Shane Prance has come full circle. He coaches baseball at his alma mater, Portage High School, and just finished his first year of teaching Physical Education and Health. Prance was born in Chicago and moved to Portage where he played four years on the high school baseball team.
“I was playing at the Denim fields in Portage,” said Prance. “I was put on the waiting list for a little league team. They added me to a team so late that the coach had no idea what I could do, so he had me play left field. I remember throwing the ball from left field all the way to home plate and they put me in to pitch next night.”
After that night, Prance continued on to play baseball with the high school team and beyond. He played at Purdue University North Central, currently Purdue University Northwest. Prance then played professionally for the Schaumburg Boomers.
“What kept me playing baseball was the good coaches I had who were good influences in my life: my college coach John Webber, my high school coach Tim Pirowski, and my assistant high school coach Bob Dixon, who happens to be one of my assistants now,” said Prance. “I've had a lot of really good coaches over the years that I've learned from. Whether they realize it or not, they inspired me to do it.”
Prance started coaching at the college level as the head coach at Purdue North Central. He was also an assistant athletic coordinator until Purdue North Central and Purdue University Calumet merged. He then transitioned to being the associate head coach in addition to being the assistant athletic director for facilities.
A point of emphasis for Prance and his Portage team is community service which Prance learned from Webber. The team helps with other sports and walks in the Homecoming parade.
“When I took the job, I always tried to have some things we focused on,” said Prance. “One of the first things we did is what I call the three C's, and one of those was community service. I learned a lot of that from John Webber. One of his big things was community service for the team. We did a lot of team community service for the school and surrounding areas. I wanted to take that and bring it to Portage. It helps the guys realize things are bigger than them. It's good to give back to the community that I grew up in. My family still lives here, so community service is huge for me.”
After his time coaching college baseball, Prance wanted to come back to Portage.
“I've always wanted to come back and help Portage out,” said Prance. “At the college level, I would always check in with Portage to see if there were any guys I should be recruiting. Being a former player and alumnus, I take a lot of pride in coaching here. I'm not just showing up and punching the clock. It's a passion of mine, and I want to see it do well.”
Being a former Portage player, Prance is able to use that to connect with his players while updating the program so it stays present. Prance is a part of the former Portage players that still follow the program.
“I graduated from Portage 15 years ago, and I have friends that graduated well before that that reach out to me all the time to ask how the program is doing,” said Prance. “I know that there's a lot of guys watching that were a part of this program that want to see it do well. It motivates the players to do more than just show up and play a game. We're trying to build a tradition of guys who are able to look back and be proud and want to come back to watch some games.”
Now, Prance lives in Miller Beach where he spends time with his family. He has a 3-year-old son and an 8-month-old daughter. Outside of baseball, he enjoys spending time on the beach.
Prance’s advice to his younger self would be to follow your passion.
“Follow your passion; that is what I've told myself,” said Prance. “Keep yourself happy. I've always wanted to stay in baseball, and coaching has been a passion. I wanted to stay in baseball any way I could since it is a passion of mine. Keep following your passion and good things will come from that.”