When former West Potomac softball coach Dennis Day thinks about his old friend Bill Ambrose, his thoughts inevitably drift back to candy.
Ambrose, who was a volunteer assistant on the Wolverine softball team during Day’s eight seasons as head coach (2000-2007), used to sit in the same spot of the West Potomac home dugout during games. As Day describes it, Ambrose sat in the back left corner of the bench every game with a can of soda, nervously pacing as he watched West Potomac on the field.
Win or lose, though, once the girls walked off the field, they were greeted with a piece of candy straight from the pocket of the man they affectionately called “Pop Pop.”
“He was always there with a warm smile and a piece of butterscotch,” said Day.
But there will be no more sweet giveaways after the West Potomac High School community lost one of its beloved figures on Nov. 7. Ambrose died at the age of 74 after a six-year battle with a combination of lung, liver, kidney, and bone cancer, according to his daughter Patti Jones.
Friends and family who remember Ambrose best say his memory will forever live in the athletic facilities of the school, where he made an indelible mark on the students he coached and mentored.
<b>BACK IN 2000</b> Ambrose had no intentions of being a full-time coach, he just wanted to spend more time around his two twin grand daughters, Amy and Sarah Jones. So Ambrose, who was retired after a long career as a master carpenter for Heiman Construction, signed up as a volunteer coach for the girl’s basketball team, which the two girls both played on. Later that spring, after a successful stint with basketball, Ambrose decided to help Day out on the softball field. From there, the student body just became attached to “Pop Pop”, a name everybody called him.
“Even the principal,” said Jones, who works as a secretary at West Potomac. “When he was in the hospital, he got hundreds of letters from players that had long been off to college.”
Day first met Ambrose in 1996, but when he took over as head softball coach in 2000 the two didn’t know each other well. But quickly the two formed a friendship and Ambrose began helping out during the summers when Day would coach a travel softball team. He also helped coach a girl’s travel basketball team.
Jones said some of her father’s greatest joys in life came from the road trips he took as part of those travel teams, going to places like Myrtle Beach and Graves Mountain for tournaments.
Day described Ambrose’s role as more than just a coach for the team. Since, he was actually the grandfather to two girls on the team when he first started coaching, other players picked up on that dynamic. He served as a shoulder to lean on during tough times, giving advice when asked. Some players even had a tradition of touching his hat before they would take the field.
“He loved softball and loved being around the kids and loved being a part of it,” said Day, who stepped down as West Potomac’s coach in 2007. “For me, he was an unbelievable friend. It’s just not going to be the same.”
<b>AMBROSE DID</b> all this for little or no compensation. Jones said her father would only accept $1 a year from the school for all the time he put in. Ambrose was only able to make it to a couple games the past few seasons as his condition worsened, but there’s no denying the impact he had on the West Potomac community and the West Potomac community had on him.
“He just had a ball with the kids,” said Jones. “He loved going to the games and the practices. I really think it helped him get through the past few years.”