Bob Borden is retiring after the 2006-07 season. We wrote about it in a column and recieved a lot more input about Bob. We will include it here. Good luck Coach Borden. Enjoy.

From Bill Ackerman of West York

It seems to me that Coach Borden is synonymous with two things in my
mind: CV Basketball and the Flex offense. In fact, when I first took the
job here at WY, I wanted to add the flex to our offensive sets, so I
could only really think of one coach to ask for his ideas on how to
teach it: Coach Borden. He not only gave me notes he had on the flex,
but he went as far as to give me a book on the offense too! I still have
all his notes and the book and I still refer to them from time to time
when our flex offense needs some fine-tuning.

The LL League is amazing to me when it comes to the coaching tenures of
your coaches. You seem to have so many coaches who have stayed at one
school for so long, their names are forever linked (at least in my mind)
to the schools at which they ply their trade: Hempfield = Warren
Goodling ; Man. Twp = Jim Kreider ; CV = Bob Borden ; McCaskey = Steve
Powell And 2 of those 4 were coaching at their respective schools when
I was a player at MT in the late 80's! (Borden and Goodling) It is a
tribute to your league and the schools that so many great coaches have
stayed put for so long! You don't see that often.

From Coach Warren Goodling of Hempfield

"We are sorry to see Bob Borden resign from his position of Head Basketball Coach at Conestoga Valley High School.  Bob's teams were always well prepared and fundamentally sound.  You know when you played CV you were going to go against a well prepared team that was going to execute.   Bob had some great teams at Conestoga Valley and he was always a "Class Act" before, during and after the game.   The Lancaster Lebanon League is losing a great coach and a great person."

From Paul Blackburn of Lebanon on probably one of the best play-off games ever in the LL.  2004-05  CV vs Lebanon for the Section 2 title.

"We were in a Section 2 championship game in 2004-05...we beat them at CV (which was a rarity) and they beat us at Lebanon (which was a rarity). both 13-1...we played it at GS, 4 OT's....I had a guy, Humberto Miranda hit a half court shot to send it into OT...low scoring...in the 30's in regulation....we knew each other so well...Prankun ended up hitting some FT's to secure the win...Steffy made some unbelievable plays...I remember shaking his hand after they won, kids and people everywhere, and neither of us knew what to say...we just kind of shook hands and shook our heads at each other and smiled....he is a class act who will be missed."

From Dell Jackson LLhoops.com/Donegal

I believe he had the longest head coach tenure ever in the LL. He guided his team in the 80's, 90's and 00's....He was a team player in his school (coached football, yearbook, newspaper, baseball scorekeeper, etc) and a solid influence on the Coaches Association for the LL. He had great teams ( Eastern finalist in the late 1980's, LL finalist, District champs, LL title) and some not so good teams as far as wins and loses are concerned. He has a historical perspective that few of us can approach. He was ultra competitive on the bench (ask any of our veteran refs).

There are many stories I could tell about our games with CV when I was coaching at Penn Manor.. Here are a few..I once had a game vs CV in which the game was close and there was a play which was questionable, at least to Bob.. The ref got all over him and he just smiled. Talked with him after the game and he said" he can get on me all he wants because he knew he was wrong" J .... My teams went to team camps with CV a  lot in the 90's- Millersville University and Etown College. He always teased me about having our game face on J. We had another game where we both had big time centers - Adrian Jones for CV and Nate Scott for PM. Neither scored and he remembered it.  Another time his team, which had 5 wins going in, beat PM to knock them out of a possible playoff for the second half (remember halves?)

He also saw the change of the game with the three ball coming in. He would talk to me and ask me how I could let guys bomb away (now his teams shot it a lot more than mine do ).

He was a ref in college and probably a good one now. J

CV has gone from Section 1 to Section 2 and from 3A to 4A? Does that make sense? He won over 300 games during his tenure at CV. Bobby will be known for his 1-3-1 defense which he brings out every once in awhile to confound teams. I watched him use it this season when he beat Lanc.  Cath.  at Warwick. He spoke at my camps and was always willing to share his ideas with me. Unfortunately, I could not teach it as well as he ran it.

Bob Borden is an outstanding coach who does the right things. His players were encouraged to play multiple sports (Jordon Steffy as one example) and usually his best players were football and basketball players. He will be missed as a leader in our sport. His wife is battling an illness right now, but he shared with me it was just time to go. "

From Coach Borden

What changes have you noticed in the game or the LL during your tenure as head coach?

