The Berkley community can always rely on an action-packed sporting event. From rowdy football games to record soccer games, Berkley’s teams are led with dedicated captains and talented players. We have all of the players, but what about the coaches? Equally important to the team’s success, athletes rely on a coach to lead their team to success. The 2023-24 sports season this year was one for the books as we introduced eight new coaches! Here, let’s highlight some of the new coaches and get to know them better! The following responses are a culmination of answers to questions they answered and are lightly edited for clarity.
Casey Humes: Football Coach
My name is Casey Humes. I graduated from Berkley High School back in 2010. I’m a Wall of Fame inductee in two sports, football and wrestling. I attended Wayne State fresh out of high school but decided to not pursue college football because I decided that I was going to stay home and take care of my mother, who had become visually impaired during my 8th-grade year at Norup. While helping care for her, I jumped into coaching wrestling in 2012 with the Berkley Bears. After one season coaching wrestling, I stepped away and joined the coaching staff for a youth football team called the Clinton Township Cowboys, where we won two youth titles, one in Michigan and another in Florida. After my time with the youth team, I came back to Berkley and joined the football staff with the previous head coach, where I had the luxury of being a freshman coach during my second season. From that second season, I moved into the JV head coach position, where I had held that title up until this past December when I was named the varsity head football coach. I love the sport because it challenges you mentally within the game but also it gives great lessons on life. I always say football saved me. I grew up in a household with no father, so having good male role models as coaches encouraged me to continue to do things the right way regardless of the crowd or how other people may perceive or view you. It taught me that you didn’t have to be the biggest, the fastest or the strongest to be important or to be counted on. Football showed me how to work as a team and depend on others to work towards a common goal to find common success. I like to consider football or any team sport the greatest group project around!
The team that I want to build here at Berkley is going to be a team that is committed to the grind, a team committed to doing the right things and being examples of honorable young men and women (if we have any ladies that come out) in our community. After going 0-9, there is no place to go but up and a lot of focus will be on the field. But with that being said, I want to build a team of athletes that also care about school, grades and other teammates who care about their community and want to be active in building that small-town football feel. I want to build a team that the city and the school is proud of, win, lose or draw.
This upcoming season I am looking forward to creating an environment conducive to winning. I have brought in coaches who have found success on and off the field to create an environment where hard work and winning is the standard. But, also an environment where it is okay to make mistakes and be human. I think that there is so much emphasis on the wins and losses. I feel that sometimes athletes feel that winning is all that a coach cares about. I am trying to build these athletes up, allowing for open lines of communication while also setting clear expectations for the athlete.
Clay Shaver: Girls Basketball Coach
I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the students and the community as a whole. Everyone has been super welcoming and supportive. Berkley is a wonderfully unique community and school and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it. The girls in our program are fantastic, extremely motivated. The “future Bears” we’ve had in our youth clinics are excited. We have a great athletic department which is why it’s a great place to coach.
In high school, I was on the football, wrestling and baseball teams, but played a ton of basketball (although not on the team), and once I got to college, I took a job coaching youth sports at a local elementary school focusing primarily on boys and girls basketball. I kept coaching on and off as a young person, including my first high school job at a little school in the thumb area of Michigan. I took some time away from coaching when my kids (I have 3 adult daughters) were young, but ended up getting back into coaching when my youngest became obsessed with basketball. In total, this is my 20th season coaching basketball at some level. I’m so excited to be at Berkley!
I am most excited about working with the student-athletes. It starts and ends with them. Giving them the high school experience that they want to have should be what motivates every high school coach.
Our goal is to build a “Vertical Program” that fits the personality and passion of the community. That means it’s not limited to the 9th – 12th graders at BHS. We want this program to touch everyone from the youngest age groups at Berkley Hoops through the middle school teams at Anderson & Norup and extend outside of the walls of the school to the expansive alumni base. We want everyone who ever was or ever will be a Berkley Bear to feel like they’re part of this program.
Ultimately, I think I’m more of a facilitator. The players are the leaders. At the end of the day, this is their team. This is their high school experience and their team should be a reflection of the experience they want to have. I can guide that, but the leaders on the team will take us there.
When I first accepted the position, I heard from many kids and parents that a lot of girls in the basketball program had lost a lot of passion for the sport. They felt like it wasn’t fun anymore. The moment I’m looking forward to most is the girls creating a community where they enjoy their time playing basketball.
Arianna Savine: Girls Softball Coach
My name is Arianna Savine and this is my first year coaching at Berkley, but my 7th year coaching altogether! I have coached volleyball and softball since the year after I graduated high school and I absolutely LOVE what I do. Prior to coaching, I played school and travel ball from ages 4-18. Softball is how I made all of my friends, how I learned discipline, perseverance and hard work. There is so much excitement and adrenaline that comes with the competition which never gets old to me. I can still remember my first home run, my first double play, the first record I broke. I am really looking forward to being a part of those memories for the girls at Berkley as well.
With this being my first season at Berkley, I am just excited to get to know the girls and build a program that feels like a family and wins championships! I have family in the Berkley District so I am familiar with the area. Some things that I love about Berkley are how friendly and supportive everyone is and the diversity within the district. I am looking forward to building a cohesive program from the middle school all the way up to the high school. I want to build an inclusive program that empowers everyone who is a part of it to be a better athlete, student and person. I am really competitive, so I hope to win as much as possible but also get my girls out into the community and get involved as well. Teamwork, unity, and community service are super important to me and I hope to bring in some new ideas, excitement and create new, fun traditions with the team. My coaching staff is all women who are retired softball players so I am hopeful that our passion and dedication will carry over and inspire the Berkley athletes to give just as much heart as we do.
