Social studies teacher Steve Klein was carefully studying his son, then-junior Jaxon’s, jumpshot at the local gym.
The jumpshot was always one of Jaxon’s weaknesses. But, after spending countless hours at the gym with Steve rebounding, offering tips and playing the occasional one-on-one, Jaxon was only getting better.
When he was preparing to play for BV Northwest in the 2023 state championship, all those hours paid off.
The Huskies were officially the 2023 class 6A Kansas State Champions after winning 55-50 against the Wichita Heights Falcons. But, even though it was Jaxon’s win, it felt like they were both on the court, winning.
“He took [making me the best player possible] as a responsibility of him coaching me,” Jaxon said. “So when I was a part of a team that won a state championship, he really thought that was cool and that was a cool moment for not only me, but for him too.”
From playing as a little kid to coaching his son and refereeing, basketball has always been a part of Steve’s life, no matter the setback.
Senior year of high school, Steve was on the sidelines in a cast watching tryouts after breaking his ankle. So, he assistant-coached another high school team his senior year of high school.
After a period of not playing or coaching during college, he started refereeing again as a side job, until he stopped to spend more time with Jaxon. Wanting to get back into the sport he loved, he started coaching Jaxon’s second-grade team and didn’t stop until the summer of 2023.
Now, Steve spends up to three nights a week at various middle schools and high schools 45 minutes away, refereeing. Refereeing has always been Steve’s preference over coaching, and playing became out of the question after breaking his ankle two more times.
“I still love competing,” Steve said. “It doesn't matter if it's basketball or trivia. I just love to compete, always have, and I love [basketball].”
Even now, students in his sixth and seventh hours know he might leave class a few minutes early to make it to a certain school on time to referee.
With teaching freshmen in World Regional Studies and juniors in IB History of the Americas, many basketball players fill his desks, making it an easy way for Steve to connect with his students while teaching.
His classes are often accompanied by questions like “Oh, how’d you guys do against them,” or “When do you play them?” Especially after he refereed a team that SM East is scheduled to play soon.
Junior Coco Reiser, a girls varsity basketball player and student in Steve’s IB History of the Americas, is used to him leaving class early. Basketball has become a routine topic of conversation between them after Coco and her friends first learned of Steve’s side hobby. When Steve asks Coco about her basketball season, she says it feels like he really cares.
“He’s always been good about asking me about my games, what my next game is, who we’re playing, how my game went,” Reiser said. “It definitely makes you have more connection. I feel like if I can talk to my teacher about my life outside of school, it’s so much easier to talk about stuff in the classroom and have that sense of communication.”
Though Steve will never be able to referee one of Coco’s games, or any basketball game, due to a conflict of interest, Reiser has still seen him watching from the stands.
From playing to coaching, and now refereeing and connecting with students over the topic, basketball has always been Steve’s sport.
“When teachers can find common ground on interests that they have or that they’re familiar with [and] their students are also interested in, that builds trust, builds relationships,” Steve said. “That can flow into motivation or concentration in your class from that student.”
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