Coach, Mentor, Father Figure: North Little Rock Remembers Floyd Beard
Floyd Beard, the North Little Rock basketball coach everyone called Coach Butter, died on Wednesday at 56. On Friday, family, friends and former players gathered in North Little Rock to share memories
Floyd Beard, the North Little Rock basketball coach everyone called Coach Butter, died on Wednesday at 56. On Friday, family, friends and former players gathered in North Little Rock to share memories and release balloons in his honour — black and gold, the colours of The Family, the organisation he founded.
His son, Anton Beard, said his father’s influence was never really about basketball alone. “He was a coach, a mentor, a father. Like I said, he raised a bunch of boys to men,” he told the crowd, adding that his father pushed to make sure kids got to college.
Temeka Martin, director of the Sherman Park Community Center, said Beard spent more than 20 years as athletic program director at the Glenview Community Center, running the skills work, leagues and tournaments that defined youth basketball in that part of the city.
Tulsa has its own versions of Coach Butter on courts across the metro, and the North Little Rock farewell is a reminder of what those coaches actually build: not just players, but a pipeline of young people who were looked out for. His son said that impact will carry on.
Source: North Little Rock community honours Coach Floyd Beard after death — Rock City Wire (rockcitywire.com)
