CHAPEL HILL – Patty Evers of East Bladen High School and Mickey Lineberger of South Point High School in Belmont are the recipients of the second annual Toby Webb Coach of the Year Award given by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.
The two outstanding coaches will be recognized at the NCHSAA’s Annual Meeting on May 3 at the Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
The Webb Award is made possible through the generosity of gifts from individuals and companies through the NCHSAA Endowment and annually recognizes an outstanding male and female coach. To be eligible for the award, a coach must be nominated by school personnel at the NCHSAA member school where he or she coaches, to have coached for a minimum of 10 years, and have made major contributions to the success of high school athletics at the school, in the community and beyond.
Evers is in her sixth year at East Bladen after coaching five at Tar Heel. She has been successful as a head coach in both women’s basketball and softball, sending teams to the Eastern Regional basketball tournament. She has earned conference basketball coach of the year honors five times in the last 10 years and is also an outstanding volleyball official.
She has been active on the Bladen County Special Olympics committee and also is the faculty sponsor both the Key Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at East Bladen. She has taken members of her squads to participate in the Student Athlete Summer Institutes (SASI) held at UNC-Pembroke and coordinates the East Bladen DREAM team, which helps high school student-athletes serve as mentors and role models for elementary and middle school students in the area.
Lineberger has been at South Point for 23 years and has been head coach in a variety of sports there and at Chase prior to that, including women’s softball, varsity baseball and wrestling, and junior varsity men’s basketball as well as serving as athletic director for 17 years and as an assistant football coach. His varsity baseball teams compiled a record of 363-191 during his tenure and won 12 regular-season or tournament championships.
Lineberger has worked hard to insure the South Point athletic facilities are the best they can be, including a completely renovated baseball facility. In addition, he hosts summer baseball camps for youth in the area and has been a very active member of South Point Baptist Church. He was awarded the American Legion Service Award in Gaston County in 2005 and is a member of the Belmont Sports Hall of Fame.
The award is in honor of Toby Webb, a member of the NCHSAA Hall of Fame who was an outstanding coach as well as a principal and superintendent. He helped turn Albemarle into a football power and posted a brilliant 103-18-6 mark as a head coach there.
