The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN HONOR OF COACH BOBBY L. WRIGHT
______
HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr.
of georgia
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 19, 2021
Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor, commend and extend personal congratulations to my friend of longstanding and my brother in Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., Coach Bobby L. Wright. Coach Wright, the beloved and renowned former Head Coach and Athletic Director at Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama, recently retired after 44 years as a highly respected coach, mentor and consultant. A retirement celebration was held in his honor on Friday, July 2, 2021 at Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia.
Bobby L. Wright graduated from Buena Vista High School in Marion County, Georgia in 1970 and from Fort Valley State College (now Fort Valley State University) in 1974. The following year, he began his stellar teaching and coaching careers at Carver High School in Columbus, Georgia serving as the Head Coach for track and Assistant Coach for football and basketball. In 1977, he was recruited and hired across the Chattahoochee River at Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama where he taught, coached, and chaired the Health and Physical Education Department. There, for 12 years he served as an Assistant Coach under the tutelage of famed Coach James Redd before taking over as the Head Coach.
During his impressive 32-year tenure as Head Coach for the Central High School Boys Varsity Basketball Team, ``The Red Devils'' he amassed an incredible record of achievement: 4 State Championship game appearances; 8 semi-final appearances; 26 playoff appearances; and winning 8 region titles and 23 area titles. Coach Wright had a 671-221 won-loss record with his 600th win being against archrival Auburn High School in 2017. Concurrently, he served as the Defensive Coordinator for the Central High School football team for 26 years, including in 1993 when they won the Alabama State High School Football Championship title. In addition to that, Coach Wright served as the school's Athletic Director from 1998 until his retirement earlier this year.
Aristotle once said, ``Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.'' Coach Wright was an educator of both. He is rooted in the belief that children need tough love as well as encouragement. As such, he was known for his discipline-first approach when coaching basketball, football, and track. He used this firm coaching style to motivate the athletes under his direction to do their best and met them with laughter and support even if they missed the mark.
Coach Wright has received countless awards and commendations for his achievements and accomplishments as a coach and educator, including a resolution on January 21, 2021 approved by the Phenix City Alabama Board of Education honoring his long and exemplary service to the Phenix City School system. But none is more impressive than his 2014 induction into the Alabama High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Coach Wright has accomplished much in his life but none of it would have been possible without the grace of God; the love and support of his wife of almost three decades, Carolyn; his family, students and the communities in Georgia and Alabama, to which he has given so much.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 people of the Second Congressional District, in extending our sincerest appreciation, our heartfelt congratulations and our best wishes to Coach Bobby L. Wright upon the occasion of his retirement after an outstanding 44 years impacting the lives of the countless people he has touched.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 126
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