2015 – Carl (Coach) Swanson

Hall of Famer Carl (Coach) Swanson was born in Providence, Rhode Island and grew up in West Warwick, RI. Coach graduated from LaSalle Academy and went on to graduate from Providence College with a BS in Teaching. He later went on to earn his MS in Teaching from Colby College. While in high school Coach played amateur hockey.

After graduation from Providence College, Coach started teaching science at Coventry High School in Coventry, RI. While teaching at Coventry High, he coached the school’s hockey team from 1966 – 1971. In 1972, Coach began a new job teaching science at East Greenwich High School as well as coaching the hockey team, where he coached multiple teams to the league’s State Championship. In 2019, Coach was inducted into the East Greenwich Hall of Fame as a Hockey Coach.

After he graduated from college, Coach was working as a Playground Director during the Summer and he needed an easy way to travel among the various playgrounds. The solution was a Honda 175. This quickly evolved from street riding,  to riding in the woods on a Yamaha DT1 250. When the DT1 was stolen, Coach bought a Bultaco Alpina and met fellow Hall of Famer, Bill Mathewson who introduced him to trials. It wasn’t long before Coach joined the Rhody Rovers and was competing in trials on a Bultaco Sherpa 350. In 1975 Coach assisted with the Rhode Island Round of the World Trials Championship, which was the first time a World Round was ever held in the US. Coach competed in trials until 1977 when he took a hiatus to build his house.

Coach got back into the sport in 1995 and assisted with the 1996 Rhode Island World Round and has continued to contribute to the sport ever since. Coach has been a Senior A champion and has won National events in his group over the course of his trials career, however, it is his other contributions to the sport that are most notable. He has supported countless local events by working in the woods and manning the sign-up table; support of Rhode Island National events in 1998, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2017; support of Rhode Island World Rounds in 1975, 1996, and 1999, including being in charge of infrastructure for the highly successful 2015 World Round, which was awarded the AMA’s Off Road Event of the Year. Through the years Coach has also provided support to other clubs by supporting their efforts to host National and World events with Technical Inspections among other activities.

Coach has been the Rhode Island Trials Club President from 2010 to the present and has served on the North American Trials Council’s Rules Committee. If you meet Coach on the loop at an event you will invariably be greeted with a smile and the query of “how are you doing” and words of encouragement, usually involving a beer at the end of the event! Coach puts into practice daily his motto “for the good of the sport”, but he is not alone in promoting the sport, his wife Mary has flagged down dirt bikers to extol the benefits of trials and has converted at least one current NETA member. Mary also works as a scorekeeper, checker and cheerleader for riders at competitions. For his contributions to the sport, Coach was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2015.