SENATE MEMORIAL 6

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first special session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Pete Campos

A MEMORIAL

EXPRESSING THE CONDOLENCE OF THE NEW MEXICO SENATE ON THE PASSING OF COACH HENRY SANCHEZ.

     WHEREAS, legendary New Mexico basketball coach Henry Sanchez passed away on Monday, September 19, 2011; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez began his basketball career after graduating from St. Mary's high school in Albuquerque as a national association of intercollegiate athletics all-American at the college of St. Joseph, later renamed the university of Albuquerque, in 1958; and

     WHEREAS, after graduating from St. Joseph, Coach Sanchez's first coaching position was at Our Lady of Sorrows in Bernalillo in 1960; and

     WHEREAS, after Our Lady of Sorrows closed in 1965, Coach Sanchez was hired by Bernalillo high school, where his legend first began to take root; and

     WHEREAS, over the next eighteen years at Bernalillo high school, Coach Sanchez led the Spartans to five state championship games and two state basketball titles in 1977 and 1979; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez left Bernalillo in 1983 to become the men's coach at New Mexico highlands university, where he spent thirteen more seasons and retired in 1995; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez, unable to shake the coaching bug, came out of retirement in 1996 to lead Robertson high school until 2001; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez was named New Mexico prep coach of the year four times during his career; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez is also a member of the New Mexico high school coaches association hall of fame, the Albuquerque sports hall of fame and the national high school athletic coaches association hall of fame; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez amassed an unofficial record of seven hundred two wins and four hundred forty-eight losses during his coaching career; and

     WHEREAS, after his coaching career, Coach Sanchez enjoyed political success by being elected mayor of Las Vegas in 2002; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez was known for his ability to connect with members of the community and, later, as an elder statesman in the basketball community, offering advice to younger coaches in New Mexico, and as a courtside fixture at local prep games in Las Vegas; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez was respected throughout the New Mexico high school basketball community, not only by the generations of young men who played for him but also by those he coached against over the decades; and

     WHEREAS, Coach Sanchez is survived by his father, Tony Sanchez; his son, Darren Sanchez; his daughter, Janine Salmon; and his granddaughter Kelsi Gonzalez;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that condolences be offered to the friends, family and countless student athletes whose lives were touched by Coach Henry Sanchez; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the family of Henry Sanchez, a true New Mexico basketball legend and a loving and devoted New Mexican.

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