Growing up on a dairy farm means something always needs to be done. Cows need to be milked and fed their hay, barn stalls need to be cleaned, calves are being born, along with all the other routine maintenance involved with farm life. Farming instills old fashioned family values in that way. That might mean sacrificing time with your friends as a teenager to take care of things at home. Before the times of smart phones and Wi-Fi, it certainly meant creating your own entertainment. That’s why Al Tuchscherer hung up a hoop on the side of the barn at his Pitt Meadows family farm and played basketball on the loose gravel road for hours on end.
Tuchscherer was a troublemaker in class, and sports became a space for him to utilize his competitiveness in a constructive way. Many gravel punctured balls and trips to the principal’s office later, his family suggested he join the basketball team in grade six. He doesn’t remember why he was specifically drawn to basketball, but he does remember where his competitiveness came from, an elementary school sports day. Now, sports days weren’t what they are now 30-40 years ago in the ’70s and ‘80s, think of them as more of a track and field day, in which Tuchscherer remembers dominating in the first grade.
“I am winning all of these events, it resonated with me right there,” he said. “And I don’t know where that came from. I have no real idea, but I know that there was just a real drive to be successful in sports.”
The key to Tuchscherer’s game as he developed in the sport was versatility. All those hours practicing at the farm made him a dominant post player, but Tuchscherer remembers playing every position except point guard. Due to extenuating circumstances he forgoed playing college basketball and found his way into coaching. After one year as an assistant, he didn’t know if coaching was in the cards for him long-term. Nearly 40 years later, the grizzled Cascades head coach said he realized this might be a career for him when he took over the program at Pitt Meadows Secondary.
The job was a grade eight girls head coaching job that was being offered to him by a friend. After just one year of assistant coaching on a boys team, Tuchscherer was hesitant to accept the role. He began with the intention of letting his lead assistant run practices, but Tuchscherer said by the end of the first practice he was the one giving instructions. Tuchscherer credits that team with sparking the fire within him to continue coaching.
Just like how he doesn’t remember the specific reason he decided on basketball, Tuchscherer can’t place why he specifically chose UFV to complete his bachelor of arts degree in mathematics. That degree turned into becoming the basketball program’s head coach, and where he met his wife. Tuchscherer understands and embraces the challenges that come attached with a smaller university, and perhaps that’s why he’s had a prolonged impact in the UFV community.
“We’re the underdogs here, but I love being an underdog,” said Tuchscherer. “I love that side of it — I love finding a way to make it work and going to beat the big guys — there’s nothing that makes me happier.”
Life is a funny thing. One path might not take you as far as you wanted and you have to veer off course. Al Tuchscherer never thought he’d be a women’s basketball coach. Now he’s been guiding UFV’s women’s basketball program for 23 years. Tuchscherer’s advice for whoever takes over when he decides to retire is to surround themselves with outstanding people and students, while always taking the opportunity to learn from the best.
“I get to coach in the same league as Lisa Thomaidis, and watch her be one of the best coaches in the country, if not the world. It’s pretty amazing. I’m just in awe of how far the women’s game has come. It’s getting to the point where I’m probably going to transition out of it sooner than later, and I’m excited that there’s probably going to be a long lineup of candidates that are going to want to take this job [and] probably at least half of them are going to be quality women candidates. That’s really exciting for me.”
