at last count, eight grandchildren. Daughter, Allison, married to successful builder Micah Johnson, lives in nearby Nooksack. Oldest son, Aaron, married Jennifer, his college basketball sweetheart (both played at The Master’s College) and works as Worship Pastor at Grace Church in Bellingham. Adam, married to Jill, works for Rice Insurance in Bellingham.
“I feel very blessed to have been supported by Jamie, my family, and so many assistants that have enabled our players to create great memories and learn lifelong lessons. I am thankful for the memorable relationships I have had with players, assistants, and other coaches” Having served as the WIBCA Hall of Fame Banquet Chair for the past seven years, Dickson is honored to join those he has helped to honor. The story of Dave Dickson’s coaching career illustrates the evolution and education of a man who has won hundreds of games and influenced hundreds of young men’s lives and takes greater satisfaction in the latter than in the former; in knowing that those young men, like himself someday, will leave the program as better men than when they arrived.
