Dona Moore was honored by W.F. West Athletic Director Jeff Johnson at a basketball game last week for her years of service to the school.
The list of unofficial positions held by Dona Moore during her nearly four decades spent assisting the W.F. West High School athletic department could fill out a roster.
She’s served as a parental figure for generations of Bearcats, putting her arm around a player down on their luck or dishing out pointed advice to those who need it. She’s operated shot clocks, scoreboards and kept stats for thousands of games. During her career working in the kitchen at the high school, she often slipped an extra piece of cheese or slice of meat to a student she knew needed the extra fuel.
In a sense, she’s the matriarch of modern-day W.F. West athletics.
Moore recently decided to leave her seat at the scorer’s table for good. Athletic Director Jeff Johnson led a moment of recognition for Moore prior to her final game this weekend during the Class 2B District 4 Tournament.
“She did it for so long just because her motto has always been to give back,” Johnson said. “She’s been adamant about being able to jump in and help out kids in the community. Even this year, she hopped on the girls basketball bus to go to a couple of away games instead of sitting at home. The kids just love her, and anyone involved in athletics around here knows Donna.”
Moore said Tuesday she knew it was time to move on when it became difficult for her to see the floor while operating the scoreboard for volleyball matches. Nobody is quite sure when she started working games, but she’s certain she started running the clock for girls basketball in 1980.
Growing up in the small town of Green Acres east of Spokane, Moore enjoyed playing sports with her friends and competing against the boys. After graduating from Central Valley High School, she initially planned to become a gym teacher, but moved to Moses Lake with her husband instead.
When her family moved to Lewis County, Moore said she wanted to find work that would allow her to be at home when her children got out of school for the day. She met the woman in charge of food service for the Chehalis School District and in 1978, began her career of 34 years.
“I look back to when I was in school and participated in sports, and how so many people gave so much to us,” Moore said. “A lot of the coaches and their families have been so involved here over the years and to be part of it, to get to know the kids, it was all so great. I still don’t want to go, but I know I have to.”
Moore’s relationships with W.F. West student-athletes have carried on well after the end of their high school careers. She stays in touch with former students who remained in the community and keeps up with scores and more via social media.
Kevin Zylstra, an assistant coach for the softball team, sat next to Moore for more than two decades while he kept stats during basketball games. Zylstra said that while Moore’s attention to detail never wavered during the action, she kept an eye on other aspects of the contest as well.
“Sometimes, we can hear parents really chirping at the referees from the stands,” Zylstra said. “There’s been numerous times when, at halftime, she’ll go up and talk to them, tell them it’s not appropriate and ask how it must look to the kids. I’ve seen her do that a lot where parents are getting carried away and she brings them down to earth a little bit.”
Moore denies for her part that she ever went into the stands to confront parents, but admits she’s said a stern word or two over the years to persons who come down to the floor looking for a sympathetic ear in that regard.
Boys basketball coach Chris White said Moore was far more likely to seek out an athlete or a coach in need of a friendly face. He appreciated all the times she helped his players put the game of basketball in perspective, reminding them to give their best efforts and to appreciate the opportunities afforded them through athletics.
That compassion ran both ways. Moore credits the students for helping her through difficult times in her life, such as periods of family illness. She never looked at winning and losing as success or failure, she said, but rather the positive impacts and love generated by competition and camaraderie.
Moore plans to be a common presence at W.F. West sporting events in the coming years — she doesn’t know a better way to get through the long, wet winters of Western Washington.
Johnson said he looks forward to the day he walks into the gym and sees her holding court in the stands, a bag of popcorn in her hand. The Bearcats may not have seen the last of Moore sitting courtside, either.
“The gal that’s going to replace me is going to be very good,” Moore said. “I have no doubt about it. But, I’ve also told her that if she gets stuck or can’t make it to a game, I’ll still step in and do it. No question.”
