I remember the first time in seventh grade at Merton middle school signing up for volleyball with my friends. We got our roster and everyone on the team with the numbers. Then I saw our coach’s name and I have heard that name before. It sounded familiar and I went with it. When our first practice came around, I recognized him. He was our tech guy that fixes our computers. 

He was the best coach I have ever had. He let us be us. He let us goof around, but in the same practice, he would teach us about volleyball and about school and how to get over with school the fastest way possible “just by doing your work.” Then after the fourth or fifth, practice everyone on our team liked Mr. Binney.

The best part was that everyone on our volleyball team and our friends had school computers and Mr. Binney only fixed school computers. So we all did a glitch to make our computers look like they are broken when they were not. But he knew exactly what we were doing. He just held the power button down. We would actually break the computers which the school got for free. We would do that just so we could talk to him about volleyball and what is going on in life. He was such an incredible person and super calm. 

At practice, he would say, “you guys can’t skip class just to see me, you will get me fired.” We would automatically fire back with something like “but our computers are broke” or “Mr. Binney you are too much of a god.” Our whole team knew he liked people visiting him and talking to him and not sitting in a room for seven hours just fixing computers. 

We would talk to him literally about anything and I got to see the fantastic, caring, and nice side of Mr. Binney. Which people don’t see that when they  do not talk to him and you just stop there for like 2 minutes. Then it came down to eighth grade year, the best school year of my life the only bad thing about that was Mr. Binney was not the coach, because he was just gonna stay being the 7th grade coach which we tried so hard to get him but then the school did not let him. Which the coach turned out to be our principal.

 Then we all would stop at his room even more and talk to him. Mr. Binney taught me a lot and he doesn’t really know which is sad. I could tell our seventh grade volleyball season I got better fast thanks to him. I am thankful for our conversations and our time together.I miss the times my friends and I would come down and visit you. It would be the highlight of my day. Pretty much the only reason I would show up to class. I wish I could have told you this when I still went to Merton.