George Cottrell 2011

SCHS Coach George Cottrell has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. And during his difficult battle, he is seeing sunshine among the clouds – an outpouring of support from a community of family and friends .
By Todd Martin Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 3:00 am (Updated: April 20, 8:07 am)
A lesson never can be learned too late.

SCHS Defensive Coordinator and mainstay George Cottrell coaches up the D during a game this past fall. This winter Cottrell was diagnosed with ALS, and while it will diminish his strength, he won’t let it diminish his outlook.
"It's been a real awakening for me," George Cottrell said. "I knew I dealt with a lot kids with school and coaching, but I never realized how many adults were around that I came in contact with."You always teach kids that you never know who's watching and to make sure you leave a good first impression. I've had people contacting me from all aspects of my life.
“I've always tried to leave people with a positive impression, and this has kind of been confirming that."
Cottrell, a teacher and football and track coach at Shelby County High School, is coming to grips with being diagnosed in February with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease).
And as that news has spread slowly across the county and the state, the expression of support has been nothing short of large and significant."There's been such a huge outpouring of support from so many people," he said.
Cottrell was a standout football player for the Rockets and after graduating in 1984 – and being honored as a first team Mid-State Conference offensive tackle and second team defensive tackle – he headed off to Kentucky Wesleyan College to play football.
But he has spent nearly all of his 41 years in Shelby County, as has his family.
His son Jehren is a recent SCHS graduate, and another, Quinten, is a standout football and track athlete who will graduate this spring. His wife, Andrea, teaches at Clear Creek Elementary.
Cottrell, too, is teaching and coaching, though he has adjusted how he has to do that, these days manning the track in a powered chair.
"Oh, heck yeah," he said. "From January ‘til spring break, I was using a walker, and I was very limited with what I could do.
"But now I got this powered chair, and I'm back mingling with the kids and in the mix. It's great."
That shows some of the toll that ALS has already started to take on Cottrell. Always a large man, his weight loss is noticeable, and the effects of the deadly disease are obvious.
ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. As motor neurons continue to degenerate, the brain loses the ability to initiate and control muscle movement.
"You know, the diagnosis is what it is," he said. "There's some opportunity to knowing what's going on and what my future looks like.”
Cottrell won the Giles Award for leadership, character and athletic ability as a senior in high school, and no one who knows him would be surprised that Cottrell has found a bright side.
"If there's a good thing to come from this, it's that I'm talking to people again that I haven't talked to in years," he said. "And it's just like we're back in our dorm rooms or whatever. And they're talking to other people, too."
Lots of help
When folks heard about the diagnosis, they were quick to jump to help the cause.
SCHS football coach Todd Shipley has turned into a point person, trying to help answer questions that arise. They've worked together since Shipley came to Shelby County in 2000, but he's certainly not working alone."Mike Cresap, Eddie Oakley, Coach [Tom] Becherer, Jerry Lucas and Frank Page have all been helping quite a bit," Shipley said.In fact, it appears that despite some animosity throughout athletics in Shelby County since the split to two high schools, last fall, people are looking at Cottrell’s troubles more big-picture.The group has set up an account at Citizens Union Bank, and deposits can be made at any branch with checks made out to Cottrell or the bank."And the schools are taking up donations from the staff, and if any student or parent wants to make a donation, it can be given to the school bookkeeper, and they'll give you a receipt," Shipley said. "Then each school will make a deposit to the account."There also will be collections at Monday's Collins vs. SCHS softball game and Thursday's Collins vs. SCHS baseball game, both at the SCHS Athletic Complex.
More on the way
Shelby County Community Charities has taken on Cottrell's cause, too, and will host a cornhole tournament in June, though no date has been set."I believe they said they'd match up to fifteen thousand dollars raised," Shipley said.SCC also has taken on the task of building a ramp for Cottrell's home.But that's just a start."There are a lot of things we haven't come up with just yet," Shipley said on Tuesday on his way to look at a van for the family."There's remodeling for the house, and a van could go from anywhere between twenty thousand to forty thousand for a new one."“People are already doing so much for us,” Cottrell said, “that I don't even know a lot of it. I had no idea that so many people would be affected.“I mean, it really says a lot for my family, that they would want to help out."