Muncie Christian is a small Christian School in Kansas City, Kan. I've overlooked them coverage wise, but that will be changing in 2012-13.
Recently, the school almost closed down due to financial reasons. However, it was saved.
Below is our interview. Click "Read More" for the full interview.
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Nick Sloan: Coach, give us some background about yourself and your program.
Steve McCleary: My name is Steve McCleary. I am 23 years old and I graduated from Muncie Christian School in 2007. I attended MCS from kindergarten through my senior year. I played soccer, basketball and baseball all four years of high school here, lettering in all three sports.
In all honesty, I don't intend for this to sound prideful in anyway, but I hold the career record for saves by a goalie in soccer, career points in basketball, most points in a game in basketball and the most career home runs in baseball.
MCS is in the MO-KAN Christian Conference and also the Tri-State Christian Conference. The school itself has been a part of these two conferences at least since the early 90's.
With the school being a small private school, the attendance is truly a reflection of the economy.
In the late 90's and early 00's, we ran close to 200 students ever year, with about 80 of those being in high school. The current enrollment is just above 100. With this kind of fluctuation, the level of competition goes up and down, and often. In the early 00's we had a soccer team that saw 5-6 guys go on to play college ball. The boys varsity basketball team had a starting five of 6'10, 6'8, 6'6, 6'2, and 6'0. One player went on to play at a university and two others community college.
In 2006, we played the only game against a USD 500 school to my knowledge. We played Washington in our annual Christmas Classic tournament, and lost by 5 or 6. Our goal is to get back to the level of competition with some of the USD 500 schools.
From what I've read and seen in some record books, MCS has played soccer, basketball, and volleyball since the 60's. Unfortunately, there aren't many record books that we have from back then.
NS: What inspired you to become a basketball coach?
SM: The love for the game and this school both inspired me to coach basketball here. As an alumnus, I've always had a passion to get Muncie on the same level as KC Christian, Sunrise, and Maranatha Christian Academy. Those three have solidified themselves as the top Christian schools in Kansas. With Muncie being in Wyandotte County, I definitely realize it will be tough to get to their level.
The principal when I was at Muncie was Mr. Rex Vincent. He taught me so much about life, school, basketball, golf and much more. I love the guy for everything he did here at MCS, even if he is a K-State fan.
