Like Father, Like Son: Writing the Next Chapter of a Coaching Legacy

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) -Two Parkway legends helped define a rivalry and built a friendship that now includes their sons, their programs, and a new generation learning the game the right way.

In the early 1980s, Bill Sodemann and Rick Kirby were coaching at Parkway Central, forming a bond that would last decades.

Soon, Sodemann and Kirby found themselves on opposite sidelines — Parkway West vs. Parkway Central — one of the area’s fiercest matchups at the time. Both coaches are now in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Their sons, Chip Sodemann and Austin Kirby, formed their own friendship, playing basketball together as kids. They went on to play for their dads, competing against each other in some of the rivalry’s biggest nights and then the connection became even deeper when Chip and Austin became teammates at Truman State.

It has all come full circle as both dads coach with their sons — Bill with Chip at Liberty, and Rick with Austin at Eureka.