The coach of Junior’s and Roger’s basketball team at Reardan High School. Pledging to treat his team with dignity and respect, and treating Junior’s tears and “yucking” (or pregame vomiting) with compassion and understanding, Coach becomes an important father figure for Junior. He admires Junior’s attitude of commitment and empowers him with his belief in Junior’s strength, talent, and potential.
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Coach Character Timeline in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The timeline below shows where the character Coach appears in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 20 - Reindeer Games
...short, skinny, and slow, and like all the white boys are better than him. When Coach announces that he can only take twenty-four players out of the forty boys who have...
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Coach begins by ordering one hundred laps around the gym—with four players quitting by the end...
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...bump, and Junior knows he will make the team. In fact, he makes varsity, and Coach says he’s the best shooter who’s ever played for him.
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...Reardan team arrives outside the gym, they can hear the Indian fans chanting, “Ar-nold sucks!” Coach tells Junior that he doesn’t have to play, but Junior says he does. Seeing his...
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...as they make their way to the locker room. Once there, though, Junior starts crying. Coach tells him and the rest of the team that it’s natural to cry when you...
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As soon as Coach sends Junior into the game, someone in the crowd throws a quarter at him, cutting...
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Late that night, Coach visits Junior in the hospital, apologizing for the way the game turned out and applauding...
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Chapter 25 - In Like a Lion
...an unexpected star on Reardan’s basketball team. The high expectations and encouragement he gets from Coach and from his teammates drive him to become even better, and though he’s still too...
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Coach assigns Junior—the team’s “secret weapon”—to guard Rowdy throughout the game. Junior isn’t sure he can...
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