Both challenges and successes have marked Romaine Smith’s coaching journey. Although he experienced seasons with losing records, he consistently demonstrated his ability to improve his teams through effective coaching. Romaine has coached basketball at four different schools: Prosser High School, Hermiston High School, Riverview High School, and, currently, Pasco High School. While he has served as head coach at three of these schools, he spent a total of nine years coaching at Prosser. I had the opportunity to discuss his experiences and records during his time at each school.
**Prosser High School**
Romaine began his coaching career at Prosser High School, where he served for 9 years from 2012 to 2021. In his first two years, he coached the boys’ junior varsity team, achieving decent results as he started his coaching journey. He then transitioned to the C-Squad coach for the next five years, experimenting with a different level of coaching. Afterward, he returned to the junior varsity team for his final two years at Prosser. Overall, Romaine gained valuable coaching experience during his time at Prosser High School.
**Hermiston High School**
Romaine then moved on to Hermiston High School, where he served as the boys’ basketball head coach for two years, from 2021 to 2023. Before he arrived, the boys’ varsity team had a challenging season, finishing 1-13. In his first year, Romaine improved the team’s performance, posting a 4-13 record, three more wins than the previous season. In his second year, his team continued to improve, posting a 9-12 record and adding five wins. After these two successful years, Romaine decided to step down from Hermiston and took the head coaching position at Riverview High School in Finley, Washington.
**Riverview High School**
Romaine’s next coaching position was at Riverview High School, where he was head coach for just one year, from 2023 to 2024. The year before his arrival, Riverview had a record of 4-14. Under Romaine’s leadership, the team improved to a record of 9-14, securing five more wins than the previous year. Although they made the playoffs, they were eliminated in the first game against White Swan. After one year at Riverview, Romaine moved on to coach at Pasco High School.
**Pasco High School**
Romaine is currently in his second year as head coach of the boys’ basketball team at Pasco High School. The year before he took over, Pasco had a difficult season, finishing 0-22. In his first year, Romaine’s team posted a 2-19 record, including wins over Wenatchee High School and Hermiston High School. This represented a significant improvement, as it ended a 22-game losing streak. Romaine is optimistic about his second year at Pasco, believing that his team will achieve greater success than in the past.
Overall, Romaine has gained extensive coaching experience and learned valuable lessons throughout his career. He looks forward to the upcoming season and hopes to continue coaching for many more years.