I think the quality of play and particularly the coaching from top to bottom has dramatically improved. I know people still question why the L-L doesn't fare as well in the districts but I would dispute that premise also. It 's simply a matter of numbers and the L-L kids are often much more than just basketball players. Would Gibbs or Gallagher or some of the other name players be a little(lot ) better if they only played basketball? The obvious answer is yes but that does not mean I am promoting specialization. I see that as the potential ruin of the sport. Our most sucessful teams alaways consisted of multi-sport athletes- Steffy, Bennett, Demmy, Drinane etc. The other factor that has changed dramatically is of course the time involved. Again I'm not sure that it's not a case of diminishing returns. Kids need to rejuvenate and not hear our voices all the time. As I understand it. Bill Ackerman at West York only does a few weenkend things in the summer - no summer leagues or camps - They seem to be doing OK! Finally, the ESPNization of the game has caused many problems. Parents and fans amd sometimes playerts, listen to some talking head and think they have all the answers. They have never seen a practice, don't know that the kid was in trouble in school or that he was late to the bus, yet they are convinved he is a Division I ball player. In this day and age of computers and cell phones and other technologies, there are no surprises out there - if you are good -the colleges will find you. Having said all that negative stuff, I want to be sure to include the fact that I have seen very litte change in the players themselves. There are those who are gym rats, there are those who you don't see from March to November and there are those in between. The bottom line for me has been that I have been fortunate to have worked with a tremendous amount of great people not just players.

What advice would you give to future and current LL coaches.

My advice to the future coaches would be fairly simple - enjoy the moments. Our game is such that it always seems like you are getting ready for the next game and you don't take the time to enjoy the last. Try also to balance your life - basketball isn't the end all, be all - there is only one state champion and the reality is that it's probably not going to be you! Celebrate the other victories- the kid who probably would have quit school without basketball, or the maturation of the shy young freshman or sophomore who becomes a school leader as a senior. Finally get involved in your coaches organization. You may think that it's a waste of time, but an awful lot of good has been accomplished by these coaches over the years, Unfortunately, I see the same people stepping up in every situation- people like Goodling, Walck, Jackson, Kreider, Landis, Krieder, Blackburn etc.

From an interveiw with LLhoops.com earlier with Coach Borden

Did you always want to be a coach?

Yes - even as a kid - I was organizing games and "coaching" - I was a real pain in the butt!

Is coaching related at all to the teaching profession?

Oh my yes. The preparation, the discipline, the relationships are the same whether in the classroom or on the court.

Do you have some special moments you remember?

My first year was certainly memorable as we upset state power Carlise in the district play and followed it up with a victory vs Harrisburg. There obviously have been many more memorable moments but as I get older the memories become a little vague. It's heck getting old.

Who were some of the best players you coached against?

I actually went back through some game books - these are some of the players we could never stop! Gary Ressel, Todd Scipioni, Brad Myers, Gary Kline, Troy Krall, Bob Young, Jack Hurd, Ed Plakans, Will Patton, Bobby Dean, Jay Butt, Seth Buckwalter, Mike Bechtold, Aaron Dread, Steve Leaman, Bryan Boyd, Johnny Miller, Curtis Waltman -among many others - they would make a pretty good all-star team!

How has the game changed since you have been coaching?

The athletes are bigger, faster, stronger on the whole. The coaches are incredibly prepared. Video has made analysis so much easier and therefore there are fewer secrets.

What are some of the best teams you coached against?

Some of the Lebanon groups -Krall, Kline and Bechtold,Daly , Curtis Waltman's Garden Spot crew. We played York Catholic 4 times in their hey-day and they were all tremendous teams.

Who has influenced your coaching career?

Many, many people. My own high school coach, who was also a football assistant - Joe McNicholas - The coaches I started with in the football program - Barry Carnahan, Bob Harker, Crawford Kauffman, Mark Francis - legendary CV bball coach Bob Souder.

Also I learned practice organization and attention to detail among other things from Jim Cantafio. I steal from anybody! We are fortunate in the LL to have a number of coaches who have a great deal to offer other coaches.

Anything you would like to say to our readers?

Yes - This honor is certainly not an individual one. I have been extremely fortunate to have had tremendous assistant coaches throughout my tenure. These include Tom Hillen who went on to tremendous success with the girls, Gerad Novak - a very successful head football coach, Doug Kraft who moved on to successful stints at a number of college jobs and long -time assistant Bob Swavely who continues to get players ready for the next level. In addition, you can't be at this job this long without the support of your administration. I especially want to recognize athletic directors John Good and Kent Reigner.

~ Bob Borden