Alumni Foundation to induct Phil 'Sonny' Nicewarner

“I think the amazing thing about that is that until he died, for 44 years he never wanted to leave. He stayed here his entire professional career,” his son, Phil Nicewarner, said.

Clarksburg native “Sonny” Nicewarner and his wife, Elizabeth Joan Wilson of Philippi, moved to Bridgeport in 1955 after he served in the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Hood in Texas.

“When he came back to the area, I was 1 year old, and that’s when he became assistant coach at Bridgeport in ’55 for the state championship team,” Phil Nicewarner said.

Though “Sonny” Nicewarner began his coaching career with a state championship, sports were an important part of his life long before 1955. A graduate of Washington Irving High School, Nicewarner played football there, basketball and baseball, and attended Alderson-Broaddus College on a basketball scholarship.

After the 1955 football championship, Nicewarner began a long career of coaching, staying with Bridgeport High School until the “new” school was built.

“At that point in time, he went to Bridgeport Junior High when they split everything, and he then coached all three sports there,” Phil Nicewarner said.

Nicewarner’s coaching career continued until 1971, when he became assistant principal of Bridgeport Junior High, and after Bernard Sullivan retired, he served as principal until his retirement in 1988.

“He never wanted to do anything else, and he never wanted to move anywhere else,” Phil Nicewarner said. “I think that just shows that he was pretty passionate about where he lived and the community.”

When he retired from coaching, Sonny Nicewarner became a public address announcer for BHS football and basketball, was the voice of BHS football on radio and worked as the football team’s statistician.

“I can just remember always making eye contact with him when I ran out of the locker room and him giving me a ‘go get ’em fist.’ That’s something that I’ll never forget,” said his son Scott Nicewarner, who played basketball for BHS.

Sonny Nicewarner never missed a game for either of his sons’ high school careers, Scott Nicewarner said.

“Even when I played college or a summer league, there was just a handful of games in the 15 years that I played sports that he missed,” he said.

Both Sonny Nicewarner and his wife were at every game possible, to support not only their children but also their teams.

“They weren’t there just to support me, they were there to support everybody, and I think he was pretty respected for that,” Scott Nicewarner said.

Phil Nicewarner has many happy memories with his father and traveled nearly everywhere with him.

“When he was coaching at what’s now the junior high, I remember going to every practice with him,” he said. “I even remember going to the practices when he was the high school basketball coach.”

After practice, Sonny Nicewarner allowed his son to play in the gym, whether shooting or kicking, Phil Nicewarner said.

“Everywhere he went he took me with him, and that had its good moments and its bad moments,” he said.

Phil Nicewarner said his father never met a stranger, which sometimes caused routine activities to take more time.

“When he would go to the store and take me with him, it may take two hours at the store because he would just sit and talk to people,” he said. “I can remember sitting there saying, ‘Come on, dad. Let’s go, let’s go,’ and he’d have his arm around whoever it was, and they’d be talking.”

Phil Nicewarner will be delivering the speech upon his father’s induction Oct. 31.

“I just struggled so much with what to say because everything that he did, he did here in the Bridgeport area,” Phil Nicewarner said. “That means for almost 50 years, you try to go back and capture all of that, and it’s just been impossible for me because the enjoyment that he had, it all centered around here.”

When Phil Nicewarner and his family relocated to Ohio, Sonny Nicewarner feared that he wouldn’t see his grandchildren play sports.

“Then for whatever reason we were transferred back here, so he never missed one of my kids’ games,” he said.

With Scott Nicewarner and his family in Hagerstown, Maryland, Sonny Nicewarner missed that same opportunity with his children.

“But I know when my own kids came back to play at Bridgeport he was just beside himself because he could live all of it all over again,” Phil Nicewarner said.

With his grandson Josh Nicewarner now the head football coach for BHS, the Nicewarner legacy continues in Bridgeport sports. However, his biggest impact lies with his children.

“He was not only my father, but he was a friend, he was my mentor and he was my hero,” Scott Nicewarner said. “He was everything to me, and it was just so unfortunate that he was taken away too soon.”

Scott Nicewarner believes his father would be thrilled to be inducted into the BHS Hall of Fame.

“He gave so much to the community, not only through dealing with the kids but he just loved Bridgeport,” he said. “We were extremely lucky to not only have him as a father but to grow up in Bridgeport also.”

Though Sonny Nicewarner would be humbled and honored for the induction, he didn’t do it for the recognition, Phil Nicewarner said.

“He didn’t participate and go to all the games to be honored for it,” he said. “It’s just really what he enjoyed doing. By having the kids in school and then seeing them excel in sports, in the band, on the stage, at a science fair or wherever it may be, that’s really where he got his joy.”