Friends of Basketball

Phil Stienbarger

Year Inducted: 2002

Category: Friends of Basketball

Schools / Organizations:
(Augusta) Southeastern High School

Biography:

Phil Stienbarger served as a highly successful junior high school basketball and track coach in Pittsfield before moving to a job outside education. But Stienbarger elected to remain close to sports. He served as varsity boys’ scorekeeper at Augusta Southeastern High School for 25 years. His enjoyment in that role comes from remaining close to the players, coaches and fans. His biggest thrill came in 1992 when Southeastern reached the IHSA Class A State Tournament and he got to keep the scorebook. Stienbarger kept score for more than 2,000 games.

Besides scorekeeping, Stienbarger served as treasurer for the local sports booster club for 17 years. He also helped start and manage for 17 years a local Christmas craft show which raised $6,000 for the boys’ and girls’ sports programs at Southeastern. Stienbarger has been an honest official at the scorer’s table, treating each coach and player with the same respect, whether they were from a visiting team or Southeastern. Stienbarger wants to be remembered for his conduct in his years in sports as a coach, scorekeeper and fan.