A three-sport standout at Cortland, Edward Coates '42 developed the master's and doctoral Sport Management Programs at The Ohio State University (OSU), one of the original three curricula in the U.S. designed to prepare individuals for leadership roles in the administration of sports and sporting events. The SUNY Cortland Sport Management Program was started and patterned in the 1980's after Coates' OSU example by his former student, Suzanne Wingate.
A native of Ebenezer, N.Y., Coates lettered in soccer, basketball and baseball at Cortland. Senior class president and a member of Beta Phi Epsilon fraternity, he earned a physical education degree in 1942 and enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard. He graduated from Coast Guard Academy Officer Training School and served two years aboard an LST invasion craft in the Pacific Ocean. He later re-entered the Coast Guard Reserve and retired as a captain.
Following World War II, Coates posted a 47-4 record as a semipro baseball pitcher. He scouted for the New York Giants, coached the Trenton Giants and played with the St. Catherine Stags in the Canadian-American League. He also took up tennis and became a nationally ranked player at the Super Senior level, eventually winning in doubles at the 1993 National Senior Olympics and singles at the World Senior Games Championships.
In 1947, Coates earned a master's degree from Columbia University Teacher's College and began his professional career as a teacher, coach and athletic director at Royalton-Hartland Central School in Middleport, N.Y. He entered the doctoral program at Ohio State in the 1960's and earned a Ph.D. in 1966. He specialized in and co-authored a widely acclaimed revised text about the facility planning of physical education, recreation and athletics. He chaired the American Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and Dance's Council of Facilities and Equipment.
In developing the OSU Sport Management Program, Coates incorporated input from university-wide academic departments and recruited a national student body. A 1984 SUNY Cortland Distinguished Alumni Award winner, Coates retired from OSU in 1987 and spent two years restructuring and redesigning a Sport Management Program at the University of California, Fullerton.
Coates, who died unexpectedly on September 16, 2002, and his wife, Norma Jean, have four children: Leslie, Gary, Karen and Sally.
