By Nate Fisher

Listening to Mr. Keyth Blissett discuss his experiences coaching basketball, we’re reminded of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who once remarked, “No one is bigger than the team. If you can’t do things our way, you’re not getting time here, and we don’t care who you are.” For Mr. Blissett, wisdom is more straightforward than that. His approach toward coaching and life prescribes that we first must “Rise Together” and focus on our relationships as a community to overcome obstacles individually.

“TOGETHER [is] an acronym for ‘Think, Observe, Gather, Evaluate, Take Time to Meditate, Help, Encourage, and then finally,’” he explains, “When we can do all of those things, we Reproduce it. That means we create more people with the same like-mindedness that we have.” He sees this in action at Meridian and says the students are starting to get it: “That is one of the things that the coaches here are trying to push at Meridian; you can see it expand, as well as rise. When I say ‘Rise Together,’ that’s what I mean. It’s that like-mindedness that’s coming to the forefront.”

Now in his fifth year teaching audiovisual classes, personal finance, and 6th grade math at Meridian, Mr. Blissett can easily track his passion for teaching and coaching back to its source. After a stint as a police officer and firefighter, he was working as a custodian at a church when he fell through a window and nearly severed his arm. “I saw that silver lining…” he recounts, “There was that opportunity to go back and get that education, so I took advantage of it.”

He soon received his associate degree from Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, before working on his bachelor’s degree at Hannibal-LaGrange University. Mr. Blissett substituted in Sikeston until he scored a long-term sub role that eventually brought him into contact with his first coaching gig at a junior high school for girls’ basketball. He started at Meridian as a 4th-grade teacher, but when an opening popped up for head girls’ basketball coach at the high school, he jumped at the opportunity.

Mr. Blissett gravitated toward coaching after playing with his daughters in their yard and watching them grow up. “As they were coming of age, we always played in the front yard; basketball, taught them how to throw footballs… Other kids would come, I would tell them, ‘The price of admission is good sportsmanship, let’s just get along with each other.’” His children were excited to go on and play sports, so he signed up for YMCA to be their coach.

“That’s how it just started,” he shrugs, “Just being a father.”

His ability to teach others to “rise together” is fueled by developing relationships. “You can have a coach with limited knowledge,” he says, “But if he has a good relationship with his players, he’s going to get a lot out of them.” He emphasizes that working together requires effort and the close-knit sense of community he sees at Meridian. The most critical ingredient to rising together is in the relationships. “Everything I do is centered on [good relationships], that’s my staple,” he says. “If I build good relationships, I’ll have a better working environment, regardless of who I’m working with.”