This last year, the girls nordic skiing Assistant Coach and algebra teacher, Pete Hoyem, won the Minnesota State High School Nordic Ski Coaches Associations award for Assistant Coach of the Year. Hoyem earned this achievement just in time for his last year coaching.
Speaking to one of his athletes, junior Ada Burns, she praises his effort. She affirms Hoyem truly did deserve this award for top tear coaching and fostering such a positive community.
“He’s been working with our team for a long time, and he does a lot of things with the team, like he spends a lot of time working with the JV group, and he also helps with timing each race a lot, and he really helps with communication,” Burns said.
These efforts Hoyem is credited with includes his impressive knack for handling logistics, which got him the position in the first place. The team was in dire need of somebody to handle the organization, and they were lucky to have Hoyem step up.
“We have a lot of coaches and volunteer coaches that could work with, you know, running the kind of drills and techniques and practices like that. But we didn’t really have anyone at the time to work at the high school with bussing and timing and some of those logistics that happen when you have a really big team,” Hoyem explained.
Many know Hoyem not from his coaching, but for being an algebra teacher at the high school. This comes in handy while Hoyem calculates athlete’s individual times out in the cold, often nicknamed the human-calculator for his world class on-the-spot calculations.
“Everyone goes out at a different times, So it’s a little more complicated than timing like a track meet or cross country meet, because some people might be going out 10 minutes after the next person. We have to record the in time and the out time, and then do the math,” Hoyem said, priding himself on very few mistakes.
As successful as his coaching career was, Hoyeem has turned over a new leaf, making the 2024-25 season his very last, due to a new addition to his life. At home Hoyem has a five month old daughter, which takes up much of his time.
“I did step away from it this year, just because I have a five month old daughter, and I want to be able to give her a little extra care and attention. And it’s definitely a community I miss,” Hoyem said.
Though Hoyem has moved past his coaching, his impact is still evident in the current seasons team.
“I think we’ll remember Mr. Hoyem for a long time for the different hard workouts he gave JV and everything he did with bussing,” Burns said, remembering him positively.
All in all, nobody was more deserving than Hoyem to receive this award. His dedication was clear to see, and he surely has the skill to go with it. Hoyem will no doubt be missed by is team, but will always be remembered as a key figure of the community.
