After more than two decades coaching, teaching and leading in Powell, and then two more decades helping to lead the state prep sports and activities organization, Ron Laird has retired.

After announcing earlier in the year his intent to retire, Laird made it official, after 45 years of service, on June 30.

STARTING OUT IN POWELL

Laird spent a majority of his career in Powell, spanning 26 years as a basketball coach, administrator and educator in the Powell school district.

“I was very fortunate to start my career in Powell,” Laird said. “I really appreciated how Powell supports their kids in that community and how important education is to that community. I think both of those things continue today.”

Laird was part of two state championships, one in 1985 and the most recent for the Panther boys’ team in 1998.

In his 20 years as head coach for the Panthers he finished with a 262-186 record after taking over late in the 1980 season, while forming a bond with recently retired PHS athletic director Scott McKenzie.

“Scott was my assistant for a lot of years there when we had a good run,” Laird said. “A very loyal assistant and he went on to have his own great career.”

For his efforts at PHS Laird was inducted into the Wyoming Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000.

Laird served on the Wyoming High School Activities Association Board of Directors from 1997-2004 while being elected president in the 2001-02 school year.

Laird became the commissioner of the WHSAA in 2004, prompting a move for Laird to leave Powell and start his full journey with the WHSAA over the last 19 years.

“It was a very hard move from Powell,” Laird said. “We had very deep roots there after being there for 26 years. In my opinion it was a perfect fit for us, a great place to raise our family.”

After the move, Laird said he was still able to connect with Powell friends and family at state events or tournaments as well as making the trip back to visit at other times.

LEADERSHIP OF WHSAA

In his role as commissioner, Laird created a wide array of relationships with coaches, officials and administrators while continuing to maintain relationships with people he met over the years.

“That’s the part I’m going to miss the most is the people,” Laird said.

Over his career there have been a number of changes around Wyoming, as athletic programs such as indoor track, girls’ softball and girls’ wrestling have been added along with different activities for students to participate in.

“I would hope that is one thing that people look back on in my career and say is that I have always tried to keep kids first,” Laird said. “Knowing the benefits of kids being involved in activities we tried to provide as many opportunities as we could. We tried to improve our state events as special as we could for those kids.”

Laird has played a large role in the advancement of making sure each student has an opportunity in Wyoming while promoting safety and sportsmanship over the years.

He said the WHSAA has been moving forward with society and being proactive as well as being able to make quick decisions such as when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

“I was proud of the way we handled that,” Laird said. “I think we did as well as any state in the nation being able to provide opportunities for our kids and keep them participating.”

He said some of the most difficult situations in his position included having to say no in certain scenarios, but ensuring the WHSAA stayed true to the policies.

“People just don’t like no for an answer, we have to say no at times,” Laird said. “I have to be the bad guy. I was kind of that as an assistant principal in Powell too and had to be the bad guy sometimes. We just tried to stay consistent with our policies.”

He said that transfers are a big thing, where kids change schools due to coaching or schooling and want to maintain eligibility.

Laird said that sometimes it is the right thing to do to allow kids to move, and being able to search through what was fact and fiction in those scenarios was important in ensuring that it was the right decision for the kid to do as long as it was within the WHSAA’s rules.

Laird ended the year on a high note, after both PHS track teams won their respective state titles this past May.

“It was kind of special to watch that last state track meet and have both of them win it,” Laird said. “Powell is special to me and my family and it will be something I certainly remember forever.”

After a long career, change will come at the top for the WHSAA, but Laird does not expect a huge shift in the association after his retirement.

Moving into his position will be Trevor Wilson, who coached and taught in Cody during the final years of Laird’s time in Powell, and who has been a key part of the journey alongside Laird at the WHSAA.

“We’ve been a team for 18 years together. He’ll have his own ideas and I’m sure there will be things they will want to tweak. As far as coming in and making a major overhaul I don’t see him doing that,” Laird said.

RETIREMENT PLANS

Moving into retirement after the end of June, Laird said there is expected to be a ton of time spent traveling, heading to different events for family and friends nationwide.

“I have one grandson left that I would like to get to his events and follow him more than I’ve been able to do,” Laird said. “My family has made a lot of sacrifices during my career to where I’ve taken care of other families and other people’s kids and my family suffered a little bit. I didn’t get to be at everything I would have liked to be at. I am going to do that now to do what I want to do when I want to do it.”

Laird also said they plan to spend time going to Cincinnati to watch Wilson’s son Logan play in the NFL for the Bengals.