by Bub Parker
Since the Quarterly last talked to Dave Clark '74 (fall 1983), he has been strengthening his Swedish connection. For the past five seasons he has coached baseball in the Elite Leagues -- the Swedish majors. Last summer he led the Leksand Lumberjacks to the league finals but came out on the short end of the best-of-seven series (4-2). This year he'll be in charge of the same squad.
Clark was
also appointed a coach with the Swedish Junior National Team a summer ago.
That club finished 6th out of 12 nations at the European championship held
in Vienna, Austria.
So what's the attraction to baseball in Sweden? "I just love the game. I grew up with it, played it professionally, and I enjoy coaching it," he explains. And, he adds, "I met my fiancée in Sweden in 1990, so it gives us a chance to spend time with her family from May through September, when baseball is in season."
Clark, who also owns and operates the Ocala (Florida) Baseball Camp, which runs annually from February through April, will be a busy man the next few months. In addition to his coaching chores overseas, he has been notified that he will be the U.S.A.'s baseball sports information supervisor at this summer's Olympic Games in Atlanta. That would be quite a load for anyone, but Clark, a polio victim since the age of 10 months, is used to hurdling obstacles.
This fall, in recognition of his achievements, Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society will be presenting him with the Giant Steps Award for coaching. In conjunction with the award, Clark made a trip to the White House and was personally congratulated by President Bill Clinton.
"I'm so busy right now that the realization of the award has not fully sunk in yet," says Clark. "As for the Olympics, I'm just going to go in with an open mind and try to tackle each task -- whether it's dealing with the media or rearranging the schedule because of a rain-out. I just could not turn down an opportunity to work at the Olympics."